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Pygmalion Academy
Course for adults
Ages 15–17

Russian Language & Literature: The Art of Word and Thought

An online Russian language and literature course for teenagers from Russian-speaking families living abroad.

  • Finding your own voice in Russian - through classics, contemporary prose, journalism and media texts
  • We create different texts: miniatures, essays, columns, reviews and storytelling
  • We learn to see the subtext and hold a discussion worth having
  • 4–8 students
  • 90 minutes
  • 2 lessons a week
  • Zoom, online
  • Certificate on completion
  • 23 yearsof teaching experience
  • 4.9Google rating
  • 268Google reviews

Behind the Pygmalion Academy programme is Pygmalion Language Centre, a language centre founded in Latvia in 2003. About the centre

This course is a good fit if your teenager…

  • Is 15–17 years old and growing up in a Russian-speaking family

  • Understands spoken Russian at normal speed, reads adapted texts and writes short connected paragraphs

  • Speaks Russian well but wants to write more confidently - there is a group with the emphasis on written Russian

Does your teenager not speak Russian yet?Choose a suitable A1–C1 level course.

About the programme

In our lessons the language always works together with the text: vocabulary, spelling and punctuation are learned in context, not apart from practice. Each lesson lasts 90 minutes: we read, discuss, write and edit - to learn to express our thoughts clearly and precisely.

  1. The art of the word

    Shades of meaning, word order and the logic of a statement - and a miniature of your own.

  2. Language as structure and as choice

    Syntax, punctuation, rhythm and style - we learn to choose the precise word and create one text in several styles.

  3. Literature and the author’s voice

    The character, the atmosphere, the author’s position, irony and subtext - we write an essay on a character and an analytical column.

  4. The workshop of text and speech

    Composition and argument - we work on a draft, create a second version, take part in debates and record a fragment of a vlog.

  5. Media and the final project

    We work out how media texts act on the reader and where manipulation hides. At the end - a text of your own and its spoken defence, after which the teenager receives a certificate.

What we read in class

  • Classics

    Russian classics - short pieces.

    • Gogol
    • Chekhov
    • Bunin
    • Kuprin
    • Bulgakov
    • Platonov
    • Nabokov
    • Tolstoy
    • “The Overcoat”
    • “A Chameleon”
    • “Light Breathing”
    • “The Garnet Bracelet”
    • “Yushka”
    • And others

  • Contemporary

    Contemporary Russian prose.

    • Vodolazkin
    • Yakhina
    • Shishkin
    • Pelevin
    • Tolstaya
    • Abgaryan
    • Glukhovsky
    • And others

  • Media texts

    Essays and columns, interviews and podcasts, advertising and blogs.

    • Bykov
    • Yuzefovich
    • Arkhangelsky
    • TED talks
    • Arzamas
    • Meduza

What we talk about in class

We discuss texts, their characters and the authors’ ideas: how words change meaning, how intonation is made, what hides between the lines, and how to put a thought more precisely. We read classics, contemporary prose, columns and talks.

What a lesson consists of

  1. We read a fragment - a classic and a contemporary text on the shared screen

  2. We discuss, argue and take the text apart: composition, details and intonation

  3. We practise the language on what we have just read - on the interactive whiteboard

  4. We write a short essay or a column and edit the text together

  5. We do a creative task and a mini-project, and get a short piece of homework

How lesson time is divided

  • Discussion30%
  • Reading20%
  • Writing30%
  • Grammar in context20%

Skills your teenager will develop during the course

  • Uses Russian with confidence: speaks, writes, formulates and argues their thoughts
  • Writes correctly and chooses words precisely, aware of their shades and tone
  • Builds natural Russian phrases and holds a text together
  • Creates different kinds of texts: miniatures, essays, columns, reviews and storytelling
  • Reads and interprets fiction and journalism: notices the tone, the author’s position and the subtext
  • Takes part in discussions, knows the different media formats and spots manipulation in media texts

Teachers

Raisa A.

Teaches the teen courses and the discussion club - ages 12–17

Education
MA in Philology
Languages
Russian (native), English (B2)
  • Methodology consultant and textbook reviewer
  • Takes part in national and international projects
  • Also teaches drama and public speaking
I teach because dialogue makes a person free.

Diana

Teaches the teen courses and club, ages 12–17

Education
BA in Philology (University of Latvia), teacher training (Liepāja University)
Experience
20 years of teaching
Languages
Russian (native), English, Spanish
  • Her students have won prizes at national Russian language olympiads
The more languages a person knows, the brighter and fuller their life becomes.

Timetable and price

Group4–8 students
TimetableTwice a week, 90 minutes
Format2 lessons a week
120 €/month

Why it’s worth keeping Russian

  • Bilingualism is an advantage

    Children growing up with two languages learn to see the world from a broader perspective and easily switch between different ways of thinking.

  • Russian develops thinking skills

    By learning the language more deeply, children learn to express their thoughts more precisely, understand complex ideas, and formulate their own ideas - building intellectual maturity.

  • A link to culture and family

    A language is stories, traditions and the people closest to you. It helps a child feel part of the family and keep their roots.

Frequently asked questions

Lessons take place on Zoom in a small group: teenagers see the teacher and each other, read, discuss texts, write, and edit what has been written together. All you need for the lessons is a computer or tablet with a camera.

Enroll your child in the course

An online Russian language and literature course for teenagers from Russian-speaking families living abroad.