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Area Studies	Many topics are covered during these lectures, after which students are expected to give a lecture of their own (in Russian) on one of the topics covered. The first lecture is a synopsis of the events that led to the breakup of the Soviet Union, The Government of the Russian Federation, and the Russian Constitution. Later it will be mainly up to the students to decide what they would like to cover.
Conversation	Students speak with teachers on a variety of topics to enhance their ability to compare, contrast and form opinions and, generally, to improve their speaking skills. Click here for more details.
History of Russia	First you will cover the period from the begining of Russian history to the forming of the Soviet Union. As with Area Studies, students will write reports and give lectures about the many Russian tsars and princes.
Interpreting	At first, students read articles and discuss the best way to interpret each sentence or phrase. Once students start their excursions, vocabulary and related articles are used to help students prepare.
Interpreting Tours (Excursions)	These tours are generally 90 min. to 2 hrs. long and begin around week 10. The students choose which tours they would like to go on and then set up the tours. Each student gets 10-20 min to interpret what the tour guide says. At the end of the tour, the teacher will give students a summary of how they did.
Round Table Discussions	Students choose topics for discussion and then talk about them for 2 hrs at a suitable location. Students discuss and debate subjects among themselves with little interference from the teacher.
Russian TV News	This is an everyday class where students watch the Russian news and give feedback to the teacher about what happened, why, and how it will affect Russia and the world.
Sight Translation	The teacher brings in articles for students to translate on the spot, without a dictionary or any preparation.
Translation	For the first four months, students translate articles at home (Russian to English) and bring them in to be corrected. After the first four months, the articles are in English and must be translated into Russian.
Treaty Block	During this block of instruction, our DTRA representative outlines the active treaties between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union and the terminology associated with those treaties.

Welcome to DTRA-RACSPC Link - the Official Web Site of the
Defense Threat Reduction Agency at the Defense Language Institute.