Verbs in Russian Stage One and Two

[Benjamin Rifkin]

My textbook is for the intermediate level, so my presentation assumes that
students are already familiar with (and use) many verbs in their speech and
writing and understand many verbs in their reading and listening.  The
textbook, Grammatika v kontekste, assumes at least one year of instruction
prior to its use.  The presentation of grammar in the textbook is designed
to help students systematize their understanding of the Russian grammar.
For that reason, the conjugation classes are presented in the order I
discussed below.  I do not assume that students are not using first
conjugation verbs while studying the chapter on 2nd conjugation verbs. (In
fact, each chapter includes communicative activities clustered around a
lexical topic and the first chapter's topic is "learning/studying/teaching:
the verbs included in this lexical cluster are, of course, from both
conjugations!)

I hope that this helps dispel the notion that American instructors are not
attending to communicative competence!

Ben Rifkin



At 03:24 PM 3/26/99 +0300, you wrote:
>I was interested in the following interchange, in that it seems to imply a
>surprisngly (to me) traditional philosophy of language learning.
>
>
>At 17:05 -0500 03-25-1999, J. Douglas Clayton wrote:
>>Can anyone explain why in the grammar explanations in these two textbooks
>>the second conjugation is placed before the first? (e.g., in Russian Stage
>>Two, Appendix XI, pp. 382-3). This seems like just another complexity to be
>>explained to students.
>
>
>
>At 17:45 -0600 03-25-1999, Benjamin Rifkin wrote:
>>As the author of a textbook (Grammatika v kontekste) in which second
>>conjugation verbs are presented before first conjugation verbs, I can tell
>>you that MY decision was pedagogical.  The terms "second conjugation" and
>>"first conjugation" are arbitrary anyway.  The reason that I presented the
>>verbs in this order is that there are fewer subtypes of the second
>>conjugation than there are of the first conjugation.  It is easier for the
>>students to master the second conjugation and then move on to the more
>>complex first conjugation.
>
>
>At 18:36 -0500 03-25-1999, Wayles Browne wrote:
>>And why are they called "first conjugation" and "second conjugation"
>>given that not all sources agree as to which is first and which is second
>>anyway? "i conjugation" and "e conjugation" are much more memorable
>>and clear.
>
>I find an idea such as "master the second conjugation and then move on to
>the more complex first conjugation" surprising in 1999. Is such a
>traditional philosophy of language learning widespread in American
>university Russian programs?
>
>Regards,
>Greg
>
>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>Morning by morning new mercies I see
>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>Greg Thomson, Ph.D. Candidate (gthomson at gpu.srv.ualberta.ca)
>SIL/Thomson, Westpost P.O. Box 109, FIN 53101,
>Lappeenranta, FINLAND
>Phone: 7-812-246-35-48 (in St. Petersburg, Russia)
>
        +++++++++++++++
Benjamin Rifkin, Assoc. Prof. of Slavic Languages, UW-Madison
Coordinator of Russian-Language Instruction
1432 Van Hise Hall, 1220 Linden Dr., Madison, WI  53706
voice:  608/262-1623; fax:  608/265-2814
        +++++++++++++++