Russian webcasts are back

[Benjamin Sher]

Dear Richard Robin:

I tried your web site but I got a blank page. Are your
webcasts available on demand?

Benjamin



On 23 Sep 2003 at 15:44, Richard Robin wrote:

> I am happy to announce that Special Russian webcasts are back. The site is
> www.gwu.edu/~slavic/webast/. The only (unfortunate) change this year is that
> due to funding cuts, the webcasts will appear not every week, but every two
> weeks, usually by late Monday afternoon. (Today's wbecasts appeared a day
> late, because they are produced between Novosbirsk and New York, but the
> final upload to the server comes out of Washington, DC - usually from my
> house, which at the moment has no electricity due to Hurricane Isabel.
>
> -Rich Robin
>
> For those of you who are new to Special Russian webcasts, here's a brief
> description:
>
> SPECIAL RUSSIAN WEBCASTS delivers a survey of the previous week's news in
> simplified standard Russian. Listeners of Voice of America's "Special
> English" broadcasts will recognize the slightly slower rate of speech and
> textual redundancy which characterize these webcasts.
> Why Special Russian? Back in Soviet times, the news was easy to understand.
> The propaganda-laden messages were predictable and the diction clear and
> slow. Post-communist newscasts feature telegraphic speech and slurry
> diction. Our webcasts serve as a stepping stone between the teacher talk of
> the classroom and the "real" Russian of the media.
>
> Authentic news. The news itself is taken from a number of Russian sites,
> including Lenta.Ru, Gazeta.Ru, and ??? ??????. The accompanying exercises
> pre-listening background information, vocabulary support, and post-listening
> activities. Some of these are open-ended questions. Others are interactive.
> Listeners can check their answers with a mouse click.
>
> Timeframe. The news cycle covered is from Monday to Friday. The news is
> recorded and posted the following Monday. Exercises are available by Tuesday
> morning. In other words, listeners should expect at least a 96-hour delay in
> "timeliness."
>
> Who can listen? The news items, style, and exercise level are aimed at
> students with listening skills at ACTFL Intermediate Mid to Intermediate
> High. In most cases, that corresponds to college Russian at the end of
> second-year.
>
>
> _________________________________
> Richard Robin, Associate Professor, Chair
> German and Slavic Dept.
> The George Washington University
> Washington, DC 20008
> rrobin at gwu.edu
> http://home.gwu.edu/~rrobin
> ????? ??-?????? ?? ???? ??????????.
> Chitayu po-russki vo vsex kodirovkax.
>
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Benjamin Sher
sher07 at mindspring.com
Sher's Russian Web
http://www.websher.net
Benjamin and Anna Sher
sher07 at mindspring.com

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