Become a Member of American Council of Teachers of Russian

[Bonny Einstein]

Become a Member of ACTR <https://membership.actr.org/v/membership/>

The American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR) was founded in 1974 as
an association of language and area professionals involved with Russian
language, literature and linguistics. Membership is open to all persons
with an interest in the study and teaching of the Russian language. Since
1998 ACTR has been a division of American Councils for International
Education:ACTR/ACCELS, which focuses its expertise on academic exchange as
well as curriculum, research, and related areas. ACTR members receive the *ACTR
Newsletter* (published four times per year) and the *Russian Language
Journal* (an annual scholarly journal), and they are eligible to enroll
students in ACTR award programs and contests and to take part in other ACTR
programs and activities.
ProgramsAside from producing textbooks and other classroom materials for
Russian, ACTR serves the classroom teacher with several auxiliary programs:
on the secondary level there are the ACTR Olympiada of Spoken Russian, the
ACTR National Russian Essay Contest, and the ACTR Russian Scholar Laureate
Award; colleges and universities participate in the National Post-Secondary
Russian Essay Contest and the ACTR Post-Secondary Russian Scholar Laureate
Award. Current ACTR members may enroll their students in these programs.

   - The ACTR Olympiada of Spoken Russian is conducted separately in states
   or regions, and traces its origin to the mid-1960s, when the International
   Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature (MAPRIAL/МАПРЯЛ)
   was founded and began to conduct a periodic International Olympiada of
   Spoken Russian at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow. In the beginning, only
   one American school responded to the invitation to take part. Now,
   approximately 1200 students participate in the annual U.S. ACTR Olympiada
   of Spoken Russian. Students appear before three panels of judges: to speak
   on a prepared topic chosen randomly at the interview, to recite a poem from
   memory, and to respond to judges’ questions. Based on performance, some
   participants are awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, accompanied by
   corresponding certificates of award; many of the other students receive
   certificates of Honorable Mention without medals. Materials to help
   students prepare for the Olympiada can be consulted at
   http://www.americancouncils.org/compAwards.php. Every four years the
   International Olympiada of Spoken Russian is held in Moscow by MAPRIAL, and
   a group of students with the best performance in the U.S. Olympiada travels
   to Moscow to take part in that.
   - The ACTR National Russian Essay Contest (NREC) has served high school
   and middle school students of Russian for over 25 years. Students have two
   hours to write their essays under school supervision during the week before
   Thanksgiving. The topic is the same for all the students who write the
   essay. Essays are judged at the Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced and
   Native Speaker levels. Heritage students (those who came to the United
   States before age 10) are judged separately at the Beginning, Intermediate
   and Advanced levels. A team of judges rates the essays as Honorable
   Mention, Bronze, Silver or Gold. All student participants receive a
   certificate; in addition, authors of Bronze-, Silver- and Gold-award essays
   receive medals. At the Advanced, Advanced Heritage and Native Speaker
   levels the Gold Medal essays are forwarded to the State Pushkin Institute
   in Moscow, where they are rated again. Gold medalists in this Moscow round
   receive a second-level award pin.
   - The ACTR National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest has been
   conducted each winter since 1999. Students' essays are judged by native
   speakers of Russian and receive Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates of
   accomplishment. The results are published in the *ACTR Letter*, and
   facsimile excerpts from some of the best essays are printed there as well.
   - The ACTR Russian Scholar Laureate Awards were first presented in 2005.
   From each secondary school where Russian is taught one sophomore or junior
   may be nominated to receive the award as the school’s most outstanding
   student of Russian for that year. Students receive a unique lapel pin to
   wear, a certificate of award suitable for framing, and have their name,
   photograph, school, and teacher’s name printed in the fall issue of
the *ACTR
   Letter*. Congratulatory letters also go to the student’s teacher and the
   principal or headmaster of the school. Students are nominated by a teacher;
   the teacher nominating a student for this award must be a current member of
   ACTR.
   - The ACTR Post-Secondary Russian Scholar Laureate Awards were first
   presented in 2007. One junior or senior may be nominated from each college
   or university where Russian is taught to receive the award as that school's
   most outstanding student for that year. Students are nominated by a
   teacher; the teacher nominating a student for this award must be a current
   member of ACTR.

For more information on joining ACTR, contact:

Bonny Einstein

ACTR Membership Secretary

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/seelang/attachments/20120629/2083110b/attachment.html>