A lot of mystery surrounds the TRKI 4th Certificate, the top exam for Russian as a foreign language within the framework guidelines established by the Russian Ministry of Education (тест по русскому языку как иностранному Четвертый сертификационный уровень (ТРКИ-4)). It's "the ultimate" Russian exam, the equivalent of the C2 level ("Mastery or proficiency") on the scale of … [Read more...]
Basque Intensive! 3: half way diary
I’m two weeks into my month’s sabbatical from work, at the language school at Lazkao in the middle of the beautiful Basque countryside of Gipuzkoa province in northern Spain. I've made a video of the journey here already and now here's my diary of impressions of the trip at the half-way point. It's an insight into life at an intensive summer language school and an account of … [Read more...]
Basque Intensive! 2: from London to Bilbao and Lazkao (a vlog)
Hello from Lazkao, a small town in deepest Gipuzkao province in the Basque Country. Below you'll find the link to the first of my vlogs from here. I'm already half way through the first week of my four week intensive Basque course and am really enjoying the experience so far. With full board, the company of other enthusiastic learners and committed teachers and in lovely … [Read more...]
Basque Intensive! 1: on the eve
Today was the first day of my one-month mini sabbatical from work. The excitement is mounting here at Howtogetfluent Towers as tomorrow I'm off to the Basque Country (northern Spain) for the fist time since I started learning the Basque language, a unique old tongue, related to no other. I'm bound for a one-month intensive language course. It's three years since I started … [Read more...]
Intensive study of a language from scratch (“ab initio”) at university. What’s it like?
Are you thinking of going to university or college to study an undergraduate course in a new language from scratch ("ab initio")? Are you soon to start such a course as a freshman and wondering what to expect? I've had a revealing conversation on just this with undergraduate student Harry Ness and the video is at the bottom of this post. Harry started Russian when he arrived … [Read more...]