GCSE in Russian outside school?

[mandelbaum]

My ds (year eight) has been learning Russian for about a year as an extra curriculum course after school; this will not be continued next year. He very much enjoyed the lessons, which prompted me to look into a GCSE in Russian outside school.

Would anyone know what would be involved to prepare for a GCSE in Russian? Could anyone recommend a suitable textbook? In case the GCSE route doesn't materialise, are there any recommended certificates to work towards? Maybe that would be a better idea, anyway? Appreciate your ideas, thanks.

[Amber]

I think it would be relatively easy to find someone to continue to teach Russian to your son - there are lots of native speakers around now, and I know one who does this round here (where are you?) - and would do it myself if I lived near you, being a lover of Russian too. In terms of the GCSE you would need to ask the school if they would act as an exam centre. Lots of schools do this for children who speak other languages - I know children who have done it in Arabic, Polish and Turkish. One issue is over the spoken exam which has to be conducted on school (or registered exam centre) premises under strict conditions. But I would ask the school - they might be able to sort all this out for you in one go.

In terms of books, my most recent experience was teaching AS level and I discarded the school's antiquated textbooks and used one called ' Ruslan Russian 3 - a communicative course for advanced learners'. I'm assuming as this was 3 there must have been 1 and 2 for less advanced learners too - but again I would take advice from the school as textbooks can be exam board specific.

Good luck.

[mandelbaum]

Thank you, Amber, great advice! I also love Russian - have studied it, but no teaching experience. I will have a look at 'Ruslan Russian 1' and hope it covers the syllabus. Thank you very much for giving me a starting point.

PS: We are in Hertfordshire.

[Daogroupie]

We will be doing Latin privately this year locally to you. I have already used a private exam centre this year to do A2, AS and GCSE so we will use them again, it is really straightforward. We got a tutor from a tutor website after asking on here first and getting no response! I am sure you will find it much easier to find a Russian tutor than we did a Latin one. I have a Russian student from Hornsey, I will ask his parents if they know anyone who might be interested, they might be interested themselves. DG

[mandelbaum]

Interesting that you mention Latin - that was also a thought we had. I feel quite strongly about Latin as an excellent foundation in many ways. Thank you for reassurance re exam centre!

[Daogroupie]

I have someone interested in tutoring your ds. I will pm you. DG