Enthusiastic Russian Teacher with 10+ Years of Experience

Iryna Z.

I am academically qualified language teacher. I earned my master's in Language Teaching (Russian and/or English) from the University of Oregon. This degree provided an excellent theoretical and practical professional foundation for my future language teaching. I served as a Graduate Employee while doing my master's degree in the Department of Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Oregon. In this role, I was responsible for the facilitation of 100 and 200 level undergraduate courses in the Russian language. Among my students were Americans, students from China, Mexico and former USSR.

I have all the necessary teaching experience and methodology. In the last 10 years, I have designed and taught six different Russian classes. I have been teaching across different ages (5-80 years) and skill levels (Beginning through Advanced). As a Graduate Employee of CASLS, I developed a year-long hybrid Russian language course for Portland high school students called "Bridging Project". Designed specifically for high school students with high levels of proficiency (Advanced-low), the Bridging Project was intended for heritage learners and immersion students. I, also, developed and taught Beginning Russian I and Beginning Russ II courses at Lane Community College (2017-until now). These courses were developed for students of different ages, skills, and abilities who learn the language for their personal enrichment.

I have taught both virtually (through Zoom) and in-person. I am equipped with the experience in communicative language methodology, task-based learning, and skills integration. For instance, I apply communicative language methodology in the classroom through interactive, student-centered activities that maximize “student talk time.” By engaging students in speaking, grammar, writing, listening, and reading and appealing to diverse learning styles, I help them improve their accuracy and fluency across key skill areas.