The THI Language Center offers language and intercultural electives for enrolled students of THI. Depending on your degree program, you can take these subjects as electives with ECTS credit or as free electives with a university certificate. To find out which subjects you can choose for your degree program, please contact the responsible program director directly.

In principle, you can take all subjects of the Language Center, even if a module is not offered as an elective subject for your degree program. If you are interested, you can enroll in a subject after consulting the Language Center, in case that there are still places available.

The course offerings for Russian include:

1. Course-related compulsory and elective subjects with ECTS credits

• General compulsory/elective subjects
• Electives for language and social competence

2. Free electives that can be taken by all THI students (university certificate)

Please refer to the pdf for the course outline.

For information on course objectives and content, please refer to the Module Handbook of the Language Center.

The THI Language Centre offers a number of courses for THI students as certificate courses. When students pass the examination at the end of the THI course, they are issued with a THI higher education certificate.
THI students will find details of the THI certificate courses in the Language Centre Module Guide on Moodle.

• Russland Journal: For native German speakers, this site has by far the most comprehensive offering. It is suitable for all skill levels and offers a wide range of free services: Russian and grammar courses, vocabulary apps, recipes and lots of videos.
• Glasók – eine App für Russlandreisen: The free app helps you prepare for a trip to Russia and find your way around the country. It contains up-to-date travel information and features a notepad with a memo function, a vocabulary trainer and a currency converter.
• Russian Online: Visually, the site may not be up to date, but the layout belies the wealth of information it contains. Not only does it offer the usual explanations of vocabulary and grammar, but also interactive features such as quizzes, puzzles and games.
• Learnrussianstepbystep: If you already speak English, French or Spanish, this site is useful for learning Tolstoy's language with free online courses. The site, which is primarily aimed at beginners, focuses its programme on vocabulary and grammar for learners with a low level of proficiency.

Buchtipps

• Comprehensive learning with ‘Russian with System’: This Russian course from Langenscheidt teaches the basics using a variety of methods (352 pages, four audio CDs and downloadable material, e.g. Russian PDF). Target group: Levels A1 to B1 (beginner to intermediate).
• Russian without effort today: The course is aimed at beginners as well as people who already have some knowledge of Russian and would like to refresh their skills. It teaches modern and realistic Russian in 71 lessons. Target group: A1 to B2 (beginner to intermediate). Assimil Publishing.
• PONS Power Language Course Russian for Beginners: This course is part of the standard Pons series and includes the book, audio/mp3 CDs and online tests. Target group A1 to A2 (beginners). Well-structured lessons (organised by topics such as family, shopping, professions, etc.); there is a writing exercise beforehand to learn the Cyrillic alphabet.
• PONS Power Language Course Russian for Advanced Learners: Continuation of the beginner's version. Target group B1 to B2 (intermediate level).
• Russian for advanced learners: Textbook and audiobook with realistic dialogues, practical phrases and expressions. Workbook and answer key must be purchased separately. Target group B1 to B2 (intermediate level). Publisher: Ferdinand Berger & Söhne.
• Russian for absolute beginners: Roman Lehmann's teaching method is specifically designed for self-learners. It is a textbook, workbook and exercise book in one, with an integrated answer key. In addition to an MP3 CD, the publisher has developed apps for learning and practising the Cyrillic alphabet in block letters and cursive. Self-published.
• Learn Russian – Step by Step: This teaching method by Elena Bokelmann is suitable for both Russian lessons and self-study and is aimed at absolute beginners with no prior knowledge. In addition to the language, it also provides an insight into Russian culture. Buske Verlag.
• Lextra – A little Russian every day: This series aims to integrate language learning into everyday life in a playful way. These are not textbooks, but rather an entertaining supplement to Russian courses. Also suitable for those who would like to engage with the foreign language a little every day. Cornelsen Verlag.

• Russland Journal: For native German speakers, this site has by far the most comprehensive offering. It is suitable for all skill levels and offers a wide range of free services: Russian and grammar courses, vocabulary apps, recipes and lots of videos.
• Russische Zungenbrecher: 14 Russian tongue twisters with English translations to listen to, read along with, repeat and smile at. The Russian word for ‘tongue twister’ is ‘скороговорка’. It refers only to fast speech and not, as in English, to anything that is difficult to pronounce.
• Rutube: There is also a Russian equivalent to YouTube. Rutube is an online video platform that is entirely in Cyrillic. It offers a monumental range of content in the Slavic language.
• Studio MosFilm: A selection of more than 200 films. The works of the old Russian cinema film studio are definitely worth watching, and it takes quite a while to sift through all the gems.
• Perviy Kanal (TV): A streaming channel and descendant of one of the country's oldest television stations. The channel is now partially privatised. Like ARD, ZDF and various private channels in this country, it is one of Russia's most popular TV stations.
• Russia TV – Live: At this point, the range of possibilities for Russian learners is expanded with a group of Russian state television channels: VGTRK. State television consists of seven channels.
• NTV: Although NTV is one of the major TV stations, it is unfortunately not possible to stream directly from its website. However, it is possible to watch programmes as ‘replays’ after they have been broadcast on television. This is another way to perfect your Russian.
• Radio Po-Russki: Radio Po-Russki's programme in Russian is not only intended for Russians, but for anyone who understands Russian. It is therefore aimed at advanced Russian learners who want to stay informed.

Podcasts

• Russisch Podcast des Russlandjournal: The Russian podcast is primarily intended for beginners or those who want to refresh their Russian skills. The 100 episodes to date are divided into content and grammar topics and last between 10 and 20 minutes.
• Russian Language Podcast: Although it is called a podcast, the Russian Language Podcast is actually also a webcast. There are numerous episodes on YouTube, making it a mecca for advanced Russian learners.
• A Taste of Russian: Podcast series comprising 36 episodes, all available to download free of charge in MP3 format, together with full transcripts. A variety of topics to stimulate the curiosity of intermediate and advanced language learners.
• Russianpod101: There is no free offer, as it is a freemium model. Only certain services are freely accessible.
• Real Russian Club: The founder of Daria is, according to her own statements, a certified Russian teacher. As the name suggests, the podcast is aimed at people who do not yet understand fast-spoken Russian.

YouTube

• Useful Russian with Chris: A channel that aims to teach Russian to people from all over the world. The videos are structured in such a way that individual words or entire sentences are displayed in Russian and English. The Russian text is read aloud twice, slowly and clearly. The image then remains on the screen for a short time before moving on to the next word.
• Russisch lernen mit Marina: Marina Mogilko is Russian and speaks four languages fluently herself. She wants to encourage people to learn languages in a playful way – especially with the help of travel.
• Russisch bitte!: A production by Bayerischer Rundfunk, first broadcast in 1990. However, the age of the material does not detract from the quality of the language teaching. A 30-part Russian course, divided into several shorter videos on YouTube.
• Der YouTube-Kanal von Yury Khovansky: The channel description ‘Indecencies, Let's Play, Life’ delivers a whole host of videos. It's a wild mix of satire, modern stand-up comedy and Russian rap.

• Russisch Verb Trainer App: Mit dieser App lernen Sie, die gebräuchlichsten russischen Verben zu konjugieren. Mit Konjugationstabellen, Audio und Aspektpartnern. Jeder kann das Training eigenen Bedürfnissen anpassen.

• Yandex.Translate: Diese App des russischen Google-Konkurrenten ist eher ein Übersetzer statt ein Wörterbuch. Trotzdem kann er auch für die Wörtersuche dienen und es gibt auch die Möglichkeit, sich ganze Texte übersetzen zu lassen.
• Russisch-deutsches Wörterbuch von Karlfried Leyn: Es ist mit 53.000 Wörtern sehr umfassend. Nachteilig sind allerdings der hohe Preis sowie das Erscheinungsjahr. Die letzte Aktualisierung gab es 1989. Verlag Russkij Jazyk.
• Bilderwörterbuch für Kinder und Eltern: Das Wörterbuch von Igor Jourist ist speziell für Kinder und Eltern konzipiert, um ihnen die slawische Sprache spielerisch beizubringen. 900 Wörter. Inklusive Aussprache zum Download. Jourist Verlags Gmbh.
• Umfangreiches Deutsch-Russisch Wörterbuch: Ist nur als Ebook verfügbar. Es spart mit Anwendungsbeispielen der Wörter, verdient aber mit 40.000 Stichwörtern das Adjektiv „umfangreich“. Pommel`s Sprachschule.
• Wörterbuch der Umgangssprache Deutsch-Russisch: Ein spezialisierteres Werk von W.D. Devkin. Interessanterweise scheint es auch bei deutschlernenden Russen beliebt. Der Nachteil könnte sein, dass es nicht mehr ganz aktuell ist, weil die letzte Ausgabe im Jahr 2000 erschien. Jourist VerlagsGmbH.