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Russian Webcasts are posted to the web
twice monthly and deliver a survey of the previous two weeks' news in
simplified standard Russian Listeners of Voice of America's "Special
English" broadcasts will recognize the slightly slower rate of speech and
textual redundancy which characterize these webcasts.
Why ? Back in Soviet times, the news was easy
to understand. The propaganda-laden messages were predictable and the
diction clear and slow. Post-communist newscasts feature telegraphic
speech and slurry diction. Our webcasts serve as a stepping stone between
the teacher talk of the classroom and the "real" Russian of the media.
Authentic news. The news itself is taken from a number of
Russian sites, including Lenta.Ru, Vesti.Ru, Ytro.ru and other authentic
sites. The editorial "slant" is left unchanged and should not be taken to represent the views of the NCLRC.
The accompanying exercises include pre-listening background
information, vocabulary support, and post-listening activities. The
exercises are written in the multiple-choice or fill-in formats. Listeners
can check their answers with a mouse click.
Timeframe. The news cycle covered runs two weeks with new posted
every other Monday or Tuesday.
Who can listen? The news items, style, and exercise level are
aimed at students with listening skills at ACTFL Intermediate Mid to
Intermediate High. In most cases, that corresponds to college Russian at
the end of second-year.
Suggestions for listening. Listening to a flow-of-speech can be
a daunting and frustrating task. Learning to live with the frustration is
part of the learning curve. So we advise that you try these steps in this
order:
Copyright information. Users may download both the written and
audio versions of the exercises, copy them, and redistribute them. The
only restriction is that the material must be cited: "Novosti nedeli na
uproshchennom russkom jazyke, a project of the National Capital Language
Resource Center: www.nclrc.org."
Complaints and kudos can be sent to the project director: Richard Robin.
Credits. Project director: Richard Robin. News rewriters, exercises,
JavaScripting, and voice: Natalia Bessergeneva.  Subscribe in a reader | 
