Related Links
Professional Language Training
Working professionals can brush up on their Russian by taking an online evening course.
The deadline to enroll in Professional Language Training course for Spring 2025 is January 15th, 2025.
The Center for Language Studies offers a Russian class designed for professionals who want to continue working while strengthening their Russian fluency.
Students enrolled in this course complete the equivalent of a full college semester. The course is designed to develop five core language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and cultural awareness. The class meets online three times per week for one-hour sessions, with homework assignments tailored to prepare students for active, meaningful participation.
In this advanced class, students read books across various genres and participate in engaging, thought-provoking discussions conducted primarily in Russian. This immersive approach deepens both their language proficiency and their understanding of Russian culture.
Students will earn one unit (4 semester hours). The course is graded CR/NC.
Course, Spring 2025
- 15 week courses: January 20th - May 8th, 2025
- Weekly schedule: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. Central Time (adjustable to needs of students)
Russian
In this course we will be reading a play The Shadow by Evgeny Shvarts. It is a political play, but it is also much more—a poetic and philosophical exploration of society. While it incorporates elements of political parody, its core themes are broader: the nature of good and evil, love and death, and the role of the individual within society. Like many of Shvarts’ works, it is humorous yet unsettling, blending comedy with a sense of eeriness. At its heart, The Shadow critiques any society under the grip of a powerful dictatorship, one that enforces its will through a dehumanized bureaucracy. The dual nature of satire is evident: societal corruption mirrors governmental corruption. Both fear anything that threatens reform, for reform signifies the end of privilege.
Eligibility
Participants must:
- hold an undergraduate degree or be 25 years of age or older
- not currently be enrolled in an undergraduate program
Cost
- $1,600
Credit
- Four U.S. undergraduate semester credits. Participants will receive a transcript upon completion.
Register for a Course
Hear from our Students
I am so thrilled CLS is offering this [Professional Language Training] course. I was nervous to enroll because I hadn’t spoken Russian in years, but it has come back with Olga’s guidance and emphasis on speaking in Russian.
After two semesters, I feel a lot more confident in my Russian comprehension, speaking, and writing ability. I often refer to class as “Russian book club,” as it is more than simply a language course. We have read two completely engrossing Russian novellas, which serve as gateways to Russian history, culture, social nuances, and more.
This couldn’t happen without Olga’s deep understanding of both cultures - she astutely knows when her American students require cultural context, and facilitates discourse on these topics, and many more. I am already looking forward to next semester.

Many of us fell in love with language learning during our time at Beloit and beyond. The evening professional programs offered by CLS have allowed me to fulfill the desire to practice and continue learning years later for both personal pleasure and professional opportunities.
The classes this year reflected the level where the students in the group were at the outset, which for some of us was quite rusty, and then blended cultural history, current events, and language lessons to clear away the cobwebs. Our culture and literature class was conducted almost entirely in Russian, but it only took a few sessions to get up to speed and to begin feeling comfortable interacting in the virtual classroom.
If you want a refresher course that not only reviews crucial grammar and usage, but also provides you a comfortable space in which to use the language in a natural way, these classes are a great option.
