My class schedule

Monday
11:40 - 13:10 Grammar

I learn how to make more complex sentences while learning that verb aspect never gets any easier.

Tuesday
10:00 - 11:30 Comparative Politics: USA & Russia
11:40 - 13:10 Phonetics
13:50 - 15:20 Conversation

The politics course is definitely my favorite one and the one most similar to classes at home. We actually talk about things of substance...and then I get to go make noises in Phonetics class. Phonetics is all about learning how to accurately pronounce Russian words so we don't end up sounding like the American equivalents of Boris and Natasha. Conversation class is just that...we converse.

Wednesday
10:00 - 11:30 Literature

Due to time constraints, this is more of a poetry class right now. Poetry is also easier because we can read it in Russian rather than English. Considering poetry's not really my thing, I'm still enjoying this class.

Thursday
10:00 - 11:30 Comparative Politics: USA & Russia
11:40 - 13:10 Mass Media
13:50 - 15:20 Phonetics

In Mass Media, we spend a lot of time discussing random news stories and that's just alright by me. It's not very mentally demanding and I enjoy some good old-fashioned translation work every once in a while, especially with relevant news articles. Literature class educates me on obscure and abstract Russian words while Mass Media educates me on journalistic and commonly used Russian words.

Friday
10:00 - 11:30 Conversation
11:40 - 13:10 Lexicon
13:50 - 15:20 Grammar
15:30 - 17:00 Literature

On Fridays, we add the exciting/terrifying journey that is Lexicon (Лексика or Leksika, in Russian). In this course, we basically do busy work learning grammar. We've been going through a giant packet outlining lists of verbs for each case (dative, genitive, nominative, accusative, etc.). I can't entirely hate on a class where our homework exercises include references to Othello, The Godfather, and The Fifth Element, but it's not exactly fun either. Fridays are just difficult anyway, what with the four classes in a row at 90 minutes each.