In the beginning: Assign the passage on p 319 as homework for translation on the very first day of Russian. (At this stage, you may want to eliminate the material in parentheses, and perhaps the second word for century.) The passage merely lists the number of days in a month and a year, hours in a day etc. in such a way that even the totally un-knowing can translate at least nine complete sentences by using the transliteration table and what is known about time already.
There are several reasons for using this passage: (1) you want to encourage the use of context as a major contributor to meaning, (2) you will break the ice on the introduction to a new alphabet, and (3) the students will thusly be provided with a sense of accomplishment, something that is not easily come by in Russian.
For practice in reading the new alphabet, use: Business words pp 372-373; Dogs pp 281, 283; Plant names on p 273, Various weaves p 79, Nightingale song p 294, and Maps on pp 384-388. (The point here is that they already know these words, excepting of course the Nightingale songs and the Map pages.)
As usual, I recommend they choose their classroom name from the Table of Names. (Those who prefer to use their own names, Russified, should be allowed to do so: identity and names are too closely allied, not to mention confused, to be ignored.) Reading about how names are used will be especially valuable when conjugations and declensions need a break.
Denis Crnkovic never saw a list he couldn't use: in the Housing chapter he has the students design an apartment or house, and then they must describe it so that another student can also draw a floor plan from the description; in the Food chapter the students draw up a list of ingredients they must buy in order to make dinner: other students must figure out what the menu will be. The particular joy of these exercises (not the term used to describe them) is that the students are gaining fluency and vocabulary without the pain that can accompany that process.
At Cornell and Bucknell topics are assigned according to the subjects under discussion for the week. Ben Rifkin at Wisconsin uses it the same way and also holds the students responsible for some of the information.
Olga Kagan at UCLA tells about assigning reports to her fourth-year class:
"The students could choose their own topics from everyday culture …or the
ways Russians do things. With the exception of one or two, they all used Russian’s
World to talk about (1) education, (2) food, (3) vacation, (4) transportation,
and so on. They produced a paper and an oral report in Russian on the basis
of Russian’s World because they could utilize the many Russian terms and expressions
relating to their topic. They enjoyed preparing the talk, and the rest of the
class enjoyed listening to it. Each presentation took about 15 minutes. I thought
the result was excellent and so did the students."
Eloise Boyle also suggested something for use in class: I handed them weather
reports taken from the weather channel on the internet, and told them to go
to the clothing chapter in TRW and choose their outfits for the day, according
to what the weather would be like. They did well!
Most of the material is accessible without any formal language training (at Bucknell it is used in a course conducted totally in English) though it is also true that "the more you know, the more you see." And passages can be assigned to elucidate current reading. Many offer material for thoughtful classroom discussion.
And even if conjugations and declensions never take hold, you can still insist on minimal proprieties such as Hello, Goodbye, Thank you on pp 14-20. Later on, refinements and extensions of those proprieties can be used to make up entire, if not very deep, conversations.
Learning Russian is, usually at least, neither easy nor fast. One of the objects of the book is to appeal to natural curiosity about Russians and their language. The book involves the student in learning Russian by using individual interests. Therefore I've tried to make the information accessible without actually requiring a knowledge of the language. I hope that students will be encouraged to investigate topics in which they are interested. Crudely: this book is a hook. Use it to entrap the unsuspecting into learning Russian, enjoying it, and continuing.
One can reasonably use implications to affect class content. A particularly good example of that process occurs in the first chapter on Conduct. For example:
p 3) Before they read anything in RW/2 ask the students to describe in a short paragraph, the American character: What do we treasure? What do we require? What do we respect?
Those descriptions in hand, do they generally agree? How do their descriptions compare with the Russian self-description? How about the phrase "They love beauty"? Would we have thought of including that?
p 4) If loud, extravagant behavior is a "bad" thing, how should we act in their streets? Why? Is the foreigner's conduct given the same estimation as the native's?
You are in Russia with your small child. She misbehaves. You choose to ignore the bad behavior. A Russian grandma lets you know that something more decisive is required. What do you do?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of societies where
d. any other quality or substance matters more
p 4-5) Closeness of family and friends is generally very pronounced: How is making friends with a Russian different from making friends with another American?
Closeness has its obligations: are you sure you want to befriend a Russian? You might have to write letters, exchange gifts, come to a rescue in the middle of the night, etc.
p 5) My father used to say that it is often cheaper to pay for something (rather than try to get it some other way). "Don't have 100 rubles, have 100 friends." suggests that money is not all that necessary, but the friends are. Compare those attitudes and their results.
p 6) Feminism has made few inroads in Russia, males do not usually do female work; those who help with the shopping are given credit for being _very_ thoughtful. What do you think?
How do you think the average Russian would react to an American reporter who is visibly Jewish and who is asking what could be sensitive questions? What would the assumption be?
p 7) I gave the first chapter to a friendly lawyer in St Petersburg and asked her to comment on the content thereof. In one place I report that Russians often find Americans naïve and ill-informed if not outright unschooled. She loudly protested: They don't think they're "unschooled"!! They think they're dumb!
p 8) If a Russian comes right up to you, and sits so close that you touch, do you back off or move away?
p 9) Our signaling system disallows (or gives other meaning to) casual hand-holding between members of the same sex who are not in the family. Is this a matter of form, or substance? Have we deprived ourselves without reason? Perhaps this is a case where form is substance.
Is "Prisyadem na dorozhku" an example of superstition?
p 10) Make up conversations, even in English, and put in Russian gestures.
p 11-13) What are the major differences in eating and drinking customs in America and Russia?
p 14-19) can be used to make up conversations.
p 19-21) What do you do (or think) when you find that your Russian friend actually considers "cosmic ray baths" to be healthful?
What is a superstition?
p 22) Should Planned Parenthood go to Russia?
p 23) The author solemnly requests that those who actually use the naughty words provided, fail the Russian course. The stricture against using such words was absolute and clear. Those who do not understand cannot read enough English to survive in college…either words have meaning or they do not. (I know of one case where an American used one of those expressions in Russian company and barely escaped with his life. You must act as if there are some things you don't know, and among them is the appropriateness of such an expression in another language.)
p 24-30) Are ceremonies a good thing, a bad thing, or necessary?
p 31-32) How are Russian parties different from ours? What is the essential
difference?