21 Culture Shock in the U.S.: Russian-speaking immigrants in the U.S.
Page highlights
What will I learn here? |
The resources in this unit present practical information about tips and advice Russian-speaking immigrants need when it comes to renting, documents, credit, and some other topics. Most materials in this unit start with a larger video that focuses on various topics. These authentic videos are fast-paced and include a lot of information. After the video, the audio files include a slower excerpt from the video with follow up questions. |
What language level is it for? |
All resources on this page are in Russian so it is best suited for students with advanced proficiency. The videos do not include a transcript; however, the audio file excepts include both the Russian transcript and the transcript translation into English. |
Other notes: |
Some ideas: Use these resources and tasks to prepare a phrase book that goes with these topics.
!!! This page contains multiple interactive H5P resources — they might not display in all browsers — read more here |
Quick links:
Resource 1: In this video, the author is going over various situations that Russian-speaking immigrants find themselves in due to the lack of cultural and pragmatic knowledge. The video is full of tips; however, we focused on tips related to renting and do’s and don’ts advice for everyday life.
Resource 2: In this video, the author is focusing on giving tips for immigrants to better understand the financial and bureaucratic aspects of the American life. The audio excerpt is focused on the concept of address registration.
Resource 3: The video presents a list of mistakes the author made when she just came to the U.S. and provides tips on how to avoid such mistakes. The excerpts focus on the topics of credit card use and car loans.
Resource 4: This resource is an audio of a personal experience story with regard to credit cards.
Resource 5: This task offers an insight about what Russian-speaking immigrants like about living in the United States.
Resource 6: This task offers a set of practical tips for refugees in Russian and English with a vocabulary list.
Tips for renting, do’s and don’ts and much more.
Watch this video and work with the audio excerpts from the video.
Audio excerpt 1: Things Russian-speaking immigrants should not be doing in the U.S.
Audio excerpt 2: Things Russian-speaking immigrants should keep in mind when renting apartments
Listen to the audio file and complete the task below: decide whether the advice that appears in this quiz is a good or a bad advice to give to Russian-speaking immigrants in the U.S.
Tips for taxes, buying clothes, phones, and cars, parking, attitude to the police, court trials, and bureaucratic aspects of everyday living.
Watch this video and work with the audio excerpts from the video.
If you understood most information from this video, complete these multiple-choice questions below to check your comprehension. Otherwise, proceed to the audio excerpts that focus on specific tips from this video.
Audio excerpt: The concept of address registration.
- Использование кредитных карт может помочь создать положительную кредитную историю.
- Большинство банков предлагают бесплатную систему оповещений по СМС о покупках по кредитной карте.
- Пропущенные платежи немедленно понизят ваш кредитный рейтинг.
- Важно использовать кредитные карты разумно и вовремя производить платежи.
- Не имеет значения, это кредитная карта банка или магазина – они работают одинаково.
- Кредитные карты удобны для совершения покупок в магазинах или онлайн.
- Кредитные карты важны для управления личными финансами.
- Кредитная история очень важна для жизни в США.
- Я советую регулярно проверять отчеты по кредитным картам, чтобы своевременно обнаружить мошенничество.
- Невозможно получить кредиты и ипотеку без хорошей кредитной истории.
- Создание сильной кредитной истории требует дисциплины и финансовой ответственности.
Task: Read these opinions of the Russian-speaking people about pluses and minuses of life in the United States. Use these texts to create a phrasebook with useful expressions when talking about pros of living in the U.S.
