Learning foreign languages

The Finnish-Russian school Helsinki, Finland

Administration of basic education

National Board of Education

Government

Parliament

Ministry of Education

Private school

President of the Republic

Matriculation Examination Board

State school

Municipal authorities

Finnish educational system

Pre-school (1year)

Secondary school (9years)Lower secondary (7-9grades)

Primary (1-6grades)

Vocational institutions (3years)

Upper secondary school

Universities (3-5years)

Polytechnics (4 years)

Additonal voluntary 10 grade (1year)

• Founded in 1955

• State school since 1977

• Comprehensive language school

• Finnish national curriculum

• Focus on Russian language and culture

• Teaching subjects in Russian

• 700 students

The Finnish-Russian school Helsinki

Basic education

basic education 9 years

Finnish national curriculum

focus on Russian language and culture

teaching subjects in Russian

Finnish as the mother tongue and Finnish as a second language

Russian as the mother language and Russian as a foreign language

English from grade 3

Swedish from grade 7

German and French from grade 8

Curriculum for basic education 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Finnish as the mother tongue and as a second language 7(+1) 6 (+1) 5 5 4 5 3 3 3

Russian as the mother tongue and as a second language 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 5

Swedish (B language))             2 2 2

Mathematics 3▲ 3▲ 3▲ 4▲ 4▲ 4▲ 2 4 4

Natural science 1▲ 2▲ 3▲ 3▲      

Biology and geography       2▲ 1▲ 2▲ 3▲ 2▲

Physics and chemistry       1▲ 1▲ 2▲ 2▲ 3▲

Health education             0,6 1,4

Religion/ethics 1▲ 1▲ 1▲ 1▲ 1 1 1 1 1

History and social studies         1▲ 2▲ 2▲ 2 3

Music 1▲ 1▲ 1▲ 1▲ 2▲ 2▲ 1▲

Arts 1▲ 1▲ 1▲ 1▲ 2 2 2

Crafts 1▲ 1▲ 2▲ 2▲ 1▲ 2▲ 2

Physical education 2▲ 2▲ 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Home economics             3▲  

Student counselling             0,4 0,6 1

English (A language)   1 1 2 2 2 2 2

Lessons per week22-23 22-23 23 23 26 28 31 28 28

▲- CLIL (content and language integration)

Upper secondary school Compulsory courses Applied courses

Finnish 6 3

Russian 9 3

Swedish (B language) 5  2 

English (A language) 6 2

English (B language) 5 2

French (B 3-language)  - 8

German (B 3-language)- 8

individual study plan

course and study modules

different courses of study

minimum of 75 courses

12 courses in Russian

the studies may be accomplished in 3-4 years

students have the right to take the matriculation examination

Upper secondary school

written tests, the candidates pay a fee for each subject

two times a year (spring-autumn)

the candidate can complete the examination during one examination period or during three periods

4 compulsory tests: mother tongue and by choice at least 3 other tests: Swedish, a foreign language, mathematics and one test from science and humanities subjects (psychology, philosophy, history, social studies, biology, religion/ethics, geography, health education)

the Matriculation Examination Board is responsible for administering the test

Matriculation examination

 Upper secondary school

listening speaking reading

writing

Russian (A-language) B2.1 B2.1 B2.1 B2.1

English (A-language) B2.1 B2.1 B2.1

B2.1

English (B1-language) В1.2 В1.2 В1.2 В1.2

German (B 2-language)  А2.2  А2.1-А2.2  А2.2-В1.1

А2.1-А2.2

German (B 3-language) А2.1-А2.2 А2.1 А2.1-А2.2 А1.3.А2.1

 French ( B 2-language)  А2.2  А2.1-А2.2  А2.2-В1.1

А2.1-А2.2

 French ( B 3-language) А2.1-А2.2 А2.1 А2.1-А2.2 А1.3.А2.1

Criteria of the language scales

9 grade Russian English

Language scale

В1.2 listening, reading

В1.1 writing, speaking

В1.1 listening, readingА2.2 writing, speaking

The levels of the language proficiency scale

 Upper secondary school listening speaking reading writing

Russian (A-language) B2.1 B2.1 B2.1 B2.1

English (A-language) B2.1 B2.1 B2.1

B2.1

English (B 1 -language) В1.2 В1.2 В1.2 В1.2

German (B 2 -language)  А2.2  А2.1-А2.2  А2.2-В1.1

А2.1-А2.2

German (B 3-language) А2.1-А2.2 А2.1 А2.1-А2.2

А1.3.А2.1

 French ( B 2- language)  А2.2  А2.1-А2.2  А2.2-В1.1

А2.1-А2.2

 French ( B 3- language) А2.1-А2.2 А2.1 А2.1-А2.2

А1.3.А2.1

Foreign language teachers

• 60 teachers work at school, among them

4 English teachers 1 German teacher 1 Swedish teacher 1 French teacher 15 Russian teachers

• Some of the teachers teach two foreign languages

The Finnish Matriculation Examination in foreign languages

1 part (listening comprehension) 2 part (written production)

The test has 4 sections

•sections 1-3include texts of different difficulty level

•section 4 is a translation into Finnish based on listening

•duration – 60 min.

•maximum points– 90

The test has 3 sections• 1 – reading comprehension

• 2 –grammar and vocabulary

• 3 – written production

•duration – 6 hours•maximum points –209

The test consists of two parts

Russian textbooks

Textbook + workbook+ CD

English textbooks

Textbook+ workbook+ CD

Swedish textbooks

Textbook+ workbook+ CD

German textbooks

Textbook+ workbook+ CD

French textbooks

Textbook+ workbook+ CD

Forign language classrooms

-computer classrooms

-subject classrooms

-interactive board

- video equipment