Kseniia Zolotareva

I graduated in 2003 with honors from the Faculty of Philology of Voronezh State University (cum laude). In 2007 I defended the candidate’s thesis and received a Ph.D. degree. At the University and in graduate school, I gained experience at the Department of Russian and Slavic Philology at the University of Tartu.

I have been teaching Russian as a foreign language at the Multilingua language school since 2013.

I think that I am very lucky because my profession and work give me enormous joy and satisfaction. Of course, learning each and every foreign language requires perseverance and long-term work, but I am convinced that the lesson does not have to be dry or inflexible. Various games, benevolent atmosphere, but sometimes friendly laughter at the language lesson, help you cope with any difficulty. Studying the Russian language, the students set goals, but I help them achieve them. I am making my best effort that lesson would not be associated for them with annoying cramming, but would be a nice way to get to know something new.

As an adult educator, I: 

• identify the needs and expectations of the study group, and plan the learning objectives, learning outcomes, and training content; 

• base my approach on the learners’ needs, adapt learning stages or teaching methods, when necessary, support learners, observe changes in their development, and respond to situations in the learning process in a supportive manner;  

• gather ongoing feedback from learners about the learning process; 

• analyse and evaluate my own performance in the teaching and learning process, and am aware of my strengths and areas for development, engage in continuous professional development, update training content and teaching methods, revising and modernizing them as needed; 

• use relevant information and communication technology (ICT) tools (e.g., smartboards, online platforms such as Zoom and/or Teams, ML information system, cloud services such as Google Drive and/or OneDrive, e-learning platforms, etc.) in the preparation, delivery, and evaluation of the teaching and learning process, as well as for supporting my own professional development; and am able to search for information online using a critical approach to sources.  

I participate in professional conferences, such as the 2022 international conference „Neuroandragogy”.  

Since 2024, I have been conducting training sessions for teachers of Russian as a foreign language within the framework of the course „Spice Up Your Teaching Methodology of Russian as a Foreign Language”, focusing on foreign language teaching methodologies and the use of the Miro online whiteboard. I have also conducted internal professional training sessions on the same topics for teachers at Multilingua. 

I have participated in the Erasmus+ training course “Train the Intercultural Trainer” (Potsdam, Germany, January 2023) and the 15th International Seminar for Continuing Professional Development “Innovative technologies of teaching foreign languages” (Vienna, Austria, September 2024).