Fall 2026

First Semester Russian

First Semester Russian introduces speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills alongside an introduction to Russian culture.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Anna Tumarkin4.0/5Aleksandr PerchatkinCecilia Callozzo +2 more

Summary

1 / 6

Historical reviews of Kristin Edwards: The course is considered difficult due to the inherent challenge of learning Russian, requiring effort to transition from English and grasp the language and culture.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
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BC
C
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F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
SLAVIC 101 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.88/5 from 8 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.47 GPA, 76.6% A/AB (n=47 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.60 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.38 GPA, 71.8% A/AB (n=39 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.42 GPA, 69.2% A/AB (n=13 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2021: 3.33 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=9 letter grades); Fall 2022: 2.21 GPA, 28.6% A/AB (n=7 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Isabella Palange, a historical instructor, is described as nice, easy to approach, and sympathetic, with a clear desire to help students grow. Reviewers highlight her accessibility and supportive nature in learning Russian.

ANNA TUMARKIN is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ISABELLA PALANGE is recorded teaching in Fall 2021. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ISABELLA PRENGER is recorded teaching in Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KRISTIN EDWARDS is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Fall 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MELISSA WARNER is recorded teaching in Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PIOTR KAWULOK is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Fall 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction6 / 180
LEC 002Classroom Instruction10 / 180
LEC 003Classroom Instruction11 / 180
LEC 004Classroom Instruction18 / 180

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Historical reviews of Christopher Syrnyk, Isabella Palange, Kristin Edwards, Melissa Warner: Reviewers consistently praise instructors for being accessible, supportive, and passionate about teaching Russian, though the language itself is described as difficult.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.47 GPA, 76.6% A/AB (n=47 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.60 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.38 GPA, 71.8% A/AB (n=39 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Kristin Edwards: The course is considered difficult due to the inherent challenge of learning Russian, requiring effort to transition from English and grasp the language and culture.

Historical reviews of Isabella Palange, Kristin Edwards, Melissa Warner: Students value instructors who are down-to-earth, funny, and willing to make extra time for office hours to help them understand the material.

Topics

  • Russian culture

Skills

  • Speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Russian

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.23 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1320 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
SLAVIC 101 · Fall 2026

First Semester Russian

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:888:017188",
    "course_id": "SLAVIC 101",
    "course_uid": "course_6e67787fbcc402ae5ffcdd7e",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "017188",
    "source_subject_id": "888",
    "title": "First Semester Russian",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "6f34b1a867b1e77d5450f94814ea582594f2a03db11b8be62b80391e4228f7c1",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}