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.
Fall 2026
First Semester Russian
First Semester Russian introduces speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills alongside an introduction to Russian culture.
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
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapNone
“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 2026No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
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 2026Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 6 / 18 | 0 |
| LEC 002 | Classroom Instruction | 10 / 18 | 0 |
| LEC 003 | Classroom Instruction | 11 / 18 | 0 |
| LEC 004 | Classroom Instruction | 18 / 18 | 0 |
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.
Meeting source records
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
Skills
Grades
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.
Selected offering source records
First Semester Russian
Recorded 2026-09-07Raw 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
Madgrades
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesModel outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
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"
}