TORFL

[aciel.livejournal.com]

Have any of you ever taken the Test of Russian as a Foreign Language (TORFL)? How hard is it to get the level 2 certification (so that you can study at a Russian university)?

I would also very much appreciate it if someone would correct this:
Сдавали вы всегда TORFL? Мне нужно вторый уровень. Как трудный экзамен?

Болшой спасибо!

Comments

[winwolf.livejournal.com]

Вы когда нибудь сдавали TORFL? Мне нужен второй уровень. Ну и как, трудный экзамен?

corrections

[rottenshworz.livejournal.com]

Сдавали ли вы когда-нибудь TORFL?
Насколько сложен экзамен второго уровня?
.
Большое спасибо.

[ashakoshka.livejournal.com]

i suppose you'd better ask someone not from Russia=)we don't take such a test,if i'm not mistaken...

[aciel.livejournal.com]

Right--I was hoping someone here who's not from Russia would answer. =P

[happy-accidents.livejournal.com]

You need the level 1 test to enter a Russian university as an undergraduate, and level 2 as a graduate. This is as far as I know. Level two looks to be a very difficult test.

[aciel.livejournal.com]

May I friend you?

How strict do Russian universities seem (to you) to be regarding language competency? I'm not exactly applying for grad school; I'm in the process of applying for a Fulbright, which is only a one year term. НГУ's website (the English portion, at least) seems to suggest that TORFL isn't required for visiting students, but I'm not really sure what I'd be considered.

But, yeah. My Russian's not that great. I can say what I need to say if I force myself, but my comprehension is HORRIBLE. Of course, I suck at comprehending English too, and I've been doing that for two decades...

[black-book.livejournal.com]

I went to NGU for 3 months in the summer for language training. The reason why they don't require TORFL for undergrad visiting students is because they tend to train you themselves at the university. It seems to be pretty effective. when i was there an american student had arrived in may to study all summer and was going to take a year of physics courses at the university in september (while continuing his language studies).

[aciel.livejournal.com]

Maybe I should do something like that. Unfortunately, I won't know whether I'm going or not until April or May (that's when Fulbright tells us).

Only thing is I'm going as a visiting grad, not undergrad...

[shariperkins.livejournal.com]

At what point in the application are you? What is your field?

[aciel.livejournal.com]

With the Fulbright application, I'm done. I have an over-the-phone interview coming up, which will be in Russian and probably won't go so well since my comprehension sucks. Then I find out in April or May.

As for the НГУ application, it seems pretty short. I haven't started it yet.

The area is физика информатика. I'm going to be working on a particle accelerator at Budker Institute.

[shariperkins.livejournal.com]

I had my Fulbright interview last week - and we did it in English since it is plain that my Russian is elementary. The interview was not bad at all, though. Good luck & perhaps I'll see you in Russia!

[aciel.livejournal.com]

Where are you hoping to study?

And have you found out for sure, yet?

[im-such-a-slav.livejournal.com]

not to douse your enthusiam, but i am under the impression that to go as a grad/professor you are expected to be near fluent. to go as an undergrad the criteria seems to be mainly intelligence, ability and a lack of foreign travel.

this is what i gathered when i looked into it, and what i heard from the handful of fullbrighters here in ukraine.

[aciel.livejournal.com]

Well, for Fulbright, the expectation is that you speak the language of the host country. This is not always true. If you are teaching English, for example, you need not be fluent in Russian to go to Russia. There are other exceptions as well--a lot of non-German speakers go to Germany, as I understand it.

It really depends on your specific proposal. If you need the language to do what you outline, then yes, you need the language to go. If your proposal requires no fluency, and you can convince them that you will still make lots of new friends internationally, then it doesn't matter how well you speak the language.

The requirements for going as a professor are much higher with Fulbright than as a grad student. There are no undergrad Fulbrights; and your proposal need not be very specific to go as a grad.

What I'm worried about is not my Fulbright application. I've been honest with them about how well I speak Russian. If they let me go, I can go. If not, I don't. I am, however, worried about НГУ's requirements. If I can convince them that I'm just a visiting grad, I don't need TORFLs. But if they insist that I'm a full graduate student, then I might have more trouble.

I'm hoping the recognition of the Fulbright scholarship will persuade them that I don't need TORFLs. I expect to learn the language very quickly while I'm there, but it's a little scary for me all the same.

[im-such-a-slav.livejournal.com]

i guess to be more specific instead of undergrad i meant post-grad.

and fulLbright wasn't a misspelling, it's is a joke that a few of us non-fulbrighters have had many a laugh over. no offense should be taken, i just thought it needed explaination.

i think if you are willing to pay the university and you are not asking for a diploma/degree you will be accepted. that is what it was here in ukraine for someone, and how i hear it is in russia. he got in way over his head though, and wished he had studied language only. just a thought.

good luck.

[aciel.livejournal.com]

As it turns out, if I get the grant I can study whatever I want. It doesn't have to be related to my application, though they like that a lot. Especially if you plan on applying for a post-doc Fulbright later on. =)

In any case, particle accelerators sound really cool, and I think it will be fun--even if I am in over my head.

[shariperkins.livejournal.com]

As Aciel said - it is a different matter for the student grants than the Fulbright Scholar grants. The student grants are for recent college grads, students who are in/finishing Masters programs, or even PhD candidates who have not completed their studies. Or -- in some cases -- professionals.

How much Russian is required depends heavily on the area of the proposal, whether you can fulfil it with your current skills. Of course, they would prefer a student with strong Russian, but it is very possible for someone with poor Russian to go -- if their proposal is compelling, possible, and well supported.

I know two Fulbrighters to Russia in theatre who had little to ZERO Russian at the time of their telephone interview - but had very good proposals and support. One was studying movement, another children's theatre.

Most of those who get awards do have significant language skills, of course.

[shariperkins.livejournal.com]

I am hoping to study theatre (specifically adaptation) in Moscow. I have not found out anything beyond the fact that I had the interview and those applications are (as I understand) going on to Moscow for the next level of selection.

[aciel.livejournal.com]

Were you an at-large applicant, or did you apply through a school?

Those of us who apply through our schools have to go through a campus interview and then an over-the-phone interview, supposedly in the language of the host country. The phone interview is with people with Fulbright in the host country, as I understand it...

[shariperkins.livejournal.com]

I applied "At-Large" and therefore had no campus interview. The interview I had was with an American who speaks Russian. I believe he was some sort of general Eastern European scholar. He seemed aquainted with the former applicants in theatre to Russia (perhaps he did their phone interviews as well). Oddly enough, he even lived in Roanoke for a while, and knew exactly where my current house and childhood county are. A VERY well informed man.

I don't expect a phone call from someone *in* Russia - I had the impression that the interviewer was the last step prior to applications being sent to the Moscow office. However, I was told by my Russian referrers that they DO often call the references in Russia.

[aciel.livejournal.com]

That's unusual.

I had five or six people interviewing me here. One was my former roommate, who went on a Fulbright to Austria. Another was my biology professor. So it's not uncommon to know the people interviewing you--they really end up serving as another recommendation letter for you, in a way.

However, usually there's also another interview, with the people in Moscow...

[shariperkins.livejournal.com]

Odd. Well for all I know, my interviewer WAS in Moscow. Or perhaps, I have yet another possible interview to 'look forward' to. :-)

[aciel.livejournal.com]

Come to think of it, I probably met your interviewer if he's local to Roanoke still. I went to a dinner for former and current Fulbright people here at Virginia Tech...

[shariperkins.livejournal.com]

He only lived here a short while, ten years ago - but it was a surprise to find out he knew my application and my neighborhood too. He was VERY well informed on all the players involved in my proposal.

As for the Russian, I suppose I was fortunate since my language skills are so undeniably elementary he didn't expect me to speak in Russian. Though he tried. ;-)

[aciel.livejournal.com]

Well, how elementary are you? I've taken a semester of beginner Russian, then cause of scheduling conflicts they put me in Russian lit (in Russian, fuck). Now I'm in the advanced class because again I couldn't be in intermediate. But most people here have two semesters of beginner and two of intermediate...

[shariperkins.livejournal.com]

We should probably take this discussion off this board before we go too far off topic. My AIM name is on my profile if you'd like to chat.

[aciel.livejournal.com]

I just found out I was turned down.

Best of luck to you.

[liesoverthesea.livejournal.com]

It's a pretty long and tiring exam. It has a bunch of sections: listening, writing, reading, grammar, speech. The tricky thing about the writing part is that you have to know how to write formal letters, like business faxes and complaint letters. I recommend getting some sort of TORFL-specific study guide or practice test booklet and having a tutor help you prepare for the exam.

[salexey.livejournal.com]

Еще вариант:
Сдавали ли Вы TORFL? Мне нужно сдать на второй уровень. Трудный ли экзамен?

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

I took it, and didn't think it was that hard, but at that point I'd already been studying Russian for five years and living in St. Petersburg for almost a full year.

It's the letter-writing that's difficult. I never found a book that tells you how to do it (although they've assured that such books exist), so that's a must.

[vdohnovitel.livejournal.com]

Do you mean e-mail letters? Or formal letters in the business world?

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Formal letters in the business/educational world.