Russian Language Centre

Had a great birthday party to celebrate Kristina’s 50th anniversary! Best wishes from all of us!

I’m launching a brand new Instagram account dedicated to everything happening at our Russian Language Centre, Manchester.

On the new page, you’ll find:
• practical language tips you can actually use
• GCSE & A-Level exam support
• live streams
• behind-the-scenes of lessons and learning
…and plenty more to help you (or your kids) succeed in Russian

This account isn’t going anywhere — it’ll stay my personal blog, with more of the social side, everyday life, and the usual chaos of my busy schedule.

So now you get the best of both worlds:
📚 learning & exams → follow the new account
🥂 life & socials → stay right here

If you’re interested in learning Russian or preparing for exams, come join us on the new page

Advice from an A level student to those who’re just about to start preparing for GCSE exams. I think it’s very useful as Eve is an excellent student and went through the system herself just recently. Would you agree with her? What else would you add? Anything that helped you prepare? Please share your experience in comments!

Alex goes to Norway and comes back… not with jet lag, but with sweets for his teacher. Can’t overestimate good upbringing

“PALMS” is another handy structure students can use for picture description tasks at Different teachers sometimes tweak the letters, but a common version is:

P – People
Who is in the picture? What are they doing?

A – Action / Activity
What is happening?

L – Location
Where is it taking place?

M – Mood
What atmosphere or emotions can you see?

S – Speculation
What might have happened before / what could happen next / why are they there?

SALUTE as a structure for describing a picture is a handy mnemonic often used for language exams (including Russian speaking/writing tasks). It helps you describe an image clearly and in an organised way.

SALUTE = What to talk about

• S – Size of the party (who are the people in this photo?)
• A – Action (what is happening?)
• L – Layout / Location (what is where in the picture?)
• U – Uniform (what people are wearing)
• T – Time (when is it? season, time of day)
• E – Extra details (colours, weather, atmosphere, people’s emotions, etc.)
There’s no right or wrong way to describe a picture in GCSE exam. There are other systems like PALMS that you could use.