Russian Language Exam Offers Bonus Points for Israeli High Schoolers
Translated & summarized from Channel 9 by baba
Israeli students of Russian-speaking immigrant families can earn five matriculation units by passing a Russian language exam. Preparation requires consistent effort from a young age, focusing on reading, writing, and connecting the language to identity, rather than solely relying on last-minute tutoring.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Russian language exam offers five bagrut units for Israeli students.
- Many families are unaware of the exam's existence and benefits.
- Exam readiness requires early and consistent language development.
- Age-appropriate strategies are key for preparing students.
- The exam can significantly boost a student's overall matriculation score.
Many Israeli parents of Russian-speaking immigrants find their children's Russian language skills diminishing as they grow up, often becoming limited to home conversations with grandparents. However, a significant opportunity exists for these students: the chance to earn five "bagrut" (matriculation) units by passing a Russian language exam, equivalent to subjects like physics or English. In the 2018-2019 academic year, 1,103 students took this exam, achieving an average score of 87.8, with the number of interested students reportedly growing.
The author, a Russian language and literature teacher, observes that many families are unaware of this exam's existence and its potential to boost a student's overall matriculation score. While children may speak Russian conversationally, this does not automatically translate to readiness for a high-level language exam, which requires strong reading comprehension, coherent written expression, and grammatical accuracy. The teacher emphasizes that mastering these skills for the exam is challenging to achieve in the final years of high school if not cultivated earlier.
To prepare children effectively, the author suggests age-appropriate strategies. For ages 7-9, maintaining reading habits through engaging materials like encyclopedias or magazines, and continuing read-alouds, is crucial for vocabulary acquisition. Between ages 10-12, encouraging short writing tasks, such as messages to relatives, and prompting Russian responses to Hebrew phrases helps solidify language use. For ages 13-15, connecting Russian to personal identity and family history, and later highlighting the pragmatic benefit of the five bagrut units, can be motivating.
The author advises against making Russian a condition for privileges, as this can create resentment. She also cautions against introducing the concept of the bagrut exam too early and warns that relying solely on an 11th-grade tutor is insufficient for building the necessary skills over a decade. The preparation for the Russian bagrut, she concludes, begins in early childhood, not in the final years of high school, transforming a language heard at home into a tangible academic achievement.