The ability to negotiate with international partners in their native language gives an unsurpassed advantage in the business sphere. At present, it is absolutely essential for managers of different levels to speak several languages. A popular academic programme ‘Business Russian Communication’ on business communication in Russian given at St Petersburg University is now available on the Chinese online learning platform XuetangX.

The academic programme is designed for people who plan to work, to do business, or would like to study business in Russia. It helps not only to strengthen partnership, but also to improve mutual intercultural understanding in general. The whole programme consists of four online courses. To give a small talk and to create an informal conversation, to prepare a telephone call and business correspondence, to sign a contract and to resolve a conflict, and many other core aspects of business communication are included in the programme. The first course developing presentation skills (how to introduce oneself, how to speak about your company, hobby, etc.) is already available.

Future students are to have a most informative academic programme. Video lectures, presentations, scripts of dialogues with additional information on grammar and vocabulary, and exercises are translated fully in Chinese. Since the main objective of the programme is to improve communication skills, large blocks of business interviews are used as additional sources. For students to be able to comprehend information as much as possible, the speaking part is supplied with Russian subtitles.

From the very beginning students are able to practise their skills of self-presentation, business correspondence, and presentations of companies and products using previously learnt grammatical structures and vocabulary of the Russian language. They substantially enhance their vocabulary by studying new words and spoken language.

The author of the academic programme is Lyudmila Kotane. She is a sought after expert in the area of Russian language for business. She wrote a bestselling book ‘Russian for Business’. The academic programme ‘Business Russian Communication’ in English is also applicable on the international platform Coursera.