Staff

The instructors of the Russian Language Programme, like all language instructors in the United Nations Language and Communications Pogramme, are native speakers. They are university trained and hold a Masters degree in linguistics and/or language education.

Alla Padalka joined the Russian Language Programme at the UN in 1990 as a part-time instructor and became a head teacher in 1992. She coordinates the team of four part-time Russian teachers and collaborates with other five official language programmes on various pedagogical projects. Beside monitoring the Russian Programme, developing and updating teaching materials and conducting regular classes, she introduced several special courses aimed at developing partcipants’ skills in specific areas (Advanced Reading, Writing Workshop, etc.). She is also involved in other activities of the Language and Communications Programme, such as Orientation Session for New Staff.

Alla earned her Masters in Language Teaching from Minsk State Linguistic University. Before joining the UN Language Programme, she worked as a translator/interpreter and a language teacher in South Yemen, Russia and Belarus, and in New York at the Russian Mission to the United Nations.

Irina Tarassova joined the United Nations in 1989 as a Russian editor. In 1990 she started to work at the UN Language and Communications Programme as a Russian Language part-time instructor. Since then, in addition to teaching all nine levels of the regular programme, Irina has introduced several special courses, and developed new materials for the Russian Language Programme applying innovative teaching methods and technology. She is the creator of her instructional website (www.unrit.org).

Irina has a Masters degree in Teaching Foreign Languages from Moscow Linguistic University, and speaks fluently four UN official languages: Russian, English, Spanish, and French. Prior to the UN, she worked as a language teacher and interpreter/translator in Siberia, in Moscow, and later in New York at the Russian Mission to the United Nations.

Irina Kulichevsky has been a Russian part-time instructor at the UN Language and Communications Programme since 1986. She has taught regular and special courses for beginners', intermediate and advanced level students, created several UN textbooks and teaching aids. She has also developed a website for her students in the United Nations Russian Language Programme (www.unrik.org).

Born in Moscow, Russia, Irina received her Masters degree in Linguistics and Teaching from Moscow State Linguistic University. After completing her studies, she went to India to work for State Committee for Economic Cooperation as a translator and interpreter. During her stay in India she taught Russian at Bhilai Branch of the Institute of the Russian Language in New Delhi. She also taught a special course in Russian at Bhilai Polytechnic Institute. Back in Moscow, Irina worked as a reviser at the Novosti Press Agency and an instructor at Moscow City Foreign Language Courses.

Tatiana Tsivilko joined the Russian Language Programme as a part-time instructor in 1995. In her capacity as a Russian teacher, Tatiana keeps abreast of up-to-date methods of teaching in order to provide students with a working knowledge of the language and to assist them in reaching their professional aspirations. Students are also offered insights into Russian history, art and culture. In her classes she tries to accommodate participants’ individual needs and interests creating a warm and friendly atmosphere conducive to the studies. Her goal is to make complicated things easy to understand and to encourage a hands-on attitude among students.

Tatiana received her Masters degree in Language Teacing from Minsk State Linguistic University in 1974 and before joining the Organization had a long and rewarding teaching career in the former Soviet Union and abroad (Bangladesh, Iran, Belarus among others).

Ludmila Solovieva joined the Russian Language Programme as a part-time teacher in January 2007.

 

Prior to that, for many years she taught Russian Language and Literature at the Russian Mission High School in Riverdale. Currently she also teaches Russian to international students in a private language school and to adults in private lessons.

 

Lucy earned her M.A. in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language in Peoples Friendship University in Moscow.