3 Secrets Behind B1 TORFL Success
to protect my nose from the cold, but underneath my coat I was sweating profusely despite the
St. Petersburg winter.
That’s because I had just received a call from St. Petersburg State University informing me that I
should come to their office on Vasilievsky Island to pick up my TORFL test results. Mind you,
they didn’t tell me what that result was, only that my official scores had been printed.
At the office, I would either receive the certificate I’d spent the last four years working for, or I
would receive a simple printed piece of paper with detailed scores for each section of the exam.
About a week prior to that fateful day I had taken the B1, or “First Level””, of the Test of Russian
as a Foreign Language (TORFL). You could think of it as the TOEFL or IELTS of the Russian
language, and it's the most widely known and accepted placement exam for Russian.
It’s called the “First Level” because A1 (Elementary Level) and A2 (Basic Level) are not
considered high enough to have any real-world use. They are not sufficient enough for studying
in a university or working. While it’s said (and I confirm this) that the Russian language part of
the Temporary Residency “Komplexniy Exam” is roughly equivalent to a mini-A2 TORFL exam,
the material you need to read and study in order to comprehend the history and law sections of
that exam are B1 at minimum.
With a B1 Russian certificate, you are officially able to study for a Bachelor’s degree in a
Russian university. This was my primary reason for taking the test, but I also wanted this
certificate to prove to myself that I could do it.
I had never studied Russian formally up to my B1 exam. In four years, I’d had 8 hours with a
private tutor in total, and that was it. Russian study had been largely an independent,
passion-driven endeavor for me, and B1 was both my biggest challenger and greatest
inspiration.
It’s estimated that a learner needs an average of 600 classroom hours t o reach B1 from
scratch in Russian. So you can imagine that I was going to be a bit bummed if all those hours I’d
spent preparing were for nothing.
But I wouldn’t be writing this to tell you how I’d failed, would I? No, because on that lovely gray
day, I got to hold my B1 certificate in my hands, and I cried from happiness.
And to share some of that joy with my fellow Russian learners, I wanted to let you guys in on a
few of my secrets to B1 success…
- Russify your life!
Whether you’re in Russia or not, there are plenty of things you can do to bring Russian language to your life. B1 is what I like to call the “lifestyle level”. You need to get as much experience as you can with Russian in everyday situations. For the brave and bold, I recommend putting your phone and/or laptop in Russian. This actually helped increase my reading speed, word recognition, and greatly expanded my vocabulary. For the faint of heart, the tried-and-true “sticky notes around the house”never seems to fail.
- Zlatoust textbooks.
No, really, this is not sponsored in any way. I have been recommending them since 2017! Even before I got to know the lovely team over at their school, I have been in love with their textbooks from the moment I got my hands on them. I have never seen Zlatoust textbooks in American curriculum or stores, but for any Russian language student studying for the TORFL exams, their books are a must-have. For B1 students, you should make their book “Программа” for the First-Level Certificate your new best friend. That book is your guiding light, I promise you. I can also recommend their “Лексический минимум” for the same level. The only downside to these test-prep-specific books is that they are 100% in Russian. Technically, this is actually for your benefit, but it is intimidating and can be confusing if you don’t have the patience to work through it without a tutor (but Zlatoust’s tutors are of equal calibre as their textbooks, so no worries there).
- Identify and remember your “why”.
A1 and A2 are a lot of fun, at least in my opinion. But once you get to B1, you have to really decide how serious you are about Russian. The grammar topics studied at B1 will open up a whole new level of Russian, and in order to maintain morale, you have to really stay disciplined and optimistic. Whether you are doing this for travel, educational, or career reasons, find your why and use it to motivate you along the way.
B1 may seem unattainable at times, but for every bit it is challenging, it’s also rewarding.
Learning Russian allows you to unlock a whole new piece of the world. New music, books,
movies, and conversation. It is your window into another way of life, and if that isn’t enough to
inspire you to study this incredible language, then I don’t know what is.
For 2021’s B1 students, I wish you the best of luck! I hope to release a new set of tips and tricks
later this year when I attempt the mythical C1 TORFL exam.
Join TORFL B1 preparatory course to get yourself ready for the exam!
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