Why do Russian-speaking parents force their children to learn Russian? Among the obvious reasons are the connection with their homeland, maintaining their roots and culture, and communicating with relatives. There is another practical one. It is to pass the NEWL Russian exam in high school.
Below, let's understand what this exam is and why to take it.
Why Russian is recognized by the U.S. government as a language of dire need
First, let's look at why Russian is in demand in the United States. Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (UN). This means that all of the organization's international documents are written in Russian.
In addition, the Russian top 10 of the most widely spoken languages in the world. That said, in the United States, as of 2024There are only about 2.4 million Russian-speaking people. This is about 1% of the total population of North America.
Literate specialists with Russian language skills are in short supply in all spheres of business, IT, in government structures for document management, international organizations, and so on.
Therefore, Russian, along with the other three languages - Arabic, Korean and Portuguese - are considered critical by the U.S. government. To this end, world language examinations have been developed (National Examination in World Languages) or NEWL for short.
What is the NEWL exam
The NEWL Russian language exam is usually taken in high school (11-12). It is given every spring and students must be 14 years of age at the time of taking the exam. The results of the exam add additional points (credits) to the school certificate. And, depending on the grades received, it is possible to continue advanced study in the subject in one of the American universities. The list can be found on the official organizer's website.
The exam does not test in-depth knowledge of Russian history. All that is required of a student is to speak fluent Russian, understand the meaning of the text, be able to answer questions, and be able to express thoughts competently in writing.
NEWL exam content
Thus, the NEWL Russian language exam consists of 4 parts:
- Reading (reading comprehension and answering questions);
- listening (listening to different texts);
- written part (and you do not need to write by hand - all answers are typed on a keyboard with Russian layout);
- oral speech (the ability to express your thoughts on various topics about yourself, your hobbies and everyday life is tested).
45-60 minutes are allotted for each part. In total, the exam lasts 3.5 hours.
If you want to assess your strengths, you can register for the NEWL Russian language mock exam, which takes place online in March.
Is it difficult for bilinguals to pass the exam?
Each child is different, but many parents of Russian-speaking bilinguals note that their children pass it successfully.
To assess the complexity of the tasks, you can look at test examples of yesteryear.
As a rule, teenagers studying at our school consider taking the NEWL Russian language exam. For this purpose, we offer group Russian language classes as well as a course of "Conversation school.".
If your child wants to prepare for NEWL at their school, we also offer individual lessons. You can try a trial lesson in Russian language for FREE. To make an application, fill out the form below and our manager will contact you.
