The description of levels corresponds to the levels described by the standardized

Test of Russian as a Foreign Language (TORFL). Note that the usage of level des
cription in English is slightly different and generally less demanding. However,
grading of the TORFL (A,B,C,D) is relatively easy and only D grades are failed
grades. The Moscow state university MGU has several TORFL testing offices, where
you can take appointments to pass this test: Either at the MGU TORFL Testing of
fice of FilFak or at the Center of Russian Language, with whom we are collaborat
ing. The cost of the TORFL test is USD 50-100 depending on the level and MGU stu
dents receive a discount.
You can also view this article in German, French or Russian.
BASIC (TORFL level 0)
Students have the ability to communicate in a limited number of the most familia
r and everyday situations in a Russian-speaking environment. The TORFL test cons
ists of five parts:
Reading Competence: Students are able to read and extract the main points of
short simple authentic texts (such as newspaper headings public notices, signs,
ads etc). Students are expected to read general matter texts in Cyrillic. The t
est consists of 3 sections (30 items, multiple task questions).
Writing Competence: Students are able to reproduce in written form (Cyrillic
) the context of a simple text, answer simple questions and write a short letter
, notice, greeting card, etc. The test consists of 2 sections, each of which inc
ludes 2 tasks.
Listening Competence: Students are able to follow short oral dialogues (10-1
4 lines) and monologues on everyday topics, and to extract specific information
(topic, place, time, reason) without necessarily understanding every word. There
are three tasks in the test (30 items, multiple task questions).
Oral Competence: Students are able to participate in simple conversations, t
o respond appropriately to questions of conversational nature based on a limited
number of everyday situations, to start a conversation and express themselves i
n simple (standard) situations. Students are also expected to carry on a convers
ation about them selves and express their own opinion. The test consists of 4 se
ctions, each of which includes 3 multiple-choice tasks. Two examiners (an Interl
ocutor and an Assessor) test students.
Structural competence: Students must be able to demonstrate their russian la
nguage knowledge of basic grammar (conjugation, declination, use of tenses) and
lexical systems A minimum vocabulary of about 300 words is necessary. The test c
onsists of 4 sections, the total number of multiple choice items being 110. Task
types: multiple choice and matching.
All five competencies are equally weighted 20% each.
There are three pass grades: A, B and C and certificates are awarded to all succ
essful candidates.
INTERMEDIATE (TORFL level 1)
Students have skills needed to survive in social and working Russian-speaking en
vironments. The TORFL test consists of five parts:
Reading Competence: Students are able to read small authentic texts (newspap
ers, magazines, books, etc.) of both informative (factual) and descriptive natur
e. They must demonstrate the ability to understand the main points as well as sp
ecific details. There are three tasks in the test. The total number of items is
20 (multiple-choice questions).
Writing Competence: Students are expected to reproduce the context of a text
(reproduction) and write their own composition, such as a letter, a card, etc.
(a productive type task). The written text should contain no less than 20 senten
ces (110 words).
Listening Competence: Students are able to understand short oral dialogues a
nd extract factual information (topic, time, relations, characteristics, purpose
s, causes, etc.). They are also expected to make sense of longer dialogues and a
ttitudes of speakers. Listening texts (announcements, news items, etc.) are also
included in the test. There are two tasks in the test (three monologues and thr
ee dialogues) with a total of 30 multiple choice questions.
Oral Competence: Students are tested by two examiners (an Interlocutor and a
n Assessor). Students are able to participate in a dialogue, respond appropriate
ly to questions of conversational nature, and start and finish their own convers
ation. Students are also expected to be able to converse on various topics (abou
t themselves, their work, profession, interests, hobbies, families, about their
country, their city, etc.). There are 4 parts in the test (14 items).
Structural competence: Students must be able to demonstrate their knowledge
of grammar and lexical systems, making simple statements in standard situations.
Required vocabulary is approximately 2000 words. There are four parts in this t
est (165 items, multiple-choice questions).
All five tests are equally weighted 20% each.
There are three pass grades: A, B and C and certificates are awarded to all succ
essful candidates.
A TORFL Level 1 certificate is a prerequisite for entering semester study in Rus
sian Universities institutions with obligatory further studies of the Russian la
nguage in Moscow.
ADVANCED (TORFL level 2)
Students are expected to show intermediate linguistic ability and competence to
express and discuss everyday life situations. Successful completion of this leve
l enables the student to carry out professional activities in science, engineeri
ng and humanities (except philology, translation and interpreting, editing, jour
nalism, diplomatic service and management, for which this level is an intermedia
te stage). This level is obligatory for receiving Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. deg
rees from Russian universities, you can get to this point by studing russian in
Moscow state university. The TORFL test consists of five parts:
Reading Competence: Students are able to read fluently various intermediate
level texts. Students must show an understanding of the main points as well as o
f specific details, understand the authors viewpoint and reproduce the given text
logically. The test consists of 3 sections, each of which consists of two tasks
(text and reading test respectively). The total number of multiple choice (3-4
variants) items is 25.
Writing Competence: Students are expected to write their own versions of tex
ts they have heard or read with the ability to summarize (plans, notes) and to w
rite their own informative texts in the form of personal or business letter, inq
uiries, applications, etc. Students must complete three tasks: 1) reproduce the
heard text in written form; 2) compile their own version of the read text; 3) wr
ite a formal or informal text characterizing a person or an object.
Listening Competence: Students are able to understand everyday life conversa
tions (announcements, news, TV features, etc., which explicitly express speakers
attitudes). Students are able to extract factual information, speakers intentions
, their aims and motives, opinions and relations from the text. There are five p
arts in the test, each of which contains audio and video items and tasks (25 ite
ms, multiple-choice questions).
Oral Competence: Students are able to participate in a guided conversation,
initiate a dialogue asking questions on the topic of the conversation, describe
something they have seen, express their opinion, achieve their communicative int
entions in a conversation. There are two parts to the test: 1) question answerin
g from recorded texts; 2) role-play with an examiner, where TV news or comments
are used to guide and stimulate the interaction.
Structural competence: Students must be able to demonstrate their ability to
use all lexical and grammatical means of the Russian language course in Odessa.
The test contains multiple choice questions, word matching and text reconstruct
ion. The total number of items is 150. A vocabulary of about 4000 words is requi
red.
All five tests are equally weighted 20% each.
There are three pass grades: A, B and C and certificates are awarded to all succ
essful candidates.
PROFICIENCY (TORFL level 3)
This level provides high-level final qualification of the Russian language. This
level is referred to as an advanced stage of proficiency, allowing professional
activity in philology, translation and interpreting, editing, journalism, diplo
matic service and management in a Russian speaking environment. Please check our
specialist russian language courses in Moscow prices. This level is required fo
r receiving Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. degrees in these fields (except specialis
ts and Masters of Art Degree in Philology).
Tested are the following abilities:
Reading Competence: Students are able to understand and interpret appropriat
ely various texts of cultural and business language nature, to read authentic te
xts, and make elementary text analysis. Students should show various reading ski
lls including scanning and detailed reading and be able to apply and combine the
se methods. There are four parts in the test, giving a total of about 2500 words
(25 items, multiple-choice questions).
Writing Competence: Students are expected to write their own versions of hea
rd and read texts, show their ability to analyze the information (notes, reports
, formal/informal letters) in detail. Real world materials (articles, brochures,
advertisements, formal/informal letters, etc.) are taken as reference. In addit
ion, candidates must write a composition of a descriptive, narrative or discursi
ve nature (an article, an essay, and a longer letter). Texts are written for a s
pecified purpose and target reader. Students must complete three tasks: 1,2) to
reproduce the heard text in written form; 3) to write a composition showing comp
rehension of the matter and expressing their own attitude to the problem.
Listening Competence: Students are expected to understand recorded texts in
detail including the speakers attitude and feelings. Texts take the form of radio
and TV features, extracts from fiction films, plays, public speeches, etc. Ther
e are four parts and 25 items in the test: 1) short dialogue; 2) discussion; 3)
public speech; 4) artistic speech (TV or radio feature).
Oral Competence: Students are able to participate in a guided conversation,
initiate a dialogue asking questions on the topic of the conversation, describe
something they have seen, express their opinion, achieve their communicative int
entions in a conversation. There are two parts to the test: 1) question answerin
g from recorded texts; 2) role-play with an examiner, where TV news or comments
are used to guide and stimulate the interaction.
Structural competence: Students are able to demonstrate their knowledge of t
he language system, to apply appropriately language units and structures by comp
leting the tasks based partly on authentic texts taking into consideration the t
exts stylistic coloring. The test contains the following task types: multiple cho
ice (3-4 choices), matching and text reconstruction/completion/extension. The to
tal number of items is 100.
All five tests are equally weighted 20% each.
There are three pass grades: A, B and C and certificates are awarded to all succ
essful candidates. See our Russian language courses in Saint Petersbourg
FLUENCY (TORFL level 4)
This level is referred to as an advanced stage of proficiency very close to the
native-speaker level. It provides high-level final qualification in the language
. This level is obligatory for receiving a Master of Arts degree and is recogniz
ed for academic purposes in the field of the Russian language.
 Reading Competence: Students are expected to understand detailed content, to
ne and context of various kinds of texts: abstract, professional, fiction, liter
ature. There are four texts in the test, giving a total of about 4000 words (25
items, multiple-choice questions) with exercises in text reconstruction and fini
shing open closes.
Writing Competence: Students are expected to write their own versions of any
kind of text, to show their ability to analyze the information in great detail.
In addition, candidates must write a composition of a descriptive, narrative or
discursive nature (an article, an essay, and a long letter). Students must comp
lete three tasks: 1) compile their own text on the basis of a read text; 2, 3 wr
ite a composition without background texts.
Listening Competence: Students are expected to extract information, interpre
t speakers attitudes and recognize the implications of stress and intonation. Tex
ts take the form of radio and TV features, extracts from fiction films, public s
peeches, etc. There are four parts and 25 items in the test: 1) short dialogue;
2) discussion; 3) public speech; 4) public interview.
Oral Competence: Students are expected to achieve any aims in both prepared
and non-prepared speeches showing skills necessary to build up their communicati
onal strategy and to influence the audience accordingly.
Structural competence: Students are able to demonstrate their knowledge of t
he linguistic system, to use actively structural, grammatical and lexical units
in separate short texts as well as in extracts from larger texts taking into acc
ount their stylistic usage and ability to use appropriate lexical and grammatica
l means of the Russian language. The test contains the following task types: mul
tiple choice questions, text reconstruction, homonyms and antonyms of words, the
total number of items being 100.
All five competencies are equally weighted 20% each.
There are three pass grades: A, B and C and certificates are awarded to all succ
e
ssful candidates. To reach this level you can follow our Russian courses
in Kaliningrad. or get tested directly in our center of Russian language courses
in Moscow state University.

At all 6 levels the TRKI comprises five subtests . Depending on the level, each
subtest lasts between 30 minutes and 1 hours.
The subtests are as follows:
(1)
Grammar Multiple choice questions, between 80 and 165 depending
on level
(2)
Reading 20-30 multiple choice questions on one or more texts, de
pending on level
(3)
Writing Free writing on a set topic, 1-3 tasks depending on leve
l
(4)
Listening 20-30 multiple choice questions based on audio clips at
lower levels, video at higher levels
(5)
Speaking Conversation with an examiner, at lower levels on a topi
c prepared on the day of the test