Intensive diplomas

The Intensive Diploma in Arabic

The Intensive Diploma in Arabic is an institutional diploma that enables you to achieve a broad level of competence and autonomy in one year, with a gateway for access to L2. It offers advanced training in modern Arabic, the language of the media, the press and contemporary literature. The course also aims to develop proficiency in the use of computer resources and the Internet in Arabic. The intensive year also includes the learning of a Maghrebian or Middle Eastern dialect and provides a knowledge of civilization (human geography and history of the contemporary Arab world and Middle East).

The intensive diploma is very demanding, with the only possible regime being that of full continuous assessment, with attendance required. The workload is estimated at between 50 and 60 hours per week, including face-to-face classes. It is exclusive of any other study or occupation during the year.
Admission to the intensive diploma in Arabic is by application, possibly with an interview. The number of places is limited.

You are a beginner in Arabic, but by the start of the course you should have acquired a perfect command of the alphabet, the texts of lessons 1-4 and the grammatical content of the lesson "Repères de 1 à 8" of the method used (Luc-Willy Deheuvels, Méthode d'arabe - arabe littéral - volume 1, niveaux A1 et A2 du CECRL, L'Asiathèque, Paris, 2022. Beginners in Arabic can master the prerequisite by registering now at Inalco'sMOOC in Arabic language.

The Intensive Diploma in Russian

The Intensive Diploma in Russian ("DIR", in Russian: ИКРЯ) is aimed at highly motivated beginners wishing to devote themselves exclusively to the study of Russian for one year. Validation of this year is equivalent to obtaining the first year of the Russian Bachelor's degree (national diploma).

This diploma is at the same time a completed training course and the equivalent of a first year of the Russian Bachelor's degree. It will enhance your CV if you intend to work in Russia or in connection with Russia, or if Russian is an auxiliary discipline for your other studies, or for a career in the international professions etc.

As the equivalent of a first-year Bachelor's degree, it offers you the possibility of continuing into the second year of a Bachelor's degree, and thus ultimately aiming for translator/interpreter training (via specialized courses after the Bachelor's degree, ESIT or ISIT in France), a teaching and/or research career, the "Cadre d'Orient" competitive examination, a FLE, intercultural or multilingual digital processing course, or even international careers.

For young and not-so-young students alike, it's a chance to fulfill a long-held dream, and to gain access by the end of the year to texts - written or spoken - created by Russians and for Russians: literary texts, press texts, technical works...

Beware, the sheer volume of work required and the fast-paced pace of study are not for everyone. Not everyone has the time or motivation to devote themselves daily to the study of Russian language, culture and society; not everyone already has the working method required for intensive study of a subject; many prefer a more relaxed pace in learning concepts (especially grammar) and need more time to acquire fluency in the language. If this is your case, the Diplôme d'Initiation may be more suitable for you if you've never taken Russian before; and enrolment in the first year of the Licence will in any case be preferable if you already have sufficient knowledge (cf. the online Russian test available on this same site). In these cases, study will take an extra year, but you'll be reunited with some of your fellow students from the intensive course in the second year of your degree.

If, on the other hand, it's intensive study that interests you, you should know that the teaching team guarantees you individual follow-up on the Institute's premises and via e-mail; work in small groups that allows everyone to practice or ask questions under optimum conditions; new, personalized study materials renewed each year for the intensive course students; a level at the end of the year sufficient to access unexpurgated texts, be autonomous in the country and pursue the study yourself.

Programme (weekly hourly volume)

• Theoretical grammar: 4h in semester A, 5h in semester B
• Practical grammar: 4h in semester A, 5h in semester B (both grammar courses strictly follow the same program)
• Written practice: 3h
• Spoken practice and phonetics: 2.5h minimum (more if desired)
• Russian history: 1.5h
• Russian literary history: 1.5h
• Geography of the Russian world (semester A): 1.5h
• Contemporary Russia as seen by the social sciences (semester B): 1.5h

History, literature and geography courses, as well as part of the language courses in the second semester, are common with those in the first year of the Licence.
It is advisable, as far as possible, to contact the head of the course as soon as you have made the firm decision to enroll: you will then be provided with elements enabling you to prepare for the year before the start of the academic year.

Passerelles

Holders of the Intensive Diploma in Russian can enroll by right in the second year of the Russian LLCER Licence, with equivalence of the first year.
During the course of the year, it is possible to request a reorientation to the Diplôme d'Initiation.

Enrollment procedures

The Diplôme intensif is very demanding, the only possible regime is that of full continuous assessment, with attendance required. The workload is estimated at between 50 and 60 hours per week, including face-to-face classes. It is incompatible with a second course of study or full-time salaried employment.
Admission to the Intensive Diploma in Russian is by application.

Admission commissions examine applications from March-April for the first session, and from late August for a few remaining places allocated in the second session.