MTEL Russian common mistakes
MTEL Russian · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Transliterating Russian words into Latin letters in a writing sample or short-answer response instead of writing in Cyrillic, or mixing Latin and Cyrillic characters within one word (e.g., writing 'c' or 'o' from the Latin keyboard inside a Cyrillic word).
Candidates who learned Russian informally, or who type on a non-Russian keyboard under time pressure, default to phonetic Latin spelling; visually identical Latin and Cyrillic letters make the substitution easy to miss.
What to do instead
Practice typing full paragraphs on a Cyrillic keyboard layout until touch-typing is automatic, and proofread every written response by switching the font to one where Latin and Cyrillic glyphs differ visibly, or by running a spell-check in Russian.
Applying a single default ending to all nouns and adjectives regardless of case, gender, and number, e.g., writing 'в большом комната' or using nominative adjectives after prepositions that govern other cases.
Learners memorize vocabulary lists as dictionary forms and drill case endings in isolation, so during connected production the case government of each preposition and verb is not retrieved in time.
What to do instead
Build a personal reference table organized by governing word (preposition or verb) rather than by case, and do cloze drills in which every blank requires choosing the case from the governor before supplying the ending.
Conjugating verbs by analogy with the first conjugation whenever the infinitive is unfamiliar, producing forms like 'он ходит' for 'ходить' in the wrong aspectual context or 'я писаю' for 'писать'.
The second conjugation and irregular verbs are a minority of vocabulary but a majority of high-frequency verbs, so pattern-matching on the infinitive ending fails precisely on the verbs that appear most often.
What to do instead
Memorize the 1st and 2nd person singular forms of the highest-frequency irregular verbs as fixed chunks, and practice conjugating from the 'я' and 'ты' forms rather than from the infinitive.
Treating aspect as a synonym for tense, choosing perfective and imperfective forms interchangeably in past-tense narration, e.g., using 'я прочитал' for a repeated habitual action or 'я читал' for a single completed result.
English has no grammatical aspect distinction of this kind, so candidates map Russian aspect onto English simple versus progressive tense and never internalize the result-versus-process and single-versus-repeated contrasts.
What to do instead
For each verb pair, write one sentence with a clear single-result context and one with a repeated or ongoing context, then have a study partner or tutor check the aspect choice; drill the signal words (часто, каждый день, вдруг, уже, наконец) that force one aspect.
Misplacing or omitting the past-tense copula and the present-tense 'быть', or inserting a present-tense copula where Russian requires a dash, e.g., 'Москва есть столица' or omitting the dash in 'Москва - столица России'.
English requires an overt 'is' in every present-tense clause, so candidates transfer it into Russian, and they are unsure when the written dash substitutes for it.
What to do instead
Drill nominal sentences with a subject and a noun predicate until the dash rule (both terms nouns, present tense, no pronoun subject) is automatic, and mark every instance where English would need 'is' to decide whether Russian needs a dash or nothing.
Answering culture questions with vague generalities ('Russian culture values community') instead of naming specific institutions, dates, works, or figures, e.g., being unable to identify the significance of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Decembrist revolt, or perestroika.
Candidates prepare culture by skimming broad survey chapters and never build a retrieval-ready set of concrete facts, so they recognize names but cannot produce them under exam conditions.
What to do instead
Build a dated timeline and a one-line fact card for each major figure, work, and event, and self-test by writing the significance from memory before checking; prioritize items that connect language to history, such as the 1918 orthography reform.
Reading a literary excerpt as pure plot summary and ignoring the formal features the question asks about, such as skaz narration, the superfluous man, or the role of the narrator in a framed tale.
Candidates rely on plot summaries from study guides rather than reading the assigned texts closely, so they can describe what happens but not how the text is constructed.
What to do instead
Read each set text once for plot and once with a pencil marking narrative voice, recurring images, and genre markers; write a three-sentence analysis of each work that names one formal device and quotes a short phrase supporting it.
Assuming Russian pronunciation maps one-to-one onto spelling, failing to apply vowel reduction in unstressed syllables (akanye) and final devoicing, or misplacing stress in words like 'звонит' and 'красивее'.
Written study dominates preparation, and stress marks are absent from ordinary printed text, so candidates learn spelling without the sound system that governs it.
What to do instead
Practice reading aloud with recorded audio, marking stress on every new word in the vocabulary notebook, and drill minimal pairs for unstressed о/а and final devoicing; have a tutor correct stress placement in spoken responses.
Writing an essay or extended response with English rhetorical structure - thesis, three supporting paragraphs, explicit conclusion - without Russian discourse connectors, or padding with memorized phrases that do not answer the prompt.
Candidates transfer the five-paragraph essay format from English composition and lack a repertoire of Russian connectors and hedging devices, so the response reads as translated English.
What to do instead
Collect and drill a fixed set of discourse markers (однако, следовательно, во-первых, тем не менее, таким образом) and outline responses using them; write timed responses and check that every sentence advances the specific prompt rather than restating it.
Spending disproportionate time on a single difficult item or on the listening passage, leaving later constructed-response items unfinished or answered in a few words.
The exam mixes selected-response and constructed-response sections with different pacing demands, and candidates who have not rehearsed under timed conditions underestimate how long written production takes.
What to do instead
Take at least two full-length timed practice runs, set a per-item time budget, and rehearse the habit of flagging and moving past an item after a fixed interval; practice producing a complete short response in the allotted minutes before polishing.