Russian classics and problems of perception of voluminous texts in the lessons of the Russian language as a foreign language

The article deals with the issue of perception of voluminous texts when studying Russian classical literature in the frames of the Russian as a Foreign Language course in China. The authors of the article offer one possible option of studying literary works in the curriculum which combines showings of film adaptations with question-and-answer discussions of different types from methodological developments of recent years. Ignorance or lack of understanding of voluminous literary works is compensated by watching their film adaptations within the integrity of the cultural context which is absorbed throughout the entire period of learning the Russian language. But even systematic reference to well-known classical works of literature does not remove perception barriers for Chinese students caused by cultural differences. Possible misunderstanding of the text is related to both the language level of students and extra-linguistics. The formation of communicative and general cultural competencies in the process of working with productive and receptive types of speech activity will help to overcome the identified problems of understanding texts.