Margarita A. Orlova
333 Escuela Ave., Apt. #339
Mountain View, California, 94040
E-mail: margarita@rent-a-mind.com
Phone: 650-964-7904
Work Experience
Rent-a-mind.com/margarita (11/04/1997 - Present) - Freelance consultant and language instructor
Mountain View, California, United States
Duties: Instructing American professionals in Russian and Kazakh
language. Acting as Kazakhstan - America business liaison. Providing
cross-cultural facilitation & training in Russian and Kazakh culture
and political history, Russian - English translation, editing and
interpreting service.
Google Inc. (via ABE services) (11/25/2005 - 11/25/2006) - Google Quality Rater
Mountain View, California, United States
Duties: Consulted as Russian linguist to assist in improvement of
Google's Russian search. Evaluated authoritativeness, up-to-dateness,
appropriateness, authenticity, completeness and overall quality and
relevance of results for Google Russian online searching. Project-based
temporary position.
Google Inc. (via Payrolling) (01/02/2004 - 08/02/2005) - Google Quality Rater
Mountain View, California, United States
Duties: Consulted as Russian linguist to assist in improvement of
Google's Russian search.
Evaluated authoritativeness, up-to-dateness, appropriateness,
authenticity, completeness and overall quality and relevance of results
for Google Russian online searching. Project-based temporary position.
Institute of Nuclear Physics (05/23/2003 - 11/20/2003) - TESOL instructor
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Duties: Taught English as a Foreign Language (TESOL) to nuclear
physicists, developed curricula, and tailored instructional materials
to four different student levels.
Kazakh State Univ of World Languages (09/01/1994 - 04/20/1997) - Professor of Russian Language and Linguistics
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Duties: Lectured on General Linguistics and Foreign Language
Acquisition. Taught seminars, workshops and intensive Russian language
classes for foreign students. Designed various curricula, including
those necessary for converting the former pedagogical institute into a
University. Laid out instructional materials, checked homework,
devised, administered and graded tests. Designed an intensive exposure
of students to Russian language in an immersion environment, to reach
the competency level. Taught listening, reading, writing, and speaking
skills. Researched and evaluated teaching materials. Researched on the
subjects of bilingualism, bilingual education, foreign and second
language acquisition as well as current foreign language teaching
theories and methods. Delivered and facilitated conference talks on the
topics of linguistics and second language acquisition. Headed the
faculty developing seminar and Student Linguistics Research Society.
United States Agency on International Development (11/04/1994 -
04/20/1997) - Russian Language and Culture Instructor
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Duties: Created an intensive program for Russian language training in
Central Asia for the United States Agency on International Development.
Conducted intensive Russian language classes for the Agency staff.
Developed instructional materials and plans. Taught listening, reading,
writing, and speaking skills and discussed modern geopolitics,
economics and Kazakhstan economic and social issues with students. On
weekends, helped students in a mountain resort language-immersion
program adjust to the new cultural situation.
The United States Peace Corps (05/10/1994 - 08/31/1994) - Russian Language and Culture Instructor
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Duties: Taught intensive Russian language classes for Peace Corps
volunteers. Ensured speedy development of their listening & speaking
skills by following the Peace Corps "total physical response" language
teaching method. Tailored the Peace Corps instructional materials.
Created visual aids for the "situation-learning" Peace Corps method.
Tested student achievements in life situations. Taught intensive
classes at the language immersion camp.
Russian-Korean School, Kazakh Academy of Sciences (09/01/1992 -
06/01/1994) - Russian Language and Culture Instructor
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Duties: Designed linguistic competence-based curriculum for South
Korean students to acquire Russian in 48 weeks in a Russian speaking
environment with intensive study of Russian Pronunciation, Grammar,
Dialog Strategies, along with drills on listening, writing, reading,
and speaking. Taught classes in Russian Pronunciation and Spelling,
Listening-Comprehension, Grammar, Vocabulary Development via Fiction
Reading. Guided language proficiency Geography, History and Visual Art
classes and Art & Culture tours. Headed language immersion camps.
Almaty State University (09/01/1983 - 09/01/1994) - Associate Professor
of Russian Linguistics
Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan
Duties:
At Russian as a Foreign Language Department:
Created and managed programs and devised curricula for different levels
of Russian as a Foreign Language courses. Conducted intensive Russian
language classes for Chinese and Vietnamese students. Taught listening
comprehension, reading comprehension, writing, and speaking skills.
Created teaching materials, prepared classes, checked homework,
designed, administered and graded tests. Devised an intensive exposure
of students to Russian language in an immersion environment, to reach
the competency level. Developed cultural tours and language immersion
camp programs. Researched on the subjects of bilingualism, bilingual
education, foreign and second language acquisition as well as current
foreign language teaching theories and methods. Delivered numerous
conference and workshop talks and wrote 14 articles on the subject.
Directed monthly faculty development workshops to share research
results and ideas on the said subjects.
At Russian and Linguistics Department:
Taught the Theory of Russian Language (including Phonology,
Orthography, Lexicology, Lexicography, Morphology and Word Formation),
History of Russian Language (including Old Church Slavonic and
Dialectology) and General Linguistics (including Introduction to
Linguistics, Semantics and History of Writing Systems). Designed
programs and curricula. Devised and published Russian Language Lab
Manual. Supervised masters theses of graduate students. Directed
Student Linguistics Research Society. Developed faculty training
programs and seminars.
Almaty Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages (09/01/1977 -
09/01/1983) - Assistant Professor
Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, the U.S.S.R.
Duties: Taught Russian as a Second Language for Kazakh students: taught
speaking, reading and writing proficiency in professional usage of
Russian; adapted instructional materials; checked homework,
administered and graded tests and examinations. As Head of the
Linguistic Statistics Laboratory (from 09/01/1981), developed Teaching
Dictionaries of Word Frequencies for literary and professional level
original texts in English, French, German and Russian for enhancing
students' reading comprehension skills in the taught languages.
Education
School of Library & Info Sciences / San Jose State Univ (01/25/2006 -
Still Attending)
San Jose, California
12 semester hours taken toward Degree of Master in LIS
College/University
U. S. Equivalence: Doctor of Philosophy degree in Russian
Credential: Diploma of Candidate of Philological Sciences
Institution: Highest Certification Commission (Moscow), on the basis of
dissertation, defended at Kazakh State University
Country: Kazakhstan
Date: April, 6th, 1982
Total semester hours of graduate credit: 54.00
Courses: Research dissertation in Russian: Semantics of Verbs of
Spatial Orientation
U. S. credits: 54.00 U. S. grades: S
As part of Canditate of Science Program, independently studied and
passed examinations on German, Philosophy, Applied Linguistics,
Bilingualism and Bilingual Education, Theory of Foreign Language
Acquisition, Contrastive & Typology Linguistics, Theory of Linguistic
Translation and Interpretation, Theory & History of Russian Language
and General Linguistics.
College/University
U. S. Equivalence: Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Russian and
a minor in Secondary Education, and Master of Arts degree in Russian
Grade Average: 3.81
Credential: Diploma confirming the qualification of Philologist,
Instructor of Russian Language and Literature
Institution: Kazakh State University, Alma-Ata,
Country: Kazakhstan
Date: 06/17/1971
Diploma Thesis: Word & Phrase in the System of Object Nomination; U. S.
Credit: 6.00; U.S. Grade: A.
Total U. S. semester hours of undergraduate and graduate credit: 150.75
Description:
Methodology of Teaching Russian Language & Teaching Practice - 10
semester hours
Russian Language Structure - 8 semester hours
History of Linguistic Teachings - 2.25 semester hours
Linguistic Statistics - 2.25 semester hours
World Languages - 2.25 semester hours
Additional Information LANGUAGES:
Russian (native), English (advanced professional proficiency), German
(advanced), Kazakh, Ancient Russian /Old Church Slavonic, Latin,
Bulgarian, Attic Greek, Turkmen, Tatar. Through my linguistic studies,
I have learned a great deal about many other languages as well.
ADDITIONAL EDUCATION:
US High School Diploma (06/20/1999)
Learned English as a Second Language via graduating from High School in
the U.S. My second, US High School Diploma was issued by Santa Clara
Unified School District, Adult Educational Options, Santa Clara, CA
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEST INFORMATION (05/12/2005):
TOEFL scaled scores - Section 1: 27, Section 2: 25, Section 3: 30.
Total score: 273
Both my Google job and LIS studies have involved much email
correspondence, reports, essays and research work, so my written
English communication skills have improved considerably.
ADDITIONAL TRAINING:
Postgraduate fellowship - (09/01/1990 - 09/01/1992)
The 2-year research work on building Russian Thesaurus for Russian as a
Second & Foreign Language students. Moscow State University, Moscow,
Russia / Almaty State University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
CERTIFICATION: Latin language teaching certificate (09/01/1983 -
01/15/1984)
Classic Languages Department, Moscow Pedagogic Institute of Foreign
Languages, Moscow, Russia.
120 semester hours of coursework in Latin language designed for the
Sabbatical year program
Awards
Soros Foundation (Kazakhstan) Grant Competition (11/02/1996):
Won the Soros Foundation (Kazakhstan) Competition of Kazakh language
textbooks for non-Kazakh speakers. The grant was awarded and the
textbook Kazakh Language in Problems and Tasks published in 1998 by
Zhibek Zholy Publishing House. The book grew out of a newspaper column:
on a bi-weekly basis, from 1992 to 1994, I contributed to the
Republican children's newspaper "Druzhnye Rebiata", as a columnist with
"joyful lessons for Kazakh language" devised for Russian-speaking
elementary school children in Kazakhstan.
Computer Skills
Searching on-line: Internet and Web 2.0 on-line databases;
Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers;
email (Eudora, Netscape, Pine, Nifty Telnet, Apple Mail);
word processors (Microsoft Word, AppleWorks), including knowledge of Cyrillic fonts and encodings;
spreadsheets (AppleWorks, Excel);
graphic software (Adobe PhotoDeluxe);
fax machines, scanners, printers;
typing speed: 25 wpm
Professional Affiliations
American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages
AATSEEL of the U.S., Inc.
Scientific Publications
Have published over 50 linguistic papers and reviews in various
scholarly journals. The list is available upon request
References available upon request.