Main Challenges of Teaching the Chinese Particle了 to Russian-speaking Students at Elementary Level

The particle 了 is a commonly used word in the Chinese language. Since the particle 了 is a structure word, it does not carry any semantic meaning, but it has many grammatical meanings and is used in a variety of ways. Due to the large number of its grammatical meanings and complexity of its grammatical functions, it poses certain challenges for both teachers when explaining the material and students when using it. This especially concerns Russian-speaking students due to significant differences in the grammar of Russian and Chinese. This article examines several classifications of the particle 了, described in Chinese and Russian textbooks and focuses on grammatical features of the particle 了 depending on its position in the middle and at the end of the sentence, as well as its simultaneous use of both in the middle and at the end of the sentence. The article also describes the particle’s main grammatical meanings, such as: completeness of an action, change of an action or a situation, emphasis on something, duration of an action, a way of expressing tact, and a few others. The authors analyze the most common mistakes made by Russian-speaking elementary level students when using the particle, basing their analysis on many years of their teaching experience. Among the mistakes, they highlight such as excessive use, insufficient use, and use of the particle 了 in the wrong place. Excessive use includes mistakes such using the particle 了 in negative sentences with the adverb 没, in an objective description of past events, facts, or in characteristic judgments and descriptions; with verbs followed by a predicative object; after the first verb in a sequential sentence; with verbs showing an action of a constant or repetitive nature, as well as in various constructions which exclude its use. Insufficient use includes mistakes when learners construct incomplete sentences without the 了 particle in cases where its use is required for correct meaning or for a grammatically correct construction. Mistakes where the particle 了 is used in the wrong place occur if students do not understand the specifics of verb connections in the sentence.