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With two round tables pushed together at the Espresso Royale on Goodwin Avenue, a language pocket-dictionary sits in the midst of a rigorous game of Clue. Five men of various ages ponder their thoughts before making guesses as to what lies within the Confidential package. But they’re not only thinking of their guesses; they’re also thinking of how to say their guesses in Russian.

For five years, the Slavic Department at the University has held weekly Russian conversation tables. This year, the conversation table are on Thursdays from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Espresso Royale on Goodwin Avenue. The department also has weekly movie nights, and has done so for three years now, on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in the Lucy Ellis Lounge of the Foreign Languages Building.

“The table is mostly for our students ... but film nights are events that other people can come to,” said Olesia Shchur, a graduate student in Slavic Literatures.

She said the 13 graduate students in the Slavic Department rotate the activities each week. Every Teaching Assistant (TA) takes charge of one movie night and one conversational table each semester.

Associate professor of Slavic languages and literatures Valeria Sobol added that the conversational table is open to the public as well.

“If someone who knows Russian but is not a part of our program, or had learned Russian before, [they could] come ... A lot of people only assume it’s for U of I students,” she said.

For the movie nights, Shchur, the graduate student, explained that teachers cover only a certain amount of information during class, including grammar, conversations and culture, due to time restraints.

“We were looking for ways to get our students introduced to the culture a little bit more,” she said. “Many, many people are interested in movies. That’s a really good way to learn about a culture.”

Slavic languages can be challenging, according to Sobol, especially for those “who don’t have a great learning discipline with languages.” She added, “We hope [that] opening the cultural exposure will keep them motivated.”

Besides learning about the culture, one goal for the conversational table is to give students more opportunities to practice the language.

“I always like to see them sort of speak a little more freely in Russian,” said Shchur. “Russian is such a complicated language ... it’s always nice to see someone overcome that barrier a little bit.”

Marty Reggi, sophomore in international studies, is taking his third semester in Russian.

“Not a lot of people know about eastern European culture unless you’ve grown up with it,” he said. He agrees with Sobol about the more relaxed environment.

“It’s good to speak Russian in a non-classroom environment,” he said. “There’s ... less pressure. You’re not being graded, but at the same time, you’re learning how to speak.”