На курсе мы часто знакомимся с новыми методами изучения языка.

In the course we often get acquainted with new methods of language learning.

Breakdown of На курсе мы часто знакомимся с новыми методами изучения языка.

• новый: new
• часто: often
• мы: we
• на: in
• язык: the language
• курс: the course
• метод: the method
• знакомиться с: to get acquainted with
• изучение: the learning

Questions & Answers about На курсе мы часто знакомимся с новыми методами изучения языка.

What exactly does на курсе mean, and why is it на, not в?

На курсе literally means “on the course”, but in English we usually say “on the course / in the course / on the program”.

Russian very often uses на with events, activities, and types of classes:

• на курсе – on a course
• на уроке – in class / in the lesson
• на лекции – at a lecture
• на занятиях – in (our) classes

В курсе exists, but it means something different:

• Я в ку́рсе. – I’m aware / I know about it / I’m in the loop.

So in your sentence, на курсе is the normal way to say “on the course” (during the course), and в курсе would be wrong here because it suggests “being in the know”, not “participating in a course”.

What does знакомимся literally mean, and why is it reflexive (with -ся)?

Знакомимся is the 1st person plural present form of знакомиться.

• знакоми́ть (кого́) с (кем/чем) – to acquaint / introduce someone to someone/something
• знакоми́ться с (кем/чем) – to get acquainted / to become familiar with / to learn about

The -ся makes it reflexive, so instead of “we acquaint someone”, it becomes “we get acquainted (ourselves) with something”.

In your sentence:

• мы знакоми́мся с новыми методами…
  = we get acquainted with / we become familiar with new methods…
  (i.e. we are introduced to them, we learn about them)

Without -ся, the verb would mean something different:

• Мы знакоми́м студентов с новыми методами…
  – We acquaint / introduce the students to new methods…

Why do we need с after знакомимся, and what case comes after it?

The verb знакомиться is almost always used as знакомиться с кем/чем.

• It requires the preposition с.
• After с here, you must use the instrumental case.

Patterns:

• знакомиться с кем? – with whom? (Instrumental)
  
  • с друзья́ми, с преподава́телем
• знакомиться с чем? – with what? (Instrumental)
  
  • с языко́м, с пра́вилами, с но́выми ме́тодами

So:

• новые ме́тоды (Nominative plural – “new methods”)
• с новыми методами (Instrumental plural – “with new methods”)

You cannot drop с here.
* знакомимся новыми методами – is ungrammatical.

What form is новыми методами, and how does the agreement work?

Новыми методами is instrumental plural:

• но́вый ме́тод – new method (Nominative singular)
• но́вые ме́тоды – new methods (Nominative plural)
• но́вым ме́тодом – (with) a new method (Instrumental singular)
• но́выми ме́тодами – (with) new methods (Instrumental plural)

Because знакомиться с requires the instrumental, both the adjective and the noun take instrumental plural endings:

• adjective: но́вый → но́выми
• noun: ме́тод → ме́тодами

So новыми методами literally means “with new methods”.

What is изучения языка grammatically, and how does it relate to the verb изучать?

Изучения языка is a genitive–genitive noun phrase:

• изучение – a noun meaning “study / studying / learning (in-depth)”
  (derived from the verb изуча́ть / изучи́ть – to study, to learn thoroughly)
• изуче́ние чего́? – study of what? → requires genitive
  • изуче́ние языка́ – study of the language
  • изуче́ние грамма́тики – study of grammar

In your sentence:

• методами (чего?) изучения (чего?) языка
  – methods of studying the language

So the structure is:

• мето́ды (methods)
  чего́? → изуче́ния (of studying)
  чего́? → языка́ (of the language)

Both изучения and языка are genitive singular.

Meaning-wise, изучение языка ≈ “language study / the study of a language”.
English often uses a verb + -ing for this (e.g. methods of learning a language), but Russian commonly uses a noun + genitive construction instead.

Could I say методы изучения языка instead, without с and the instrumental case?

Yes, but it would change the structure of the sentence.

Your original sentence:

• На курсе мы часто знакомимся с новыми методами изучения языка.
  – On the course we often get acquainted with new methods of language study.

Here, знакомимся с needs с + instrumental:

• знакомимся с (чем?) новыми методами изучения языка

If you remove с, you also need to change the verb, because знакомиться does not take a direct object.

But методы изучения языка as a noun phrase is absolutely correct:

• На курсе мы изуча́ем но́вые ме́тоды изуче́ния языка́.
  – On the course we study new methods of language learning.

So:

• With знакомиться → you must keep с + Instrumental.
• The phrase методы изучения языка itself is fine but needs a different verb that can take a direct object (like изучать, рассматривать, обсуждать).

Why is it знакомимся (imperfective present) and not познакомимся (perfective)? How would the meaning change?

Знакомиться is imperfective, познакомиться is perfective.

• Мы часто знакоми́мся…
  – present tense, imperfective → describes a repeated, habitual action:
  We often get acquainted / we often learn about…

• Мы познако́мимся…
  – future tense, perfective → describes one completed event in the future:
  We will get acquainted (once)…

Two key points:

1. “Often” + perfective is usually wrong or very strange in Russian.
   Adverbs like ча́сто go naturally with imperfective (habitual, repeated action).
   So * мы часто познакомимся is not normal Russian.

2. Знакомились (past imperfective) is also possible, but refers to a past habit:

   • На ку́рсе мы часто знакоми́лись с новыми методами…
     – On the course we often used to get acquainted with new methods…

So in your sentence, знакомимся is chosen because the speaker is describing a regular, ongoing pattern, not a one-time event.

Can I change the word order? For example: Мы часто знакомимся на курсе с новыми методами…?

Yes, Russian word order is quite flexible, and your example is grammatically correct:

• Мы часто знакомимся на курсе с новыми методами изучения языка.

Some common variants (all correct, just with slightly different emphasis):

1. На курсе мы часто знакомимся с новыми методами изучения языка.
   – Neutral, with a small emphasis on the setting “on the course”.

2. Мы часто знакомимся с новыми методами изучения языка на курсе.
   – Slightly more emphasis on “we”, and the course is mentioned later.

3. Часто мы на курсе знакомимся с новыми методами изучения языка.
   – Emphasizes “often”, as if contrasting with other situations.

Main guideline: keep знакомимся and its required phrase с новыми методами… relatively close, and don’t separate на курсе in a way that makes understanding harder. But within that, there is a lot of freedom.

Where else can часто go, and does its position change the meaning?

The most natural positions:

• На курсе мы часто знакомимся с новыми методами…
• Мы часто знакомимся на курсе с новыми методами…
• Часто на курсе мы знакомимся с новыми методами…

All keep the same basic meaning (“often”), but differ in emphasis:

• Часто мы… / Часто на курсе мы… – emphasizes how often it happens, sometimes with a contrast:
  It’s often that, on the course, we get acquainted with new methods…

What you usually avoid:

• *Мы знакомимся часто с новыми методами… – sounds awkward.
• *Мы знакомимся с новыми методами часто. – possible in speech for emphasis, but more marked; neutral Russian prefers часто before the verb.

So, best practice: put ча́сто before the verb (часто знакомимся) or at the very beginning (Часто на курсе…) for a natural sound.

How is the whole sentence pronounced, and where are the stresses?

Stresses (marked with ´):

• На ку́рсе мы ча́сто знако́мимся с но́выми ме́тодами изуче́ния языка́.

Syllable-by-syllable (stressed syllables in CAPS):

• На KÚR-se my CHÁ-sta zna-KÓ-mi-msya s NÓ-vy-mi MÉ-to-da-mi i-zu-CHÉ-ni-ya ya-zy-KÁ.

Key stress points:

• ку́рсе – KÚR-se
• ча́сто – CHÁ-sta
• знако́мимся – zna-KÓ-mi-msya
• но́выми – NÓ-vy-mi
• ме́тодами – MÉ-to-da-mi
• изуче́ния – i-zu-CHÉ-ni-ya
• языка́ – ya-zy-KÁ

Pronounced smoothly, without big pauses in the middle of the phrase.