The relevance of the problem stems from the necessity to distinctly plan educational process and set the goals for successful mastering of Russian language by foreign students in Russian higher educational institutions. The article is aimed at defining the foreign students' objectives for Russian language training, allowing them to get involved into the learning process and adapt to the society. The leading method to the study of this problem is a practical method allowing to consider it as a process of purposeful planning that favors the improvement of the quality of education and enables foreign students to intensify the study of the language. During the educational planning process, the article proposes to use the concept of interconnected training for the main types of verbal activity that allows to single out the skills and abilities needed to master the communicative competencies, specifying objectives and optimizing the learning process. The article may be useful for researchers who develop a methodology for teaching foreign students, and for teachers who teach Russian language and plan the training of foreigners who are interested in optimization of the learning process.