Why learn Russian language?

If you ever pondered should you start learning Russian or is it too much work for what it’s worth, this article will help you with your decision. Here, we have listed the main reasons why we think you should be learning Russian.

Russia is the biggest country in the world

We will start with the most obvious: Russia is the biggest country in the word spreading its spacious territories from Europe to Asia.

Historically, it has played a major role in the world events and continues to do so.

It was closed behind the “Iron Curtain” for many years in the past and used to seem unreachable. Everything changed in the later years, and today you have all the chances to discover this significant part of the globe just by starting learning the language (which will open many other opportunities).

Russia has a lot to offer as a tourist destination

Due to economical and political reasons, Russia is greatly underestimated as a holiday destination. What’s important is that being the biggest country in the world and a country that’s rich in history, culture, and traditions, it has a lot to offer both to the lovers of nature and the ones who likes to discover new cultures.

If you are planning your next holidays in Russia (if not, you should seriously consider it), speaking at least a bit of Russian will help you enormously. While you will probably find English-speaking Russians in the big cities, if you want to travel further than that, Russians who can speak and understand English become more rare.

Being able to communicate in Russian will also broaden your options of finding affordable places to stay or destinations to go during your trips, as well as will help you to avoid popular tourist traps.

Russians love sharing their language and culture. If you show them that you are not just a tourist but someone who is interested in both, they will give you more attention and useful advices.

Some of the possible destinations for your Russian holidays can be found in on our site and below:

If you want to combine business and pleasure, i.e. to discover the country and learn the language at the same time, we recommend you to book your next trip with Immersion in Russia.

“Great and mighty” language

The Russian language takes the 8th place in the top 10 of the most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers and the 7th by total number of speakers.

The total number of Russian speakers around the world was estimated around 170 million in 2010.

Russian is also the largest native language in Europe and the most geographically widespread language in Eurasia. It is the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, with 144 million speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Besides, the Russian language is very beautiful if you know it. Russians call it “great and mighty” thanks to the Russian classic I.S. Turgenev. It is rich in expressive ways and word forms, many not available in English. This allows the Russian writers to transmit the ideas exactly as they feel them with the smallest nuances.

Learning Russian also makes you understand more about your own language and other languages you ever learned.

Famous Russians and their works

Russia is home to some of the world’s greatest intellectuals and academicians who have greatly influenced the life of many people across the globe. Some of the most prominent names are: Mikhail Lomonosov (scientist and writer), Ivan Kulibin (complex automatic mechanism inventor), Dmitri Mendeleev (chemist and inventor of the periodic table of elements), Ivan Pavlov (physiologist), and so on.

Russian literature counts a huge number of great works. If you like literature, you sure would like to read Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Pushkin in their original version, wouldn’t you?

Make friends with Russians

Nowadays you can meet Russians everywhere. They like to travel and when they can, they travel a lot. New generations of Russians are open, chatty and ready to make friends. But not all of them speak English or other languages. The ability to speak Russian removes the language barrier that separates you from having interesting conversations, spending good times with Russians and finding yourself good friends for life.

Let’s not forget about Russian women who have a reputation of being loyal, thoughtful and modest. If you are lucky to fall in love with a Russian girl and she loves you in return, you might have found a perfect companion and partner for life.

First-hand sources

Due to the historical past and the continued political games on the global arena, Russia is sadly often presented as a threat. In a world, where money buys opinions and truth becomes relative to whoever presents it, it is crucial to be able to get information from all sides and first hands.

The ability to speak and read in Russian will automatically break down all the preconceptions you had about Russia due to misinformation and will open many windows to a world previously inaccessible. You will be able to judge for yourself and draw your own opinions about this beautiful country and its people.

Learning Russian is beneficial for your health

According to scientists, learning languages is a good training for your brain and can help to secure your mental health when you get older. That should be even more true about the language with an alphabet completely different from yours.

Employment opportunities

Learning Russian as a professional choice will give you access to many job opportunities, starting from being a teacher all the way to positions in the government or international organizations.

Russia is standing strong on the world arena and is not going anywhere. It is a member of the UN, BRICS, G20, UNESCO, and other global organizations. It has business connections all over the world, and the companies that make business with Russia need employees who can speak Russian.

Learn Russian because you are interested in the Russian culture

Language forms our ways of thinking, so there is no better way to understand the culture and mentality of people than to learn their language. If you find yourself appreciative of the Russian culture, give yourself an opportunity to get to know it better by learning the Russian language.

If you have ever learned a second language in your life, you know the amazing feeling when you start understanding something that used to seem undecipherable before. Knowing Russian, you will be able to understand what your favorite Russian songs are about, or to watch Russian comedies in the original version and catch all the nuances that English translations often fail to interpret.

Conclusion

We have tried to list the most obvious reasons why you should be learning Russian, but if you ask people who already have learned it, they will surely add more to this list.

In the next articles we will tell you how you can learn Russian on your own or with a teacher. Stay tuned! 🙂