How much do you know about Russian? Have you ever had a desire to take up the study of the Russian language? From here you will learn 10 more reasons to do it!
1. First in space!
On April 12, 1961, the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in history to conquer space. The first words in space were spoken in Russian, opening a new page in world history!
2. The most beautiful and caring Russian girls usually do not speak English.
Frank can confirm that if you want to get acquainted with a real nice and caring Russian beauty, usually you can’t do without a minimal knowledge of Russian. In addition, most Russian girls love when a foreigner learns Russian!
3. Russian language is understood in every country of the post-Soviet space.
As an native speaker of the Russian language who travels a lot, I can give an approximate statistic of proficiency in the Russian language in 15 republics of the former USSR (I visited many of them personally).
Russia, Belarus – 100% speak & understand. Ukraine – 100% understand, but in Western part mostly people cannot speak it. Latvia and Estonia – 80% speak and understand (around 40% as native language). Lithuania – 70%. Georgia – 55% speak and understand it (100% of those who is older than age of 40, youngsters mostly neither speak nor understand it). Armenia and Azerbaijan – 70% speak and understand. Moldova – only 1% totally do not understand Russian. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – 70-90% speak and understand it. There are lack of information about Russian language in Turkmenistan though.
4. Even in the farthest country in the world, you will surely meet a Russian-speaking specialist.
In the Soviet years, thousands of students from Africa, Asia and Latin America studied at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. Since then, in every African or Asian country there are Russian-speaking doctors and workers. This can help you a lot if you are seriously ill being away from home.
5. Cyrillic alphabet.
For me, languages that have their own written language are always of great interest. Russian is one of those. In addition, having learned Cyrillic, you can read many other Slavic languages (Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Belarussian, Ukrainian, etc.)
6. One of the six official UN languages.
A friend of mine who studies at the Geneva University of International Law once said that there are not enough specialists with good knowledge of the Russian language. The fact that the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (along with Chinese, Arabic, English, Spanish and French) will certainly greatly enhance its role in the international arena.
7. The language of true connoisseurs of literature.
Russian literature has left one of the largest traces in world culture. Once during my trip to Mongolia (Gobi desert), I met an American professor at Harvard University named Fred. He told me that in his youth he had specially learned Russian to read Chekhov’s works in the original language. “Russian is the language of true connoisseurs of literature,” he said.
8. Want to become an astronaut? Only with knowledge of Russian!
If you want to become an astronaut, you have to know Russian. Nowadays, it’s a requirement for NASA applicants to know the Russian language.
9. 10% of all Russian words are similar with English ones.
Проблема (problema) means ‘problem’, футбол (futbol) means ‘football’, литература (literatura) means ‘literature’ and etc. Big luck for English-speakers!
10. Slavic language.
‘Can I speak other Slavic languages, having mastered only Russian?’ Unfortunately, no. Nevertheless, at least you will be understood in any Slavic country.
As a native speaker of Russian, I can say that I can keep up a conversation with Poles, with Serbs, with the Bulgarians and other Slavic nations, albeit on fairly limited topics. Once during my travels in the Balkans, I communicated freely with one Serb for more than an hour, although neither I nor he spoke the language of each other. It was not easy, but the dialogue took place.
Want to learn Russian language?
Сontact the author to select the appropriate course and language learning program. You can also contact the founder of the site, who has lived in Russia for a long time and learnt Russian.
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