Russian language is one of the most broadly spoken languages on the planet, in terms of both geography and number of speakers. The language has always been studied in the West, but the reasons for doing so have changed along with the historical changes in modern day Russia and the former USSR.
How to Learn Russian
Many students now take advantage of the opportunity to study Russian language in high schools. In the United States, Russian was deemed one of the critical languages in the National Security Language Initiative begun in 2006 to boost foreign language learning by US students from kindergarten to university levels in programs nationwide. While many students study Russian in programs such as these in the West and internationally, others decide for a variety of reasons to learn Russian as adults. To do this, there are many materials available to guide students through each step of the learning process, beginning with the alphabet, moving onto vocabulary, grammar, and conversational Russian. Here are examples:
Reasons to Study Russian
Students learn Russian language out of interest in the country, culture, literature, history, and other reasons.Prior to the 1990’s, in the West, universities offered Russian studies programs for students intending to enter international diplomatic communities or fields like cryptology, surveillance, and national defense. Following the break up of the former USSR, while these fields are still active, and Russian language skills can serve as a gateway of entry, many students study the language to take advantage of opportunities in feilds like international business and law.
Russian language is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations. In Europe, Russian language is the most common native language, comprising of over 140 million speakers. It is the word’s 5th most spoken language in terms of speakers (including native and non-native), and the 8th most spoken language in terms of native speakers.
Russian is an official language or co-official language of several countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, and automous areas including Abkhazia, Ossetia, Transnistria, and Gagauzia. It is an officially recognized language used by pockets of speakers in China, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Romania, Uzbekistan, the Ukraine, the United States, and many other locations. Russian is still taught in other Slavic speaking countries that were satellite nations of the USSR, as well as members of the Warsaw Pact, meaning these countries still have a high percentage of population who are able to speak, read, and write Russian at varying levels, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bulgaria. Other countries that have a high number of Russian speakers include Israel, whose population includes many native Russian speaking Jews, and Mongolia, which borders Russia to the South.
Russian language is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations. In Europe, Russian language is the most common native language, comprising of over 140 million speakers. It is the word’s 5th most spoken language in terms of speakers (including native and non-native), and the 8th most spoken language in terms of native speakers.