Language
Russian is an international language of communication
If a Ukrainian and an Uzbek meet, what language will they speak?
Which foreign languages are popular in Russia? Where and how are they studied?
Fifteen national republics were members of the Soviet Union, and Russian was its international language of communication. As stated above, people from over one hundred different nationalities live in Russia, and Russian has remained the international language of communication for all of them. Furthermore, this has remained the case when people from former Soviet republics communicate with one another. For example, if a Ukrainian and an Uzbek meet, they will speak Russian. Lately though, the study of Russian at foreign schools has considerably decreased.
Russian is one of the six official working languages of the United Nations. It is rather difficult to study, but this language is extremely rich in expressing the keenest emotions of a man’s soul. Russian is one of the most highly developed languages of the world and a very rich literature was written in it. This is the language of Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Sholokhov. This is the language of writers who are well-known throughout the world, and to understand all of the rich content created by these great writers one should read them in the original Russian. Russian will reveal the beauty of a Russian man’s soul to you, and it will help you understand Russia and its people better.
The study of Russian was at its worldwide zenith during the Soviet era. At that time, millions of people studied it all over the world, and nowhere more than in Eastern Europe. A large number of citizens from Asian, African and Latin-American developing countries came to Russia to receive a higher education. In the nineties, because of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the interest in studying Russian considerably decreased, but lately it has been increasing once again. Now, thousands of people study Russian in their native lands to make a closer acguaintance with our great Russian culture, or to make it possible to collaborate with Russian business partners.
And as before, a good many foreigners come to Russia for their higher education, as tuition fees remain comparatively low. People come to language centers to make a closer acquaintance with Russia and to improve upon their knowledge of the language. Employees of foreign firms and companies working in Russia also often study Russian.
As for other languages, throughout all Russian schools and institutes of higher education, in addition to studying our mother tongue, the study of a foreign language (English, French or German) has always been compulsory. Moreover, in Moscow and in other big Russian cities there are special schools where all subjects are taught in a foreign language. There are English, French, German, and even Chinese, Japanese and Hindi special schools. Lately, at private high schools and lycees much attention has been put upon studying foreign languages. And of course, as in other countries, there are special language institutes of higher education where one can study a wide variety of languages. Of course, the most popular choice is English, which is one of the international languages of communication.
Lately, a large number of schoolchildren and university students have been going abroad to study foreign languages. There are many different exchange and collaboration programs for schoolchildren, as well as for university and graduate students. Anyone who wishes may go to practically any country to study a language by way of short- and long-term courses with the help of a language or tourist agency. Moreover, quite a number of native speakers of foreign languages are now working as teachers in Russia.
In Moscow and in other large Russian cities, it is possible to buy newspapers, magazines and books in many different languages of the world.
Thus, many Russians, and especially the younger ones, will be able to talk with you in at least an elementary way in your mother tongue.
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