Russian for foreigners
Learning Russian is an essential part of your stay in CIS countries, as you will feel yourself more comfortable, when you speak Russian and understand what people are talking about.
Now in Europe Russian language becomes less popular, but nevertheless it is widely used all over the world and it is among five most widely spoken foreign languages in the world after English, French, German and Spanish. Moreover, in such countries as Latvia and Estonia 27% and 19% of population say that Russian is their first language and these people are likely to use the official language. Russian is among three most widely spoken foreign languages, and people speak Russian well enough in order to have a conversation in Bulgaria (23%), Estonia (56%), Latvia (67%), Lithuania (80%) and Poland (15%). About 3% of Europeans understand Russian well enough to follow the news on television and radio. News on TV and radio in Russian are widely understood in such countries as Lithuania (70%), Latvia (47%) and Estonia (44%). It is very easy to explain as these countries previously formed the part of Soviet Union. But unfortunately only 1% of the Europeans know Russian well enough to communicate online. According to research Russian is mainly used occasionally and not on regular basis by people who live in Europe. About 4% of Europeans think that Russian is the most useful language for personal development.
Why shall you learn Russian?
- You can work in CIS countries
- You can use Russian in your everyday work including travelling abroad on business
- You will be able to understand people from another culture
- You will have an opportunity to travel all over the country when you are on holidays
- You will be able to read news papers and follow news on radio and TV
And moreover, learning Russian will give you personal satisfaction and you will feel yourself more comfortable and relaxed staying far away from your country. In any case the key advantage in learning Russian is that you will have an opportunity to get a better job in your own country or may be in another country as well. There are other benefits of learning a language, but the main one is the personal satisfaction you get from the learning process and communication with new people.