Russian people are very forgiving of any mistakes you can make in Russian. I am not sure why, but this is certainly a welcome feature for the learner of a difficult language. Students of French and English wish people in Paris or New York were like this!

I wonder why most people in Russia have such a positive attitude. So far I heard several theories:

• Russians are proud that a Westerner would go to great efforts to master such a demanding language
• Russians would be ashamed of not speaking a foreign language themselves, so they will not be offensive to somebody who not only speaks a Western language, but also some Russian
• Russians have for decades been "deprived" of Western visitors, so they welcome any Westerner, even so more if he shows his interest in the country