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Is Russian worth learning nowadays? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| 843 Tetraglot Newbie Singapore Joined 5437 days ago 16 posts - 22 votes Speaks: Indonesian*, English, Malay, Mandarin Studies: French, German | Message 1 of 38 22 February 2010 at 4:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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What do you think Russia will become in the future? I'm learning the language but I fear
it's never going to be of much use to me. I just love the culture and the language itself, but if Russia is unlikely to be influential in the distant future I might as well learn something more useful like French or Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5584 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 2 of 38 22 February 2010 at 5:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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Absolutely!! Russia is a leading nation in science and physics, especially rocketry (which I love!)
The language is very useful, not to mention the works of classic Russian writers. Russia is a powerful nation in my opinion, and has a language that is very interesting and DEFINITELY worth learning. It may appear difficult, but EVERY language is able to be learned!! -Jordan 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5959 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 3 of 38 22 February 2010 at 5:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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Russia is still a very strong force in the aerospace industry, so if you have some connection to that, Russian could be useful. Once the NASA shuttles are retired this year, all countries wishing to transport people and goods to the International Space Station will have to rely on Russian Soyuz capsules.
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| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6445 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 4 of 38 22 February 2010 at 6:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would also point out that if you love the culture and language, you're better off sticking with it than
with switching to a more useful but less loved language. It takes a lot of drive and motivation to learn a language to a high level, and a love of the language and culture are excellent motivators. If you switched to French or Spanish hoping they would be "more useful," but didn't really enjoy either of the languages, you probably wouldn't learn them very well. At which point, they wouldn't be "more useful" anyway. :-) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| unityandoutside Diglot Groupie United States Joined 6013 days ago 94 posts - 149 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: Latin, Mandarin | Message 5 of 38 22 February 2010 at 6:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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Another thing, consider the number of French and Spanish learners out there versus the number of Russian learners. French and Spanish are definitely not SO much more useful than Russian, in a political/economic sense, to justify this imbalance. Although there is a lot of need for people who know common languages such as these, there are also hordes and hordes of people who learn them. With a language like Russian, there is still a need (even though it may be smaller), but there are faaaar fewer people out there to satisfy it. And once you learn Russian, it will open up Russia to you and thus become useful.
And what precisely does "useful" mean to you? Most language learners are not too heavily involved in the economic aspects of their language anyway. Unless you're planning on integrating your language into a business or political setting, the influence of the country isn't as important factor as whether you enjoy the culture, literature, and people that use the language. And as I and others said earlier, even if you are planning to use your language in that way, there is still plenty of demand for Russian. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| mattvdm Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5420 days ago 15 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Ancient Greek, Spanish, Russian | Message 6 of 38 22 February 2010 at 6:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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The 'economic utility' aspect of a language is something that I find quite hard to understand.
Aside from a concrete ambition to work in an environment which would benefit from you knowing the language, I don't think it's a very valid criteria to judge it on. You should learn the language you think will be the most stimulating, and enjoyable to you - and one you will have opportunities to practise. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5959 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 7 of 38 22 February 2010 at 7:01pm | IP Logged | ||
That's basically the definition of economic utility... What you wrote sounds like: Aside from economic utility, I don't think economic utility is a very valid criteria to judge it on. It seems to be mostly native speakers of English who have a hard time understanding being motivated by economics to learn a language. On what criteria do you think English is taught as the first foreign language in most countries? You guessed it. Economic utility. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5494 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 8 of 38 22 February 2010 at 7:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'd argue that Russian is just as useful as French. Russia is growing again, and lots of
people in Eastern Europe speak Russian. As as already mentioned, there are less people who learn Russian than Spanish or French. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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