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Why study Russian?

 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
64 messages over 8 pages: 1 2 3 4 57 8 Next >>
superstacker
Newbie
United Kingdom
Joined 5615 days ago

25 posts - 28 votes
Studies: French, Russian, Spanish

 
 Message 41 of 64
14 December 2011 at 10:03pm | IP Logged 
For me studying Russian was about doing something difficult that not many others could
do. Foreign language learners are hard enough to come by in the UK, Russian language
learners are fewer, so when that moment happens that your "skill" manifests itself, the
look of awe on peoples faces is amazing.

I still have a long way to go sadly!
2 persons have voted this message useful



Alanjazz
Triglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 4625 days ago

65 posts - 129 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, French
Studies: Portuguese

 
 Message 42 of 64
15 December 2011 at 12:22am | IP Logged 
Cavesa, you are absolutely right. There are so many other great Russian-language others that I could have put in
place of the most commonly mentioned ones I did.

A reason I forgot about, but now remember, is Russian-language films. Andrei Tarkovsky alone could be a reason to
learn this language (as Ingmar Bergman could be with Swedish.) Beyond him, there are of course very well-known
classic directors such as Eisenstein and less-known directors like Andrei Zvyagintsev. Also, not to forget the works
of Alexander Sokurov, who brought us Russian Ark...
2 persons have voted this message useful



zekecoma
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5154 days ago

561 posts - 655 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish

 
 Message 43 of 64
15 December 2011 at 3:56am | IP Logged 
I want to learn Russian, because I find it an incredible and beautiful language next to
German. I've always wanted to travel to Russia and visit a lot of cities like St.
Petersburg, Moscow, etc. I absolutely love Russian heavy metal music like Слот. Oh I
cannot forget about the Russian women ;D.
3 persons have voted this message useful



tanya b
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4588 days ago

159 posts - 518 votes 
Speaks: Russian

 
 Message 44 of 64
15 December 2011 at 7:19am | IP Logged 
Why study Russian? It has the 3 most important things that should captivate any language learner.

1) It is widely used
2) It is beautiful
3) It has "mystique"

One of my favorite languages is Welsh. Let's say someone devoted their life to studying this beautiful, mysterious language. In the final analysis, it might be almost pointless it because there is such a limited number of Welsh speakers, in a small geographic area, all of whom also speak English. Russian has all the beauty and mystery that Welsh has, but is spoken my so many more people, so it just makes more sense
4 persons have voted this message useful



Марк
Senior Member
Russian Federation
Joined 4866 days ago

2096 posts - 2972 votes 
Speaks: Russian*

 
 Message 45 of 64
15 December 2011 at 9:58am | IP Logged 
About literature. There is a lot interesting literature in Russian, but so is in many
other languages. Most literature is translated and anyway you have to learn Russian very
well in order to understand books in the original better than in the translation.
I would advice two authors who are something between sociology, hisrory and philosophy:
Alexandr Alexandrovich Zinoviev (Александр Александрович Зиновьев) and Igor
Rostislavovich Shafarevich (Игорь Ростиславович Шафаревич). They have opposite attempts
and views but both thought a lot and honestly trying to find the truth.
About the language. Russian doesn't have obvious advantages over other languages except
for the size. You like palatalized consonants - learn Irish. You want to learn a
conservative IE language - learn Lithuanian. You want to try something unusual with
complex grammar - Georgian, Basque and Cree wait for you (not to mention dead languages).
1 person has voted this message useful



Марк
Senior Member
Russian Federation
Joined 4866 days ago

2096 posts - 2972 votes 
Speaks: Russian*

 
 Message 46 of 64
15 December 2011 at 9:59am | IP Logged 
tanya b wrote:
Why study Russian? It has the 3 most important things that should
captivate any language learner.

1) It is widely used
2) It is beautiful
3) It has "mystique"

One of my favorite languages is Welsh. Let's say someone devoted their life to studying
this beautiful, mysterious language. In the final analysis, it might be almost
pointless it because there is such a limited number of Welsh speakers, in a small
geographic area, all of whom also speak English. Russian has all the beauty and mystery
that Welsh has, but is spoken my so many more people, so it just makes more
sense

The second and the third are very subjective things.
1 person has voted this message useful



Michael K.
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5539 days ago

568 posts - 886 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Esperanto

 
 Message 47 of 64
15 December 2011 at 2:04pm | IP Logged 
One reason could be that Russian immigrants are very grateful when someone makes an attempt to learn their language.

I remember a video that Moses McCormick made when he was working in a gas station. These Russians would come in and say "ten" to him in Russian and hand him a $10 bill. He found out they were Russians so he tried to learn a little of their language. One day the guy came in and motioned for Moses to go outside. The Russian guy had a camera and wanted to take pictures of Moses posing with members of his family since he was so glad someone would try to learn a little of their language.

I don't know if all Russians would be that pleased that someone would try to learn their language, but I've heard Russians are usually happy when someone chooses to learn their language and forgive mistakes rather easily.
1 person has voted this message useful



Марк
Senior Member
Russian Federation
Joined 4866 days ago

2096 posts - 2972 votes 
Speaks: Russian*

 
 Message 48 of 64
15 December 2011 at 2:20pm | IP Logged 
Michael K. wrote:

I don't know if all Russians would be that pleased that someone would try to learn their
language, but I've heard Russians are usually happy when someone chooses to learn their
language and forgive mistakes rather easily.

I'm not sure that's true because in the twentieth century Russian was studied by tens of
millions of people. But learners of Russian will tell you a more correct view.


1 person has voted this message useful



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