Russian for Beginners: The Russian language is, without a doubt, a fascinating language to learn. It is the first tongue of many famous authors, artists, musicians, scientists, and filmmakers. After reading masterpieces such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, I wanted to read them in their native language.

For the people who do not speak it, Russian is a highly confusing language. It may be both thrilling and intimidating for a novice since the alphabet is highly distinctive, words are not pronounced like they are written, and it is one of the few remaining Slavic languages. Learning Russian, on the other hand, is really beneficial! Listed below are a few intriguing reasons why the language and its speakers are so impressive and intriguing.

Learning the Russian Language, My Journey

I’m obsessed with language learning; in fact, I speak three foreign languages and three Filipino dialects. The FIFA World Cup, on the other hand, encouraged me to study Russian. When it was announced in 2014 that Russia would host the 2018 World Cup, I was so excited that I bought a book called ‘Russian For Dummies’ the next day (because I really wanted to go). I started by watching YouTube courses and reading Russian translations. Self-teaching is challenging, so I hired a private Russian instructor in 2015 and worked with him for many weeks. I don’t claim to be fluent, but I can get by with a decent accent.

And, yeah, I finally read Anna Karenina in Russian in 2018!

Interesting Facts About the Russian Language

• Russian (руcский язык) is the most widely spoken language in Eurasia. It is the largest of all European native languages, and it is by far the most spoken of all Slavic languages.
• Every year on June 6th, Russian Language Day celebrates the world’s eighth most spoken language (with roughly 154 million native speakers). The day also honors Aleksandr Pushkin, a Russian poet regarded as the father of modern Russian literature.
• It has 33 characters and is written in the Cyrillic script alphabet. It is divided into 10 vowels, 21 consonants, and 2 letters that have no sound.
• It is one of the United Nations’ six official languages, and it ranks with English, Chinese, and Spanish as a major world language.
• Russian is the official language in 4 countries: Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
• According to Foreign Service Institure (FSI), Russian is a difficult language to learn. It is in Category IV along with Arabic, Cantonese, and Korean. It require 44 weeks of full-time study to learn.
• It’s compulsory for all astronauts in the international space station to learn Russian, so we can call it an international language of space.
• In Russia, there are a variety of ways to change a person’s name to convey your emotional attitude toward them. Most of the time, this is how you address your loved ones.
• The Russian keyboard layout is completely different from the qwerty layout, making it extremely difficult to use.  However, you do not need to purchase a Russian keyboard to have a Russian keyboard layout and enter Russian symbols.

Russian for Beginners: Common Expressions and Greetings

Russian for Beginners: Useful Questions

Russian for Beginners: Days of the Week

Russian for Beginners: Months of the Year

 I hope you find the lists helpful. до встречи (until next time)!