Terms

Why do foreigners need to learn Russian? Foreigners spoke about the strangest features of the Russian language, and it's hard to argue with their words

Natalya Blinova, a private teacher of Russian as a foreign language, says foreigners fidget when they learn that Russian has 33 letters and even more sounds. Sometimes the letters are not read the way they are written (instead of "good" Russians say "harasho"), other letters and sounds are generally unique.

It is especially difficult for them to understand how to pronounce "Y". Discussing this on the Internet, an English-speaking student wrote that Russian friends recommended isolating the sound between b and l from the word "table", but not everyone can handle this. When foreigners get used to "Y", a new challenge awaits them - "Sh" and "Sch". These letters, says Natalya Blinova, foreigners distinguish only by the tail.

In addition, it is difficult for foreigners to get used to Russian stress: it can not only fall on any syllable (unlike, for example, the rules of the French language), but also change depending on the form of the word. “It's unpredictable,” says Anna Solovieva, a lecturer at the Institute of Russian Language and Culture at Moscow State University. - It is almost impossible to understand why “table - tables”, but “tELEPHONE - TELEPHONES”.

six cases

Suppose a foreigner wade through the jungle of Russian phonetics and learned how to pronounce words. New test - grammar. “The most difficult thing for me was to remember six cases in Russian - we have fewer,” German student Simon Schirrmacher recalls his experience of studying Russian. More or less, he got used to the cases only after a year of living in Russia.

It is especially difficult for foreigners in whose languages there are no cases or they do not affect the structure of the word. “It was unimaginable that, depending on the case, the words should be changed directly! Horror! Mayu Okamoto says. And more verb conjugations. Every time you want to say a phrase, you need to think about how to change each word, what form to choose.

Compound verbs

Another property of the Russian language, which foreigners have difficulty understanding, is the perfect and imperfect types of verbs. “I really hope that someday, one day, I will understand this topic,” Simon Schirrmacher says politely, but without much hope. Mayu Okamoto describes her experience as follows: “I remember reading a textbook with pictures a hundred times: he “came” or “came”. What does this mean? Where is he now? Stayed or gone? It's horrible".

Verbs of motion present a separate difficulty: there are a lot of them in Russian. "For example, on a simple Italian verb“andare” (to go) in Russian is “to walk”, “to go”, “to go”, “to go”, “to go”, “to go”, - Natalya Blinova lists.

Anna Solovieva recalls her favorite verb "to ride", which can be translated as "to use vehicle not for travel, but for entertainment. Also, prefixes that change the meaning of the word can be attached to all these verbs. So that life does not seem like honey to foreigners.

Bright side

However, do not despair - in some aspects, Russian is easier than other languages. Teachers remember, first of all, the absence of articles and a small (compared to European languages) number of tenses - there are only three of them.

Solovieva believes that Russian is no more difficult to learn than the same English. It just takes getting used to. “If foreigners studied Russian like English, with early childhood, it would not seem so complicated, ”the linguist is sure. Natalya Blinova, in turn, notes that there are languages that are more complicated than Russian: for example, Chinese or Arabic.

“In Russian, almost all terrible grammar ends at the A2 level,” says Blinova. “Behind him begins freedom and unlimited enjoyment of the great and beautiful Russian language.”

"Like vodka...", "Why Putin..." We have collected the most popular user search queries related to Russia. In the series of articles "Why Russia" we will answer each question in detail.

Main difficulty

Letters

Simplifying the task

Another way is to learn the language in the first person. Thus, a person immediately in the subconscious models a situation in which he would be an acting character. And then, when such a case really happens, he remembers what he had learned by heart and puts it into practice. If you do this consistently, you can develop a habit.

How to get oriented?

Talking about how foreigners learn Russian, it is worth returning to the topic of pronunciation. It is very difficult for beginners to understand when a certain consonant should be soft and when it should be hard. Moreover, problems arise not only with those words in which there are “b” and “b”. On the contrary, they are easier to understand. Because every foreigner builds himself. At the sight of "b" and "b", a comparison works for him, helping him to determine how to pronounce this or that word.

And also important point is intonation. The Russian language is good because the order of words in a sentence can be changed as you like. We determine the meaning by intonation, and subconsciously. Foreigners are initially trained on the "classic" options. Therefore, if they hear the sentence that is familiar to them, but in a different variation, they will not understand anything.

About meaning

In fact, everyone understands why it is difficult for foreigners to learn Russian. Especially in the modern world. The meaning of many expressions is extremely difficult to explain to citizens of other countries. Take, for example, the following text: “Oh, autumn, blues… Time goes by, but I still haven’t taken my legs in my hands to move the work forward - I’m just sitting with my nose hung.” From such a foreigner will simply be a real shock. "Go" is a verb. And where does the time, the form of the flow of certain processes? The same applies to working with her "shifts". How can you take your feet in your hands? And what does "hang your nose" mean?

All this is too complicated for beginners. Therefore, teachers avoid such difficulties when teaching foreigners. The same is recommended for the people with whom they communicate. They will have time to get acquainted with metaphors, hyperbole, epithets, litotes and allegory later. Although, when foreigners already speak Russian at a sufficient level and begin to study the above, they become fun. To many, comparisons of all kinds seem amusing and original.

Cases

The foreigner simply takes a short paragraph on the topic of his life. And on his example, he learns cases: “My name is Bastian Müller. I am a student (who? - Nominative case). Now I live in Moscow (where? - prepositional, or second local) and study at the faculty international languages. Every day I go to the university (where? - accusative). There I work and study. Then I go home from the university (from where? - parental). At home I read the news (what? - accusative) and correspond with friends (with whom? - creative). Then I quickly give food to the dog (to whom? - dative), and then I walk in the center of Moscow.

And this is just one of the examples. But there are still countless of them, even if we do not take into account the deprivative, directional, longitudinal and other cases. That is why it is difficult for foreigners to learn Russian.

Transcriptions

Dsche - this is what the Russian "zh" looks like in German. "C" is tze. "H" - tsche. And "sh" - schtch. The word "nonsense" will look like this in German in transcription: tschuschtch. Looking at this cluster of letters, you can immediately understand why one short word some foreigners memorize for several days.

Numbers

It is also worth noting the use of such a particle as “li”. Of course, a foreigner can safely do without it. But in the speech of Russians it is always present. And, having heard “should I?”, “hardly!” etc., he will be perplexed. You need to know the essence of such phrases, since this particle is part of some stable combinations.

In fact, “whether” is the English whether, thanks to which it turns out to introduce an indirect question into the sentence. Here, for example, is such a sentence: "He asked the librarian whether he could take another book." From English it is translated as follows: "He asked the librarian if he could borrow another book." It is enough for a foreigner to draw an analogy, and he will no longer be surprised at the “whether” particle.

Perception

How to start learning Russian for a foreigner? With an attempt to realize that a lot of strange things will await him. And one of those moments is "I would like one cup of coffee, please" - it's too difficult to pronounce. “Bring coffee” is too rude for a foreigner, although in Russia this is the norm.

Another feature is the arrangement of letters. Foreigners say that it is easy for them to memorize those words in which vowels alternate with consonants. But “agency”, “counter-admission”, “adult”, “postscript”, “cohabitation” and similar words cause fear in them. Even the most common "bread" they learn to pronounce for a long time.

It is also worth noting the following: some Russian words are translated differently into other languages. "Account" in French means "toilet", and in an extremely rude form. A "vinaigrette" is a buttery mustard sauce, not a salad. However, this is the minimum difficulty. In any case, you don't even have to come up with associations.

Prepositions

A foreigner must understand: "in" is used when he wants to talk about something that is inside. Within something. In the house, in the country, in the world... The scale is not important. The main thing is that there are limits and something happens within them. But “on” is used when we are talking about a place on any surface. On a table, on a person, on a house (already a different meaning, although the example is the same).

Why do they need it?

Many people are interested in the question: why do foreigners learn Russian, since it is so difficult? Well, everyone has their own reasons. For example, an Irish woman named Julia Walsh, who is Business Development Manager at Enterprise Ireland, says she started learning Russian because of Russia's importance in European history. It was difficult. But after years of study, the language no longer seemed impossible. But it remained difficult. But citizens of Slavic countries (for example, the Czech Republic) say that Russian is not very difficult. So says the journalist Jiří Yust. Czech and Russian represent one language group. So the words are similar, and the grammar. And in Czech there is even one more case.

There is also a question: why should foreigners learn Russian? Because otherwise it will be difficult in Russia. Many locals study English, but it cannot be said that it is developed at a decent level for everyone. And besides, it is necessary for an accurate perception of everything that happens around. Why should foreigners learn Russian if they are not going to Russia? The reason for this is the same as for each of us, taking on something new. And it lies in the interest and self-development.

Many of our compatriots are interested in how foreigners learn Russian. Why? Yes, because even the Russian people are not fluent in it. Most, for sure. How many times has it happened: a person is talking to someone and suddenly thinks - did he put the stress or declined the word? However, many examples can be cited. But still it is better to delve into the originally designated topic.

Main difficulty

Where does the learning of each language begin? Of course, alphabetically. From his reading and understanding how this or that letter is pronounced. The overwhelming majority of foreigners fall into a stupor at the sight of the Cyrillic alphabet. This is something unknown to them. Even if you look at the map of the distribution of Cyrillic alphabets, you can see only Russia and a number of adjacent small states located in Europe.

What is the sound "s" alone worth. Many teachers ask foreigners to imagine that they were kicked hard in the stomach. And that's what sound they make, and there are "s". The next problem is hissing: "sh", "u" and "h". How do foreigners learn Russian? Asking a bunch of questions at the same time. What are these sounds for? The same question is evoked by soft and hard signs. And when they understand the meaning and make attempts to pronounce them, the teacher has a hard time. “Box” turns into “box”, “porridge” - into “kascha”, and “thicket” - into “saschu”.

Russian is still terrible for foreigners by hardness. In most other languages, the "r" is very soft. Or burr, as in the case of German. It takes a very long time to learn how to pronounce the correct Russian “r”. The most annoying thing for foreigners is that we can burr or soften it. And they are not even able to immediately give it hardness.

Simplifying the task

It is worth giving an answer to the question of how foreigners learn Russian in order to avoid difficulties. No way. This is impossible. When a person takes on the development of a new skill, he cannot avoid difficulties. But here's how to simplify the task. Many foreigners set a rule for themselves - you need to learn 30 words a day, of which at least 10 must be verbs. According to the majority, it is they and their forms that are the most difficult in Russian. Another way is to learn the language in the first person. Thus, a person immediately in the subconscious models a situation in which he would be an acting character. And then, when such a case really happens, he remembers what he had learned by heart and puts it into practice. If you do this consistently, you can develop a habit.

How to get oriented?

Talking about how foreigners learn Russian, it is worth returning to the topic of pronunciation. It is very difficult for beginners to understand when a certain consonant should be soft and when it should be hard. Moreover, problems arise not only with those words in which there are “b” and “b”. On the contrary, they are easier to understand. Because every foreigner builds an associative array for himself. At the sight of "b" and "b", a comparison is triggered for him, helping him determine how to pronounce this or that word.

Much more difficult in normal cases. Take, for example, the letter "p". The word "daddy" is pronounced firmly. But the “spots” are soft. But for a foreigner to get confused - just spit. And having memorized the pronunciation of the word "papa", he will want to pronounce "patna", but he will immediately get confused. After all, the letter “I” is next, and not “a”. We, Russian speakers, pronounce words without thinking. But they are difficult. Why is it difficult for foreigners to learn Russian? At least because we do not have rules for open and closed syllables. And it takes decades to remove the accent. Another important point is intonation. The Russian language is good because the order of words in a sentence can be changed as you like. We determine the meaning by intonation, and subconsciously. Foreigners are initially trained on the "classic" options. Therefore, if they hear the sentence that is familiar to them, but in a different variation, they will not understand anything.

In fact, everyone understands why it is difficult for foreigners to learn Russian. Especially in modern world. The meaning of many expressions is extremely difficult to explain to citizens of other countries. Take, for example, the following text: “Oh, autumn, blues… Time goes by, but I still haven’t taken my legs in my hands to move the work forward - I’m just sitting with my nose hung.” From such a foreigner will simply be a real shock. "Go" is a verb. And where does the time, the form of the flow of certain processes? The same applies to working with her "shifts". How can you take your feet in your hands? And what does "hang your nose" mean? All this is too complicated for beginners. Therefore, teachers avoid such difficulties when teaching foreigners. The same is recommended for the people with whom they communicate. They will have time to get acquainted with metaphors, hyperbole, epithets, litotes and allegory later. Although, when foreigners already speak Russian at a sufficient level and begin to study the above, they become fun. To many, comparisons of all kinds seem amusing and original.

This is the same unloved topic for foreigners as verbs. Having learned one case, they forget about the existence of five more. How do they manage to cope with the task? First, for foreigners, attempts to explain that Genitive answers the questions "who?" and what?". After all, it is impossible to substitute a single ending for all inflected words. And there is only one way out - remembering the principle through illustrative examples and situations. It's pretty simple. The foreigner simply takes a short paragraph on the topic of his life. And on his example, he learns cases: “My name is Bastian Müller. I am a student (who? - nominative case). Now I live in Moscow (where? - prepositional, or second local) and study at the Faculty of International Languages. Every day I go to the university (where? - accusative). There I work and study. Then I go home from the university (from where? - parental). At home I read the news (what? - accusative) and correspond with friends (with whom? - creative). Then I quickly give food to the dog (to whom? - dative), and then I walk in the center of Moscow. And this is just one of the examples. But there are still countless of them, even if we do not take into account the deprivative, directional, longitudinal and other cases. That is why it is difficult for foreigners to learn Russian.

Transcriptions

Why should foreigners learn Russian? There is no single answer, everyone has their own reasons. But if a person has already taken up this business, he comes up with all sorts of methods in order to get used to it faster. And one of them is to compile a transcription. But even this does not allow you to quickly understand Russian. Dsche - this is what the Russian "zh" looks like in German. "C" is tze. "H" - tsche. And "sh" - schtch. The word "nonsense" will look like this in German in transcription: tschuschtch. Looking at this cluster of letters, you can immediately understand why some foreigners memorize one short word for several days.

This topic also raises a lot of questions from foreigners. But they have learned to avoid difficulties with a simple trick. Take, for example, age. Does it end with one? Then say "year". Does it end with 2, 3, 4? In this case, say "years". If the age or term ends in 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0, then say "years". And foreigners skillfully apply this simple recommendation to everything. It is also worth noting the use of such a particle as “li”. Of course, a foreigner can safely do without it. But in the speech of Russians it is always present. And, having heard “should I?”, “hardly!” etc., he will be perplexed. You need to know the essence of such phrases, since this particle is part of some stable combinations. In fact, “whether” is the English whether, thanks to which it turns out to introduce an indirect question into the sentence. Here, for example, is such a sentence: "He asked the librarian whether he could take another book." From English it is translated as follows: "He asked the librarian if he could borrow another book." It is enough for a foreigner to draw an analogy, and he will no longer be surprised at the “whether” particle.

Perception

How to start learning Russian for a foreigner? With an attempt to realize that a lot of strange things will await him. And one of those moments is the imperative mood. “I would like one cup of coffee, please,” is too hard to pronounce. “Bring coffee” is too rude for a foreigner, although in Russia this is the norm. Another feature is the arrangement of letters. Foreigners say that it is easy for them to memorize those words in which vowels alternate with consonants. But “agency”, “counter-admission”, “adult”, “postscript”, “cohabitation” and similar words cause fear in them. Even the most common "bread" they learn to pronounce for a long time. It is also worth noting the following: some Russian words are translated differently into other languages. "Account" in French means "toilet", and in an extremely rude form. A "vinaigrette" is a buttery mustard sauce, not a salad. However, this is the minimum difficulty. In any case, you don't even have to come up with associations.

Prepositions

Word formation is very difficult for a foreign person to understand. There are a lot of rules and exceptions in Russian. And to this are added gender and number. The former is absent in some languages altogether. And of course, prepositions are another difficulty. How to explain to a person when you can use “on”, and when “in” is suitable? Everything is pretty simple here. A foreigner must understand: "in" is used when he wants to talk about something that is inside. Within something. In the house, in the country, in the world... The scale is not important. The main thing is that there are limits and something happens within them. But “on” is used when we are talking about a place on any surface. On a table, on a person, on a house (already a different meaning, although the example is the same).

Why do they need it?

A few centuries ago, Mikhailo Vasilyevich Lomonosov wrote in his work Russian grammar:

Charles V, the Roman emperor, used to say that Spanish with God, French - with friends, German - with enemies, Italian - with the female sex to speak decently. But if he were skilled in the Russian language, then, of course, he would add to that that it was decent for them to speak with all of them, for he would find in it the splendor of Spanish, the liveliness of French, the strength of German, the tenderness of Italian, moreover, richness and strength in images brevity of Greek and Latin.

Such a statement causes pride, although in the time of Lomonosov the Russian language was not only the language of interethnic communication, the place of which was occupied by Latin and French, but in Russia itself it was considered the language of the common people, the aristocrats could speak it only about the simplest. Remember Pushkin in "Eugene Onegin"?

“She didn’t know Russian well,

Didn't read our magazines

And expressed with difficulty

In your native language

So, I wrote in French ... "

This is about the same letter to Onegin, which is learned by heart at school.

But times change, and so do priorities. In the modern world, Russian is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world; it is included in the World Languages Club, which, in addition to Russian, includes English, French, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin) and Spanish. To get into this club of the elite, the language must meet certain requirements.

Firstly, how more people considers the language native, the better. One hundred and forty million people in Russia alone, without even taking into account Russian-speaking residents in other countries of the former Soviet Union- a very weighty argument. But insufficient. Because there are other numerous nations with their own languages. Japan, for example.

Secondly, among those for whom this language is not native, there should be a large number of people who speak it as a foreign or as a second language.

At the moment, the number of foreigners studying Russian is somewhere around 10 million, and in the recent past, during the Soviet period, even more, since it was necessarily studied in all countries of the socialist camp. As you probably remember, this socialist paradise included a considerable number of countries, now independent. In addition, despite all the efforts of our good neighbors, the Russian language in their countries by no means wants to give up its position as a language of communication. After all, it is indeed possible to prohibit by decrees the publication of books and newspapers in some language, teaching in it, showing films, but how to force people not to communicate with each other in this language by decree, that is the question! However, another development option is also possible: by the time the population of neighboring countries has forgotten the Russian language through the efforts of their governments, people, for some reason, will again want to learn it from scratch. It's embarrassing, but oh well...

The third condition is that this language must be spoken in many countries, on several continents and in different cultural circles. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, as many as 14 independent countries, where the population one way or another constantly speaks Russian. This is a plus to those many countries located on different continents where there is at least some kind of Russian diaspora.

fourth, the language must be officially taught as a foreign language in many countries. Of course, Russian has not yet been able to keep up with the leader, English, and the point here is not so much the difficulty of the Russian language for learning, but the decrease in interest in Russia itself and its role in the world in Lately. But, as life experience shows, this is quite fixable. Throughout the history of mankind, the linguistic leader has, as a rule, become the language of the country that provides big influence to the rest of the world, both culturally and scientifically. We will not consider the influence of conquests in this context, since practice shows that they do not play a significant role, because Latin is still the only and unique in medicine and jurisprudence, although Ancient Rome hasn't won over in a long time.

The fifth condition for awarding the status of an international language, is its use as official language in international organizations, international conferences and large international firms. The Russian language has no problems with this either.

Well, Russian is one of the languages of the United Nations in which official documentation is published, one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, and so on…

And what about its euphony to the untrained ear of a foreigner? What do our contemporaries think, for whom Russian is not their native language? After all, it is difficult to objectively assess how a language sounds if you have been in it since birth. But one must also understand that foreigners, especially those who do not understand Russian, can also be biased, and they make their assessment based on the pronunciation of the interlocutor and, of course, the phonetics of their native language.

Below is a selection of opinions on the phonetics of the Russian language, expressed wholeheartedly.

“It's like an invitation to a desperate flirt. And especially when Russian girls pronounce their "PACHIMA?" in an incredibly sweet voice.
(Alessio, journalist, Italy)"

- "IN the highest degree emotional language - Russians put a lot of feeling and passion into intonation. Example: "THIS IS YES!"
(Chris, consultant, Corsica)"

“The Russian language is the sounds that a cat would make if you put it in a box full of marbles, squeaks, squeals and complete confusion.
William-Jan, designer, Netherlands)»

“It always seemed to me that the Russian language is a mixture of Spanish with a rounded “r” of French, to which they added “zh”, German rough sounds.
(Jeremy, teacher, USA)"

“For me, Russian sounds exactly like Polish. The same intonation, the same "feminine" pronunciation, especially compared to Czech.
(Yakub, financial analyst, Czech Republic)"

“For me, Russian speech is something between the roar of a walrus and the melody of Brahms.
(Abe, Accountant, UK)"

“Before I started learning Russian, and even some time after I started studying Slavic studies, the more I listened to Russian, the more it seemed to me like a record of any other language, started up backwards.
(Gethin, scout, Ireland)"

“It’s as if someone didn’t really clear their throat, got a mouthful of saliva and at the same time tries to talk.
(Dean, retired, New Zealand)»

“Russian sounds very brutal, masculine. This is the language of real machos.
(Wil, Financial Analyst, Australia)"

“The most amazing thing is that the Russian language can sound completely different: it all depends on the speaker, and on what exactly is being said. In principle, if you wish, you can achieve an angelic sound from the Russian language. True true! Russian is plasticine, from which any master can mold whatever he wants.
(Batyr, photographer, Mongolia)"

“The Russian language is a pair of familiar words lost in a complete linguistic chaos of sounds that are unpleasant to the ear.
(Albertina, infectious disease specialist, Germany)"

“Like the sound of sandpaper scraping across a rough surface covered with a thin layer of lacquer. And if we talk about the provincials, then their Russian is a scraper of sandpaper on a rough surface without any varnishing at all.
(Mark, teacher, UK)"

“It's like a roar on a bus stuck in a traffic jam. "Yes, yes, yes." And so - on the rise.
(Aim, artist, Israel)"

- “The Russian language is like a very poorly adjusted radio: Full of unnecessary rustles, crackling and squeaking.
(Maria, translator, France)"

Yes, for the most part not the most pleasant statements. But it is worth taking comfort in the fact that, in general, the assessment of language as a rough or tender phenomenon is subjective. For example, Gulliver in his travels (if anyone does not know, Gulliver was not only in the country of the Lilliputians) also subjectively assessed the language of the horses, into the country of which he was brought by the indefatigable fantasy of Jonathan Swift: “ The pronunciation of the Guingngms is nasal and guttural, of all the European languages \u200b\u200bknown to me, it most closely resembles Upper Dutch or German, but it is much more elegant and expressive.". It can be assumed that the Germans somewhere crossed the path of Jonathan Swift, and he gracefully took revenge on them, subtly hinting that even a horse's neighing is more pleasant to the ear than ... but oh well.

In general, in the Russian language they blame the abundance of hissing, growling "r", swallowing vowels, which makes the language seem harsh. Yes, indeed, in English, for example, even solid sounds it is customary to smooth, soften, while in Russian they are pronounced clearly. Remember how to pronounce the sound "R" in English and Russian! But where can Russian be before Icelandic (I somehow came across a DVD dubbed into Icelandic). That's really where the "rockfall into a mountain river" really is!

Yes, the Russian language is not easy, perhaps even very difficult for foreigners. Let's remember at least our 6 cases and many case endings, tricky numerals and lingering hissing participles, defending from adverbs and not noticing invasions of external enemies. Nevertheless, Russian, like any other foreign language, can be learned, which was proved by many newcomers of the era of French tutors and German court guest workers. And in our time there are many people who managed to master this block.

Well, those foreign citizens, who considers Russian grammar immeasurably difficult ... you can, with a smile, confidentially say in your ear: “Say thanks that we don’t have tone, as in Chinese or Vietnamese, and we don’t write in hieroglyphs”!

Konstantin Mikhailov

Recently, more and more people different corners around the world are eager to learn Russian. Knowledge of a foreign language has become more popular and prestigious than ever. And recently, according to research, the greatest interest is growing precisely in the Russian language. Why does it attract people from other countries so much? And what advantages does it promise to those who can overcome the “great and mighty”? Teachers of Russian as a foreign language courses have found five reasons why it is so important to know Russian.

1. Intricacy and complexity

Having chosen Russian as a foreign language, among your peers you will surely pass for an ambitious, stubborn person with remarkable mental abilities. After all, it's no secret that this particular language is considered one of the most difficult to learn. Try to understand what meaning the interlocutor put in the answer: “No, probably.” Go figure out why it's hands do not reach when someone wants to see or do something. Learning Russian is really difficult, but very exciting. Especially in the courses of Russian as a foreign language.

2. The richness of Russian culture

We have already mentioned that now many foreigners are striving to learn the “powerful” language. And one of the reasons is the desire to join the richest culture that has great value for the whole world. Knowledge of the Russian language opens up a lot of opportunities - you can read the great Russian classics in the original, feel the mood musical works famous composers and enjoy brilliant productions of Russian theaters. Today, the language of Pushkin and Tchaikovsky, known all over the world, is gaining popularity, thanks in part to Russian culture.

3. Wide distribution in the world

There are about 260 million Russian-speaking people in the world. The Russian language proudly bears the title of the most widely spoken Slavic language in the world and the most widely spoken language in Europe in terms of the number of speakers for whom it is native. Be sure, on every mainland you will hear Russian speech. And this is not only ease and barrier-free travel, but also new acquaintances.

According to the American Forbes magazine, knowledge of the Russian language increases income by 4% on average.

4. Significance on the world stage.

Russian is one of the working languages of the UN. Russia occupies one of the first places in the development of science and technology. Along with English, it is used to communicate internationally. space station. In addition, Russia also plays an important role in world politics. And, consequently, more and more foreign leaders are looking for Russian speakers in their team.

5. Demand in the labor market

Large companies in developed countries are interested in applicants - native speakers of Russian or people who speak it well. Such specialists open up new opportunities for the organization: cooperation with prestigious partners from Russia, market promotion in countries former USSR. Workers with knowledge of the Russian language are expected in the authorities state power countries of Europe, America and Asia, as well as in ministries and many companies.

Razvan Rat
Romanian football player
Experience of studying Russian - 12 years

If I say "I'm going to London" (as I go in English), they will look at me like I'm crazy. I have to say: I'm flying, I'm going, I'm swimming. Why do I have to decide how I'm going to get there? "Ay go" - and that's it. “Go to London”, “go to shop”, what difference does it make how you get there. The coolest thing in Russian is 1, 2, 3, 4 years and - bam! - 5 years!

It is fantastic! And then again 21, 22, 23, 24 years - and 25 years ... And why not 5 years, and then 6 years? Why not 21 years old? “Terrible beautiful” - I don’t understand at all, how is it? Why are castle and castle spelled the same but mean different things? And one more time you read the castle, and another time - the castle. One time you read "o", another time "a". There must be logic, maybe they just hide it from me?

In Romanian, for example, there is a rule: you cannot put “n” before the letters “p” and “b”, only “m”. Iron rule, no exceptions. And in your language there is always a rule, and there are a lot of exceptions to it.

I have never studied the language with anyone, I just hear and remember. He started playing in the Ukrainian Shakhtar, and a year later he gave his first interview in Russian. It is clear that I spoke worse than now, but I could already say a lot of things. Now I even dream in Russian. When I'm in a Russian company, I think in Russian and count in Russian, but when I get to fifteen, I count in Romanian.

Miguel Lara Mejia
Cuban, guide
Experience of studying Russian - 27 years

Why do you need to say: “Will you have tea?” and the same way, speaking, for example, about the profession: “Who will you be?” Will you be a doctor? Will you have tea? Two different meanings. This was very incomprehensible to me at first. Regarding the verbs of motion: in Spanish there is one verb - ir, this is to go, and to go, and to fly. In the case of the Russian language, an anecdote can happen. For example, they ask why I was late, and you answer: because I was walking. And this is wrong, I must say: I walked.

François Divet
French, company director
Experience of studying Russian - 10 years

I went to Russian courses - as a result, I survived only 8 classes, stopped going to them and learned Russian, communicating with friends and colleagues. I don't write in Russian, but I continue to learn it. I need it to pick up girls who don't speak French or English.

Actually, I more or less understood everything in Russian. But I never learned declension, since I had already suffered from them in the process of studying German and Latin. On top of that, when you don't bow your words, you retain the charm of a foreigner.

Deliana Pavlova
Bulgarian employee
Experience of studying Russian - 16 years

Russian and Bulgarian are very similar, and this often gives the impression that Russian is easy to learn. I taught it at school, then it was a compulsory subject. Most of all, we were confused in words that have the same sound in Russian and Bulgarian, but have different meaning. For example, the Bulgarian word "t-shirt" is your "mother", a bank is a bank, a table is a chair, to the right is straight. We even have a joke in Bulgaria about learning the Russian language: “A Bulgarian comes to Russia, enters a restaurant, a waitress comes up to him and asks: “Do you want a menu?”, And he replies: “No, I want to eat, then you ". Even in the Bulgarian language there are no declensions, therefore, in order to learn them, I memorized phrases, for example, “world map”.

Gregor Frey
German, language assistant at the Goethe-Institut

For me, the perfect and imperfect forms of verbs have always been difficult. In principle, it is logical to say: “I am reading a book”, “I have read a book”, but so far I often fail. In addition, I use the word “I will” too often in a sentence, for example, “we will meet tomorrow” and not “we will meet tomorrow.” This is because in German we say ich werde morgen or in English i will do...

It is still very difficult for me to distinguish between the sounds “c” (price) and “sh” (tire), “ch” (very) and “u” (borscht), I don’t hear the difference. And “y”, as in the words “beech”, “best”, I can’t pronounce at all. Lexicon I compiled it in three months, but I did not speak Russian, I only read it. In Russia, I improved my speaking.

I use Russian every day, even sometimes in Germany, when I'm alone on the street, I start talking quietly to myself in Russian. People probably think I'm crazy.

Suzuki Kinihiro
Japanese businessman
Experience of studying Russian - 3 years

IN Japanese syllabic alphabet, so it is very difficult to understand how deaf consonants are pronounced - “hu”, “fi”. Japanese doesn't have the "y" sound, and it's hard to know what it is because English doesn't have it either. There is also a problem with stressed and unstressed vowels. Verb conjugation causes great difficulties: there are too many exceptions, there is no system. Next - the gender of the noun: it is strange to call some thing "he" or "she", in Japanese there is no gender of inanimate nouns. I am constantly confused with "go - go", "go - go". The most difficult thing is cases: no matter how many years you learn, you won’t learn!

Also, we Japanese do not hear and do not understand the differences between "b" and "c", "l" and "r". We can say and write "Angerica", "Raspberry".

Katerina Nicasi
Greek, lawyer

I started learning Russian primarily because I'm generally interested in languages, before that I studied English, French and Spanish. Well, and then in recent years in Greece, interest in Russian has noticeably grown. There is a demand for Russian-speaking specialists different professions lawyers are no exception. I decided that this would be an important addition to my resume. The most difficult thing in the Russian language is intonation and the fact that words in writing are not stressed (in Greek, all words are written with stress. - “Nation”). Therefore, it is often necessary to put emphasis at random, and the probability of missing is extremely high!

I was surprised when I found out that Russian has two different alphabets: printed and uppercase, but it wasn't that hard to get used to. Another confusing thing is the huge number of words expressing movement or lack thereof. The use of prepositional and dative cases- is also difficult Greek They are not here. Despite all this, I like to overcome learning difficulties. And I really like the language. I hope one day I can speak it fluently enough.

George Chatziteodoru
Greek businessman
Experience of studying Russian - 2 years

I have been learning Russian for two winters now. Only in winter, because in summer I work in Chalkidiki in family business. That is why I began to teach, I need to be able to communicate with Russian tourists. First of all, I did not understand why there are so many letters, there are only 24 of them in our alphabet. So imagine my surprise when they told me that there are 33 of them in Russian! What cool sibilants you have, they are not in the Greek language. Short "sh" and longer and harder "u"; "g", "h" ... I like them very much. Concerning capital letters, the small "t" is written in the same way as the English "m", and the small "d" is similar to "g" - I was a little confused at first, but I gradually get used to it. In general, I have no particular complaints about Russian, I try to actively practice my work.

Bubu Buessi
French, restaurant owner and chef
Experience of studying Russian - 5 years

I am learning Russian for work, to communicate with clients. I do not understand many things, for example, the meaning of Russian jokes. I don’t understand the letters “y”, “sh”, “u” and “h”. I am lost in variety: go out, go around, go over, go in.

Elliott Lelievre
French student
Experience of studying Russian - 1 year

I started learning Russian because I specialize in relations between Russia and Latin America and I am closely considering the possibility of living in Moscow. The thing that I will never understand in Russian: why the letter “y” exists at all and why inflect words. Recently, I have been increasingly interested in the question of why the stupid word “carefully” is pronounced “astarojna” (astarojna).

September 26 is the European Day of Languages. Russian compatriots from different countries answered the question - "Why should foreigners learn Russian".

Country languages Warsaw Pact, the polyphony of the Soviet Union - all this linguistic diversity sounded daily on television, sang on radios. Remember how everyone joked about the mandatory quota for all "fraternal peoples" at any holiday concert? But on the other hand, I can still learn most of the languages of the former Soviet Union and I am very happy when in Berlin, in a museum where tourists from all over the world hustle, I recognize not only Polish speech, but I guess Latvians and Estonians.

On September 26, Europe, where I now live, celebrates a wonderful holiday, the European Day of Languages. The idea is very nice: there are 47 states in Europe, many languages, and it is important that all these languages be preserved. Several years ago, a large and much needed campaign was launched to promote the policy of multilingualism. Its goal is to preserve European languages and ensure that every inhabitant of a united Europe has the opportunity to master the languages of neighboring countries.

This is very a wise decision should protect the European languages from the onslaught of the English language, which, of course, continues to be in great demand in all corners of Europe. And, as a rule, it is English that Europeans choose for interethnic communication, forgetting that there are many other possibilities.

It even seems to me that multilingualism in Europe has somehow not worked out yet. At least in Germany, the most advanced in all matters - if you turn on the radio, the only foreign language will be English.

You'll be lucky if you find Radio Kultura - you can hear a little bit of Italian, French, Spanish and maybe some Portuguese there too.

Why teach Russian to foreigners?

Snezhana Bodisteanu (Malta) :

- If you start with humor, then, firstly, to find yourself a Russian beauty! Secondly, US government agencies are now recruiting specialists with knowledge of Russian ... Well, from my point of view, Russian, in spite of everything, is the main language in science, since most Western laboratories are under the guidance of specialists nurtured by Russia . And one more thing - if you learn Russian, then a foreigner can get a very strong technical education for free in our Russian university.

Ravid Gore (Israel) :

- The role of Russia in the world economy and geopolitics is constantly growing in last years. It is useful for foreigners to learn Russian in order to discover new opportunities in different areas activities: business, politics, culture, media. Especially considering the fact that Russian is still easier to learn than his closest competitor- Chinese.

A foreigner who speaks Russian will get a huge advantage over competitors, and as a bonus, he will always be able to feel at home in a vast territory the globe, finding mutual language with representatives of more than one and a half hundred nationalities.

Ekaterina Blinova-Villeron (France) :

- Judging by the foreigners who go to our courses, it's a business: they already work in companies cooperating with Russia.

And personal life - married to a Russian, or going to.

There is another contingent, small - just like it as an unusual hobby.

Ludmila Sigel (Sweden):

- If people learned Russian, they themselves could figure out what's going on, but for now - what the media will throw at them in their language, then they swallow it. global threat- terrorism, and Russia leads a coalition against itself terrible threat the world. So it is necessary to be able to communicate with this main force.

And yet - how can I tell about the war, about the memories of my father, uncle, mother-in-law, about what they experienced? If they understand the Russian language, they will be able to learn from every Russian what kind of horror each family experienced, what losses, because people here don’t know anything about 27 million people. They would understand how we "want" war. I would tell them that people here say, like my friend’s grandmother: “Oh, granddaughter, we will survive everything, if only there was no war.”

They would still understand our jokes, our humor, ditties, they would laugh with us to tears.

How are things in Germany?

Russian is not a language for Germany neighboring country and does not belong to the language of national minorities of the European Union, therefore it does not fall under the rules formulated by the policy of multilingualism. (But you need to remember that Russian is a neighbor language for several EU countries.)

Leading the German school offerings are Spanish, which everyone wants to learn, but there are not many opportunities, and French, which children are not so willing to choose. But here they did without democracy: French was ordered to be taught, so that German was taught in France - such an exchange.

A slightly different picture at universities - there is a larger choice of languages in the language centers, you can find Czech, Polish.

But the Russian language has its own special destiny and road in Germany. Of course, Russian is heard here quite often - several million of our compatriots have moved to the country for permanent residence. In Russian, as a rule, citizens also communicate former republics The USSR is the generation over thirty.

Elena Eremenko, editor of the Russian Field website

Our compatriots opened hundreds of schools with their public organizations, where you can learn the language on weekends, there are already schools full cycle. These institutions are designed not only for children from Russian-speaking families, but also for Germans who want to learn Russian.

By the way, on September 26-27, the Coordinating Council of German Compatriots held in Hamburg round table In Russian. In Weimar these days the German Pushkin Society met. Still, the Russian language belongs to Europe, and life only confirms this.

The Russian language is taught in German schools - much more in the eastern lands than in the western ones. It is often chosen by the children of those who learned the language in GDR times, families explain the choice by the fact that they expect to help the child, relying on their knowledge.

Politics and nothing personal

Until relatively recently, Russian experienced a real surge of interest in Germany, he was willingly taught, hoping for professional growth. Now there is a new situation. And this is not even connected with the crisis of the last two years; Slavic scholars sounded the alarm a few years ago.

IN higher schools, universities everywhere closed the department of Slavic studies. But a delicate balance was maintained - there was a surge in the activity of the German-Russian business, and Russian was no longer taught in Slavic, but in other places, for example, in technical universities and language centers. And Russian even grew, coming in fifth place (104,000 students) among foreign languages in schools and universities, ahead of Italian, Turkish and Greek.

Two years of tension and a year of sanctions have not fundamentally changed the situation, but trends have emerged.

So, recently in "Spiegel" an article was published about what foreign languages and why choose to study in European Union. The specialist of the Goethe Institute determined the conditions that affect the choice of language - the more economically developed the country, the more interest in its language. The ease of learning also affects the choice: often the choice falls on a close language, which explains the success of French in Moldova. The historical factor also plays a role - in countries of Eastern Europe German was taught as the language of the "fraternal GDR", and this is still valid.

The logical arguments of the Goethe Institute specialist fail when they touch the Russian language. In his opinion, Russian plays practically no role for European students and is of little interest to them. It turns out that the author directly refutes the statement about historical ties. After all, it is clear that in the countries of the Warsaw Pact, Russian was taught more often than German.

It is even more surprising that this is said by an employee of the Goethe Institute, an organization that is called upon to popularize German in Russia (where it is second after English). It is impossible to explain such logic by anything other than political engagement.

Well, how will Russia take it and say that German is no longer interesting for Russian schoolchildren? After all, this is exactly what happened in France, when they began to abandon bilingual classes with the German language.

Scientists' opinion

Scientists reveal the language of the future by exploring social media and analyzing the use of Wikipedia. It also dominates English language- confident first place. But then the picture is radically different: in social networks and work with Wikipedia, Russian is ahead of all other languages - it is in second place, followed by Spanish and French. Such widespread world languages as Hindi, Arabic and Chinese (Mandarin) are very far from the aforementioned leaders.

Conclusion: if you want to be understood in the future - English, Spanish, French, Russian remain important for you - these are the languages from which and into which most of the translations of books are made, used on the multilingual Internet. Scientists conclude that it is more profitable to study these four languages.

Published in abridged...

Website of the All-German Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots

Instruction

A person for whom Russian is not a native language can be advised to study it as a foreign language for a number of reasons. First, it is one of the three languages in which all international standards(except French). Secondly, a person who knows the Russian language will be able to read many classical works in the original, and not only literature, but also science. Thirdly, the Russian language is one of the most beautiful-sounding languages in the world. To be convinced of this, it is enough just to listen to the speech on it. B-, it is this language, besides English, that is used for everyday communication on the international space station (this is a very weighty one). Finally, in-, it is the language of the largest country in the world by area.

A foreigner will have to be warned in advance that the Russian language is difficult to learn. To a native speaker, it seems simple only because he has heard and absorbed it since childhood, and when studied as a foreign language to a person who has never spoken it before, it will seem much more difficult, say, German, and even more so, English, in which there is much fewer hard-to-remember rules.

As for a resident of Russia who wants to speak in its likeness instead of the Russian language, diluted with jargon and inappropriate borrowings, replete with inconsistent parts of speech, he can be persuaded, for example, by recording his own speech, and then letting him listen. The fact that he, from the outside, will sound completely different. Immediately after that, you can give him to listen to an excerpt from a classic work performed by a professional reader. The tremendous contrast between these recordings will make a significant impression on him.

And why a letter, if there are spell-checking systems? Today it is difficult to find a browser or text editor that does not have such a system. But the current young generation is accustomed to using not only on the computer, but also on mobile phone. There, if there is a touch screen or an alphabetic keyboard, it is not checked at all, and the T9 input system, which phones with a numeric keypad are equipped with, simply does not recognize an incorrectly entered word. For a person who is not familiar with the spelling of a word, typing it on such a phone will cause a lot of trouble. The same goes for automatic translators and optical character recognition systems, which are not at all "trained" to "understand" misspelled words.

Modern information Technology do not at all free a person from the need to be literate, but rather the opposite. A person will have considerable difficulties if there is a desire to publish somewhere - from a content exchange to a regular publishing house. It will be so difficult for the editor to correct his many errors that the author will most likely simply be refused publication. Wouldn't it be easier not to create such difficulties for yourself and just learn the rules once?

Texts in which mistakes are made intentionally look absolutely disgusting. But practice shows that "bastards" do not need to be specially persuaded. After only a few years of using such a "language", such people develop a strong aversion to it. This ridiculous hobby, as a rule, does not last long.

The University of Florida published on its website an interesting article "10 Reasons to Learn Russian". Such a publication is intended to interest applicants and attract them to the department Slavic languages. It should be noted that the arguments that were cited in the printed text were put forward by the foreign side, and not the Russian one.

The published text is notable precisely because a view from the outside is always valuable and interesting information. Of course, Americans see things differently. The same applies to the benefits presented by them, which are given to American students studying Russian. For our country, this approach is of considerable interest.

So, what reasons are listed by foreign authors of the article? Let's consider them carefully:

1. The first argument in favor of studying the Russian language, the university considers the need for personnel who speak this language in public authorities. The Americans want to see Russian-speaking personnel, of course, in the CIA, the NSA, the FBI, as well as in the departments for energy, defense, Agriculture etc.

2. In the described article, American authors note the important role of Russia in world politics and do not exclude it as a world power. Such an opinion, of course, cannot but flatter us. It is very pleasant that such a big role here is given to our country.

3. Foreign authors write that NASA, for example, will find it difficult to do without the services of Roskosmos, through which American cosmonauts are delivered to the ISS. In addition, some experts in the energy industry believe that by about 2030 Russia will control half of natural gas throughout Europe.

4. A separate paragraph in the article highlights the prospects and possible expansion economic ties America with Russia. Below are the figures by which you can judge the turnover. For example, the turnover of only one state of Florida with our country is estimated at about a billion dollars.

6. Another reason why you should master the Russian language is its fairly widespread use in the world. In confirmation of this, the authors of the article cite the following figures - about 270 million people in the world speak Russian.

7. Today, many seek to learn the Russian language in order to join our richest culture, which has great importance throughout world culture. Many foreigners want to read the great Russian classics in the original, watch brilliant productions in Russian theaters, and feel the mood of the musical works of famous Russian composers.

8. Another reason why you should study Russian is the fact that in teaching our language is perfectly combined with many other disciplines. This includes political science, history, music, science, etc.

9. The next thesis says that students who have studied Russian are more likely to get into advanced training programs in areas such as business, law, medicine, etc.

10. Students are also stimulated with great opportunities in career growth in future. The University of Florida can rightfully be proud of the success of many of its graduates who have succeeded in banking, in high positions in the government payroll, in NASA, in law firms, both in the US and in Russia, etc.

11. Florida State University in the last argument cites the success of this very educational institution in teaching the Russian language. The authors of the article also talk about existing programs for cooperation with various funds and departments.

All the arguments that are given in the article look quite convincing. We could formulate some points ourselves, and some are purely American, since they are based solely on American reality.

As we can see, in recent years, interest in the Russian language has been growing, and not only in the United States, but throughout the world. In other words, our language is in demand. But for our part, we are obliged to back it up with worthy proposals. It is in our power to cooperate with foreign educational institutions that teach the Russian language. We are obliged to help foreign students to get an interesting internship and actively participate in exchange programs with Russian universities.

Today there is a lot of evidence that the Russian language is becoming more and more popular. Until recently, in many foreign schools where the Russian language is studied, this subject was in a very low position. But now the situation has changed, and this discipline has returned to the first places. This does not come from Great love to Russia, but rather out of necessity. The reason for this was the rapid development of tourism, business, etc.

In recent years, the number of foreign tourists visiting our country has been growing rapidly. But the incentive for learning the Russian language is also Russian tourists vacationers, for example, on the coasts of Turkey and Spain and purchasing property around the world. By the way, the Russian menu can now be seen in restaurants in many countries.

Our task is to keep up with global trends. Of course, we ourselves should create a dozen of our own convincing arguments that encourage foreigners to learn Russian.