The History and Style of the Russian Language

Russian is the native tongue of the country of Russia. More than 150 million people throughout the world speak Russian as their first language. Many of these live in Russia, though the language is also spoken in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania and Estonia. It is an unusual language with an interesting history. Knowing something of the language’s history and style is important if you want to learn to speak Russian.

The Beginnings

The earliest written record of Russian is an amphora (a tall jar), which was found in Gnezdovo. It is estimated that it was made around the 10^th century. This style of Russian vanishes just a few hundred years later. The Russian language as we know it today has a fascinating history that dates back to the 14^th century when the ancestors of today’s Russians spoke with various dialects of an old East Slavic language.

Classification

Russian is a Slavic language which is part of the Indo-European family. As a spoken language its nearest relatives would be Belarusian and Ukrainian. The style and vocabulary of modern Russian were heavily influenced by Church Slavonic – the liturgical language of the Russian Orthodox Church. Over the course of more recent centuries, Modern day Russian has also been greatly influenced by Central and Western European languages such as Polish, German, Dutch, as well as Greek and Latin.

Difficulty

Russian does have something of a reputation for being difficult to learn, though it is not as difficult as some languages; Chinese or Arabic for example. Its classification in terms of learning difficulty is a level III language. For native English speakers it requires an average of 780 hours of immersion instruction to develop intermediate fluency skills. 

The Cyrillic Alphabet

The Russian alphabet originated in the 9^th century and contains Cyrillic characters. It was created by two Greek missionaries - Methodius and Cyril. The brothers based the alphabet on the Greek. The Cyrillic alphabet is often  intimidating to people who wish to learn Russian, but though it differs from the English alphabet in many obvious respects, it is not too difficult to learn. Some of the letters do look and sound similar to English letters. The Russian alphabet can usually be learned within a week.

Russian Literature

Learning the Russian language can open the door to a whole new area of literature. Many famous great works of literature were penned by Russian authors. Here are just a few of the most well-known:

·         War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

·         Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

·         A Sportsman’s Sketches by Ivan Turgenev

·         The Overcoat  by Nikolai Gogol

Reading Russian literature in its original tongue allows you to capture a closer understanding to that which the author intended than reading an English translation permits. 

Benefits of Learning Russian

There are many other benefits to learning Russian as well as being able to explore the country’s fantastic literature. If you are planning to take a vacation to Russia, understanding and speaking even the most rudimentary Russian will be of benefit. It will not only help you get by on a daily basis form purchasing food to traveling, it will also enable you to learn and understand more about modern Russia, its culture and its people. If you are planning a business trip to Russian, learning the language is essential. There are a number of lucrative business opportunities available in Russia and speaking the native language will indicate your seriousness and professionalism.

Sources

http://linguistics.byu.edu/classes/ling450ch/reports/russian.html

http://learningrussian.net/russianlanguage/#ixzz1ve3xXHHB

The Richness of the Russian Culture

If you’re wondering how to learn Russian, a good place to start is by learning a little about the culture in which it originated. Russia has a complex history and a very rich culture which can offer new insight to people of the Western world. The country abounds with art and music, a delectable cuisine, intriguing customs and a colorful history of folk art.

Customs and Tradition

Like many Europeans, Russians greet by shaking hands and exchanging a few words of greeting. In public full names and titles are used when introducing one another. It is considered most impolite to talk to another person with your hands in your pockets; it is also rude to point your finger at another.

Russian Hospitality

Learning about Russian customs and traditions is an excellent way to improve your use of the Russian language. One thing that Russian people are noted for above all is their hospitality. When you are staying in Russia, you don’t need an excuse to go and visit friends or neighbors, nor do you have to wait for a special invitation. However, it is considered impolite to receive guests without offering them a drink or something to eat. On festive occasions such as Easter, New Year and birthdays, Russians enjoy serving a special meal for friends and family. Holidays dinners usually include a selection of cold meats and a hot meal followed by deserts. Various types of alcoholic beverages are served together so that guests may choose their beverage of choice.

Dining in Russia

Because of Russia’s location in Europe, many areas have a cold climate, often with severe winters. For this reason, many traditional Russian dishes are designed to provide warmth and energy. Most food is home-cooked and meals are usually served three times each day. Breakfast is usually eaten around 7 a.m. before leaving for work. A typical breakfast consists of butterbrots – an open sandwich topped with butter or ham, boiled eggs and tvorog – a dish similar to cottage cheese, or cereal. Coffee or tea is also served.

Lunch is the main meal in Russia, and is usually served between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. During the work day, the lunch break usually lasts for one hour. A traditional Russian lunch consists of borscht –hot beet soup- for the first course, followed by meat served with potatoes or porridge. This is followed by kompot – a non-alcoholic beverage made by boiling fruit in water.

Dinner is served around 7 – 8 p.m. and is often the only meal for which the Russian family can sit down together. A typical dinner consists of one or two appetizers followed by a hot main course with meat or fish and potatoes. Bread is always served and dinner is followed by tea and jam.

Traditional Russian Gifts

If you are visiting Russia and you would like to bring home gifts from friends and family, a classic gift is a set of Russian nest dolls or matryoshka. The wooden dolls fit inside each other and usually come in sets of six or seven dolls of decreasing size. The dolls were traditionally made from birch or linden and took considerable skill to make. Though the dolls are now factory-made, in the past they would involve the participation of the whole family. Matryoshka dolls may be painted with many different designs including peasant girls, men and even Russian presidents.

Sources

http://www.med.umich.edu/diversity/pdffiles/file20.pdf

http://www.waytorussia.net/WhatIsRussia/RussianFood.html

http://masterrussian.com/russianculture/Russian_Culture.htm

http://masterrussian.com/russianculture/nesting_dolls.htm

The Benefits of Learning a Foreign Language

Around one in four Americans can hold a conversation in a language other than English. Spanish is the most common second language followed by French and then German. If English is your only language, you may think that learning a second language is difficult and time consuming. You may even feel that it would have no advantage to you whatsoever. However, this is not the case. Even if you did not have the opportunity to learn a foreign language at an early age, it is never too late to start. Learning a second language will not only enrich your life, it has many more important advantages.

Intellectual Growth and Development

Learning a second language has positive effects on intellectual growth. According to the American Council on Teaching a Foreign Language, young children who learn a foreign language show a number of cognitive advantages over children who speak only one language. Because language learning is more of a problem solving activity than a linguistic activity, it helps to increase the overall development of problem solving skills. Further, research has shown that even if learning a second language takes time away from other studies, mathematics for example, neither the language learning nor the other study suffers. Second language provides children and adults with an increased ability for flexible thinking and creative thinking skills.

Improved Understanding of your own Language

You may be surprised to know that learning a foreign language can also help to improve your understanding of English. Before long you will have a greater awareness of tenses, verbs, prepositions and general rules of grammar. You may also find that as your vocabulary of the foreign language increases, your English vocabulary will also grow.

Increasing Cultural Awareness

If you have ever traveled to a foreign country where you do not speak the native language, you already realize how hard this can be, particularly if the natives speak little or no English. Traveling is one of the most pleasurable and education activities in life. It enables you to expand your cultural horizons, exchange ideas and experiences. However, if you are excluded from the native language of the country you are visiting, you will also be excluded from the majority of their cultural activities.

Increased Employment Opportunities

If you learn a foreign language, this could greatly increase your employment opportunities. According to a recent Korn/Ferry poll, 64 percent of business executives speak two or more languages. This is a big plus for companies who are seeking overseas expansion. It can open the doors to increased salary, translating and teaching opportunities here in the United States and work opportunities overseas. If you are a young student, learning a second language can also improve your chances of college acceptance.

Strengthened Global Communities

Learning a second language enables you to communicate within and across cultural boundaries, it also strengths communities on a global level. Think about how social and political relations can be strengthened, how problems can be solved when we can exchange ideas and concerns in a shared language.

Why Learn a Foreign Language

There are many different languages to choose from and your reasons for doing so may be numerous. If you are going on vacation to France, for example, you may wish to learn to speak French. If you are interested in your European ancestry, you may wish to learn Dutch or German. You may at some point in your life wish to spend a period of time working overseas. This is a great way to learn a foreign language because you will become completely immersed in it while you are there. But whatever reason you choose, learning another language will always be worthwhile.

References

http://www.gallup.com/poll/1825/about-one-four-americans-can-hold-conversation-second-language.aspx

http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4724

http://www.thelanguageflagship.org/component/content/article/110

Most Popular Foreign Languages Spoken in the United States

Since the beginning of its history, the United States has been known as the “Melting Pot.” The U.S. is truly a country of mixed cultures that seem to mesh and flow. The mixture of cultures and races is what truly attracts new citizens and tourists to the U.S. Here you’ll find all sorts of religions, cuisine, traditions, beliefs, and of course, languages. Though English is the most widely spoken language throughout the U.S. and the world, due to the continuous growth of foreign citizens living in the country, there are many languages that are now commonly spoken.

According to the Modern Language Association (MLA), the below three languages are the most widely spoken foreign languages in the U.S:

1. Spanish – Unsurprisingly, Spanish is the most commonly spoken foreign language in the United States. With the influx of Mexican and South American citizens, this statistic is no surprise. In fact, many believe that over time, Spanish may become more widely spoken than English. According to MLA statistics, over 28,101,052 people in the U.S. speak Spanish. The language is widely taught in schools and there are several different programs and books available that are available for help learning the language.

With the popularity of the Spanish language comes the variety of cuisine, festivals, and traditions that are associated with those who bring their native tongue to the U.S.

2. Chinese – Since Chinese immigration to the U.S. is high and remains so, Chinese stands as the second most common foreign language spoken. With more than 2,022,143 Chinese speakers, the language makes up a large percentage of the other foreign languages spoken and heard in the U.S. The popularity of this language in the U.S. is something that doesn’t come by surprise, especially with the popularity of Chinese cuisine and culture.

Chinese is a very hard language to learn due to its use of Chinese characters which can be quite confusing for non-native and even native speakers. The concept of characters is quite foreign to native English speakers.

3. French – Statistics have determined that about 1,643,838 people residing in the U.S. speak French, a language that is also commonly taught in schools. Most of those people speaking French in the U.S. speak Canadian-French. French is said to be very similar to Italian and Spanish so if you’ve mastered one of these languages, you’re likely to be able to pick up on French quite quickly.

If you want to know how to learn French, many say it’s as easy as reading books and listening to native speakers. Online programs and software are also helpful in mastering French.

With such a variety of foreign languages spoken in the U.S., the benefits of learning them are quite obvious. For one, learning a foreign language allows you to be able to speak and communicate with a more diverse group of people. Learning a foreign language can also help to advance your career since employers nowadays are looking for employees who can speak more than just English. In all, learning a foreign language comes with plenty of perks and is well worth the time and effort.

3 Fastest Ways to Master a Foreign Language

Considering society today, it’s hard to walk down the road or go to the grocery store without hearing a language that is not English. Though English stands as one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world, other languages, such as Spanish and Chinese, are slowly catching up to its popularity. Ever since the time of the first immigrants, it has been obvious that where people go, their culture goes as well. Just look at the amount of foreign languages spoken in the U.S. alone. Mexican and South American immigrants tend to the come to the U.S. and continue to speak Spanish, just as Chinese and other Asian immigrants also speak their native tongues.

Learning a New Language is Full of Perks

While it may seem a bit backwards to learn a foreign language in your own country, the fact of the matter is that learning a language comes with all sorts of benefits, from obtaining more communication skills to being able to apply for more job opportunities. Aside from this, many people shy away from learning a foreign language because it can be a difficult task to conquer, and many know that it can take a long time to truly master a new language. But, there are methods to use when mastering a foreign language that can make the process a lot quicker. Consider these:

1. Read and listen as often as possible. The more exposure you have to the language you are learning, the more likely you are to pick up on commonly used words and phrases. By watching a television show in Spanish or French, you are able to listen to the dialogue between people. Reading is also a great way to help boost the learning process, though learning by ear is much more preferable.
2. Find a native speaker and ask for help. Though reading books and listening to television shows can be helpful, it can be highly beneficial if you have a friend, coworker, or neighbor who speaks the language you are attempting to learn. A native speaker will be able to work with you directly in order to steer you in the direction of proper annunciation as well as verb conjugation.
3. Try total immersion. Total immersion is a very effective way of mastering a foreign language quickly. With total immersion, you will place yourself in a situation that all but forces you to speak the language you are learning. This not only ensures that your newly learned words remain fresh in your mind, it also helps you to acquire the needed skills of speaking the new language socially. In the end you won’t be able to master a foreign language overnight but there are plenty of helpful techniques that can be used to help speed up the process. It doesn’t matter if you decide to learn to speak Spanish, German, Mandarin, or Chinese; just remember that in order to be successful, the process of learning any language will take a lot of time and effort on your part. However, in the end, once you are truly able to master a language, you’ll find that you’re not only able to openly communicate with more people around you, you’re able to become part of and learn more about cultures outside of your own.

The Many Advantages of Learning a Foreign Language

If you have ever tried to learn a foreign language, you may have realized that the older you are, the harder it becomes to truly master a language that is not your native tongue. Scientifically, it is a proven fact that successfully learning a new language as we get older is much harder due to neural commitment. When the brain is first exposed to a specific language, the learning process occurs due to the natural strengthening and weakening of neuron connections.

After learning a language or two, the connections between the neurons tend to be much more hard-wired, which makes them a lot harder to change. This means that when an adult attempts to learn a new language, the brain is competing to use the same neural pathways, but they have already been wired and are difficult to re-wire completely.

The Benefits are Well Worth It

Though learning a new language can be harder, dependent on your age, the fact is that learning a foreign language is extremely beneficial. By the end of it, all of the time and effort that is put forth is well worth the benefits of having learned a new language. No matter if you’re looking to find out how to learn Spanish, French, German, Chinese, or some other language, any foreign language is well-worth learning.

Below are five advantages to learning a foreign language:

1. Easier Communication – If you ever have to, or decide, to travel to a foreign country, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to openly talk and converse with the locals? By learning a foreign language, you are able to develop new communication skills that allow you to converse with an entirely new group of people. Even if you never leave the country, the popularity of foreign tongues spoken in the U.S. continues to grow, so knowing languages such as Spanish and Chinese can be extremely helpful right here at home!
2. More Job Opportunities – When you are able to boast that you know a foreign language on your resume, employers will automatically be drawn to learn more about you. Nowadays employers are looking for well-rounded applicants, which sometimes includes the ability to speak a language aside from English. At the same time learning a foreign language can also allow you to work in a foreign country as well as become employed in a travel position.
3. Cultural and Personal Enrichment – Learning a foreign language allows you to understand and learn more about cultures and lifestyles outside of your own.  With the influx of Spanish and Chinese cultures in the U.S., there isn’t a better time than now to learn the languages of these cultures so that you can better understand and even appreciate them. Personally learning a foreign language also provides a new sense of identity and possibly even new values.

While you won’t master a foreign language in just a few hours or days, within weeks you’ll find that slowly, but surely, you are able to remember foreign words, speak in sentences, and possibly hold small conversations in a new language. Learning a foreign language opens plenty of doors that are beneficial for a lifetime.