Learning Russian??

[sonlypuppyfat]

DD is going into year 7 in September and at the school meeting we had last week, all the yr7 parents, we were told they would be learning Russian do you think that this is an odd choice of language to learn or am I being unreasonable?

rach I think they still do french

Russian is unquestionably more difficult for a native English speaker to learn than, say, French or Spanish. It takes approximately twice as long to reach each level of proficiency in Russian as it does for French or Spanish. Some elements of grammar are quite complicated. But it is worth the effort.

There are more native Russian speakers in the world than there are native speakers of French BTW.

NoCakesLeft so what language are Estonian children learning then? What language will replace Estonian in 150 years? Interested because my family is Latvian.

Estonian kids learn English and Russian. Estonia is almost like The `Netherlands, in that everyone seems to speak English (in the cities at least).

Really? My relatives despise speaking Russian after being forced to do it for many years. How interesting!

If you read A Clockwork Orange you'll be learning Russian words without realising it!

how hard would it be as an adult to learn Russian? i need to exercise my brain and I quite fancy trying it.

Russian is a great language, your DD is lucky to be able to learn it. She'll have enough French throughout her schooling anyway.

It's a wonderful language, it's very difficult, but it's worth just to able to read Pushkin in original.

I did Russian GCSE at school and then did the first year of my degree in Russian (and French). Friends who did their full degree in Russian were in hot demand on graduation as it is not taught in many places. There are great career opportunities for speakers of less-taught languages. It's a fun language to learn (altho I love learning new languages so am biased!)

I think Russian is more useful than French. Countries where Russian is widely used are less easy to navigate in English than Francophone countries for a start. I would love to learn Russian as would 5 yo DD. Her best friend speaks Russian at home and DD is desperate to join in.

So many job opportunities are available for people with a good command of Russian, and as PP said it is quite difficult so it is great to get started early.

Exwife I taught myself a bit as I also have family that are Russian, that was in my early twenties and it used to make me want to cry! But then so did any language. I would say go for it!

how hard would it be as an adult to learn Russian? i need to exercise my brain and I quite fancy trying it.

I am learning as an adult and am really enjoying it. The alphabet is relatively easy to get to grips with and there are good resources out there (try the Pimsleur audio lessons, for a start).

It's probably more useful than French in terms of number of people who speak it - and particularly who don't speak at least a bit of English. I'd rather find myself in rural France, Belgium, Canada with no French than rural Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia with no Russian. Of course for a Brit the former is perhaps more likely than the later (which is a pity).

But as pp have said, Russian is significantly harder for a native English speaker than French or Spanish. The different alphabet is surprisingly a non-issue: takes a few hours to learn, but then it's fine and quite fun. The grammar on the other hand is horrifically difficult. Not sure how much is needed for gcse, but I suspect that even for that level you wouldn't escape unharmed.

I learned for my own fun, btw. But I find Russian language and culture fascinating and love the literature. I'm not sure it would be my first choice for an only MFL if the child wasn't that interested.

I think it's an odd choice but not necessarily a bad one.

I did Russian at school, alongside both French and German. I think it was certainly harder to grasp, which is why I think it's an unusual choice for a first MFL. However, it's a very interesting language, and if it's well taught, why not?!

DD will be doing French in Year 7. Personally, I'd have preferred Mandarin, but any language is good in my book.

exWife, give it a try! There are so many brilliant resources available to language learners these days. If your goal is to learn Russian to a high degree of proficiency, that would take years (and years). But if you would just like to learn some basic language skills, it would be quite manageable.

Odd choice but the alphabet is the easiest bit! It's a very difficult language imo (did a degree in it!) but very interesting and maybe the "codebreaking" aspect of the different alphabet might appeal to kids who may not otherwise concentrate in language lessons. Also from my parents' experience, going on holiday to Russia is 100 times easier with a Russian speaker/reader!

Well it does seem I'm being unreasonable in thinking it's a bit odd

I'm Russian myself but would think that it would be strange if Russian was an additional language in schools ( not that I would mind it lol)

Russian is cool. Once you've got the alphabet it's easier than French.

Well I expect the DD is reasonably proficient in Russian now as this thread is over 2 years old ..........

I've just started to learn Russian. It's difficult but interesting.

Why is it odd? It's one of the most complex and rich languages in the world. I personally think it's boring to offer only French, German and Spanish.

The grammar is actually very complicated, despite what one PP claimed. Russian is the main language in my home and I use it at work. But it is not easily accessible to beginners - count three years before you can converse in it.