The Joys of Russian Why study the Russian Language? Why study Russia? Slavic Department, University of Michigan.

The Joys of Russian

Why study the Russian Language?

Why study Russia?

Slavic Department, University of Slavic Department, University of MichiganMichigan

Russian…

• …is the primary language of the 150 million citizens of the Russian Federation, as the Russian state calls itself, and is the native language of approximately 30 million people living in the other states which were formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

•А-Я

•Я-А

Russian…

• offers a key to the parts of Europe which will be most changed by economic development in the coming century

• and provides access to one of the world’s great cultures

Russia…

• is by far the largest countrylargest country in the world

• and has the largest new sourceslargest new sources of natural gasgas and petroleumpetroleum (pundits speak of Russia replacing Saudi Arabia among the world’s oil-producing nations)

Russia stretches from the middle of Europe to the Pacific Coast, from the Arctic Ocean to Central Asia

Russia is unique and beautiful

Monastery of St Trifon, Vyatka (Kirov)Monastery of St Trifon, Vyatka (Kirov)

But Russia is also a very important player in globalization…

•With one of the world’s most educated populations

•And with some of the most advanced skills in computing, and new media

•By the way, have you noticed how many Hollywood animations are done by people with Russian names…?

But Russian is a hard language – right?

•Wrong!

•The alphabet, which worries so many people, is actually very similar to ours

А Б В Г Д Е…

A B V G DE…

And many words will be familiar…

• Кот

•Especially if you know other languages

•Дом •Hint – think domestic

Moreover, words actually sound how they’re spelt

• Try explaining ‘enough’, and ‘through’ to someone who isn’t a native-speaker of English

• But in Russian машина is mashina (car) and марш is marsh (march – and it’s like the French marche, by the way)– so it’s really easy!

And once you’ve mastered that…

• Think of the possibilities…Достоевский, Толстой, Чехов, БулгаковDostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, BulgakovЧайковский, Муссоргский, Шостакович,СтравинскийTchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich,StravinskyФетисов, Фёдоров, Кафельников, КурниковаFetisov, Fedorov, Kafelnikov, Kournikova

The achievements of a great nation are yours to investigate!

And nowadays, so is Russia!

•Vyatka to Moscow

9731/4 Versts

•Vytegra to St Petersburg 430 kilometres

So much to see…

•Lake Onega, one of the largest bodies of fresh water in Europe

•Village of Koshtugi, Vologda region

All over the country…

•Tomsk, Siberia

•High school folk ensemble, Vytegra, Vologda Region

You want contrasts? You’ve got them – three modes of transport, all from the same small town north of Vologda…

And let’s not forget the pleasures of the table…

And, of course, the warmth of the welcome …

Wherever you are…

…and whoever you are

So the joys of Russian are many…

… and so are the rewards

• Learn Russian

Говорите по-русски

• Study Russian

Любите Россию

Of course, every new culture and new language you study brings tremendous benefits• “multinational companies need leaders who

are internationally adept” (Sally Adamson Taylor, Culture Shock! France, revised edition, Portland, Oregon, 1999)

• I recently landed a consulting job because of my Russian degree … and they loved the fact that I understood and valued other cultures (Michigan Russian graduate, with an MBA)

But the future of Russia is especially bright and intriguing

• And the future for Russianists is more exciting than it has been for a long time

– For more information, write to mlmakin@umich.edu

– Or check out the Slavic Dept web site at http://www.lsa.umich.edu/slavic/

– Or contact the Center for Russian and East European Studies at crees@umich.eduor check out the Center’s web site athttp://www.umich.edu/%7Eiinet/crees/.