Why Russian?

Many people are completely baffled as to why I want to learn Russian.  After giving me strange looks, as though I am from another planet, or some even look at me with a hint suspicion in their eyes, so they ask, “But why Russian?”.  However, these people really misunderstand what a great challenge it is behind this intriguing language.  Russian is such a beautifully designed and complex language and the more I learn, the more I want to know.  The very first thing you are exposed to, of course, is the Cyrillic alphabet, which is something you won’t confuse with other languages. In fact the Russian alphabet is probably one of it’s best features, because it was designed just for the Slavic languages.  Which makes spelling and pronunciation much easier than say the Latin alphabet is with English. I wanted to learn Russian a long time ago, but because of the simple fact I thought it was to tough,  I didn’t even attempt it.  So I am here to tell you, that all my previous misconceptions about it was based solely on my false assumptions.  I often think of how much I would already know today, if I started learning Russian long ago.

Now, back to answering the question, “Why Russian?”…

Let me begin by telling you a story…

Many years ago, I lived in what was at the time called, West Germany, and I worked with a group of fellows that were Russian Linguists.  Their job was to translate documents, create written transcripts, and did oral translations for meetings. I myself knew nothing of the language, I merely set up and operated the electronic equipment needed for the job. However, after the many years of working with them, the more interested I became in the Russian language.  Of course they would converse for hours amongst each other speaking back an forth, of which I hadn’t a clue what was being said.  I picked up only hints of the language’s nuances and the sounds of the language. However after seeing this language in written form, I instantly thought to myself, how impossible it would be to learn, only referring of course, to my own abilities.  “These letters are not normal!”, I said to myself. Some look like Greek, some letters are backwards, so how on earth can I learn this?  Unfortunately for me, it was this very thinking, that sealed some imaginary door in my mind that I couldn’t learn it.  So be very careful what you allow yourself to believe, because our minds will hold on to such things, even when they are not built on truth.

So back to the story…

During conversations, the linguists, would talked about the people, culture, history and cities of Russia.  Some with such detail, you could almost visualize being there. Russia has a very rich history and is a very intriguing country.  They say, that in order to understand a language you also have to understand the people that speak it.  I would say this is very true.  But just to give an idea of the history of Russia, which is as equally vast as the sheer size of the country, not to mention having eleven time zones.

• 980 – The Kievan Rus Era under the rule of Vladimir the Great.
• 1237 – The invasion of the Mongols
• 1480 – Ivan III frees Russia from the Mongols
• 1547 – Ivan IV, crowned the first Tsar of the Russian Empire, know as Ivan the Terrible.
• 1613 – The Romanov dynasty ruled the Russian Empire until 1917
• 1713 – Tsar Peter the Great, founded a new capital of Russia call Saint Petersburg
• 1762 – Catherine the Great and the Golden Age of the Russian Empire
• 1812 – Napoleon invades Russia and is defeated in 1814
• 1917 – The Russian Revolution
• 1922 – The rise of the Soviet Union

And this is just a very brief glimpse of the Great Russian Empire.  Couple this with the people, the great cities, architecture, artwork and artistic artifacts, then you have some very intriguing topics of endless study.  These are some of the reasons I want to learn the Russian language, because I want to visit these very places of history to see and read for myself of their stories.  I want to interact with the native people there and all without tour guides and schedules.  This is really the only way to know the people and truly experience a country’s culture, and history is by being there first hand and seeing for yourself. As a Russian saying goes, “Лучше один раз увидеть, чем сто раз услышать” – It is better to see once, than to hear a hundred times.”

There are four items on the very top of my Russian travel to do lists.  These are,

1. To visit Moscow and Saint Petersburg, they are such cities of beauty!
2. To ride on the Trans Siberian Railway, just for the historical sake of course!
3. To stay with a Russian family in a typical small Russian village, while they still exists.
4. To experience a true a Russian winter, but maybe not Siberia, at least not yet!

I think that would be very exciting and fulfill much of my curiosity of this magnificent country. After that, who knows? Maybe I’ll find more Russian adventures to seek out.

So now you know most of my reasons for studying the Russian language.  To me, it is like buying a ticket which allows me to complete a journey that I have long waited for. So it is well worth the time and effort, that I am investing in order to make my visit to Russia a great success.  If any of you reading this article and are also learning Russian, then I wish you well and great success in your own journey, and to let you know that you’ll get there, if you just don’t give up.  For everyone else, I hope this article has been enlightening to you and that you find it inspiring to begin your journey, whatever that may be.

-Eugene