Why do foreigners need Russian?
What makes this text particularly interesting is that it is a view
from outside. Of course, Americans view things in a different way,
they enumerate all the benefits given to the students learning Russian
but their approach can be of interest to us as well.
So, what are these reasons? Let us consider them.
1. The first argument in favor of studying the Russian language is the public authorities’ demand for personnel knowing this language. Americans want to have Russian-speaking specialists in CIA, NSA, FBI as well as in the departments of energy, defense, agriculture, etc.
3. The authors have stressed the importance of the cooperation between NASA and Roscosmos which assists in delivering astronauts to ISS. Besides, some specialists in power industry believe that by 2030 Russia will control about half of the European natural gas.
4. They also speak of great prospects and the expansion of economic ties between Russia and America. The commodity turnover between our countries is impressive. For example, our commodity turnover with Florida amounts to a billion dollars!
5. The authors have noted a great role of Russia in developing science and technologies which should stimulate learning Russian.
6. Another reason is greater prevalence of the Russian language in the world, it is spoken by 270 million people in different countries.
7. A lot of people are learning Russian to become familiar with the Russian culture which occupies a prominent place in the world culture. Many foreigners want to read Russian classics in original, watch Russian theatrical performances and feel the mood of the Russian composers’ music.
8. Another reason to learn Russian is its perfect combination with mastering other subjects, such as political science, history, music, etc.
9. Students with the knowledge of Russian have a greater chance to get into the advanced training programs in such areas as business, law, medicine and others.
10. The knowledge of Russian gives great career opportunities. The Florida University is rightfully proud of the graduates who are very successful in banking, government agencies, NASA, jurisprudence both in USA and in Russia.
In the end the authors speak of the University success in teaching the
Russian language, about the existing programs for cooperation with
various funds and agencies.
All the arguments that are presented in this article are pretty
convincing. Some items could be formulated by us as well, whereas the
others are purely American, since they are based exclusively on the
American reality.
As we can see, the interest in the Russian language has been growing
not only in the USA but all over the world, which means that our
language is in great demand. But we should support this trend with
adequate proposals. We should cooperate with educational institutions
where Russian is taught, help foreign students in practicing Russian,
develop student exchange programs.
Today there is a lot of evidence that the Russian language is becoming
more popular. Until recently, in many foreign schools where Russian is
studied, the subject was at a very low position. But now the situation
has changed, and this discipline has returned to the priority place.
This is by no means because of a great love for Russia, but rather out
of necessity. The reason is the rapid development of tourism,
business, etc.
The number of tourists visiting Russia is constantly growing, besides,
a lot of Russian tourists go holidaying to Turkey and Spain and buy
real estate in various countries. By the way, Russian dishes are in
restaurant menus in many countries.
Our task is to keep in step with the world trends and it would be
perfect if we could give convincing arguments to encourage foreigners
to learn Russian.
