Give your brain a workout
With its Cyrillic alphabet, six grammatical cases, and extensive vocabulary, Russian may seem intimidating at first. Yet it's exactly what makes it so rewarding to learn! Studying Russian is like sending your brain to the gym: it encourages you to think in new ways, strengthens your memory, and develops neuroplasticity – your brain's ability to form new connections.
Even if languages aren't your strength, the environment gives you a major advantage. Once you come to study in Russia, you'll be surrounded by the language every day, making it easier to practice. A graduate of ITMO’s Foundation Program Ahmed Levrack seconds this experience:
“I believe success depends on how much you use the language outside the classroom. After passing my A1-A2 exams, I made a deal with my roommates that we would only speak Russian in our dorm. It wasn’t easy at first, but it made a huge difference.”
Practice it beyond Russia
The reach of Russian extends far beyond the country’s borders. It remains widely spoken across many former Soviet republics and serves as a common language in parts of the Caucasus and Central Asia. Whether you're traveling through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, or other neighboring countries, knowing Russian can make communication much easier, especially when English is not widely spoken.
Culture-wise, you can encounter Russian far from its homeland – like in the case of Willem Dafoe reciting Russian proverbs.
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Discover new media
Learning Russian opens the door to a vast world of films, TV series, books, music, and internet culture. This allows you to catch jokes, cultural references, and nuances that are often lost in translation. Beyond the classics of Soviet cinema and literature, modern Russian TV series, films, podcasts, and online creators offer plenty to discover. And while living in St. Petersburg, you'll also be able to enjoy museums with guided tours and theater performances in their original language.
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Gateway to other Slavic languages
The Cyrillic alphabet may seem unusual at first, and some of its letters take time to master. The good news is that once you've learned it, you'll pave the way to other Slavic languages as well. Russian shares vocabulary, grammatical features, and writing systems with languages such as Belarusian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, and Macedonian. Even when the languages differ, your experience with Russian can make learning another Slavic language much more manageable.
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To Dot or Not To Dot: Letter Ё in Russian Alphabet
