Many of my peers are taking/learning Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, ASL, and French right now. I’m thinking of learning Russian because I think it’ll be challenging, fun, and rewarding in the end. But how useful is it and where in the US?
News Flash! The Soviet Union dissolved over 25 years ago. Russian isn’t important any more.
Um, in case you don’t catch the news, Russia is still very important.
Proficiency in any language is a plus for competitive job seekers.
Het, Russian for no but it pronounces as nyet. That’s all I know.
If you are choosing to become proficient in a foreign language, congratulations, you are a step ahead of most American students. Choosing a language, however, should be based upon your personal interest - be it travel, culture arts, etc. If you are looking for a foreign language that will be useful in the US, you should look to see what foreign languages are spoken in the area in which you desire to live.
Russian, like Japanese, was a hot language 25-30 years ago. With the demise of communism and the Asian economic crisis, they have become less commonly taught in the US. Your choice of career should also guide your choice of language. In the academic and business worlds, English is the lingua franca; you should expect that non-native English speakers in those fields will speak better English than you will ever achieve in their language. If you plan to live abroad, have a career in foreign service, or be a spy, then the language of the country in question is your best choice.
At the risk of being pedantic (too late, I know), нет and het are two different words; the former is the Russian word for “no” while the latter is one of the Dutch words for “the.”
In some fields, speaking Russian is still an advantage. A friend is an attorney who got a job right out of law school (a small, no-prestige law school at that) during the Great Recession, at a time when lawyers were being laid off right and left, because she spoke/read/wrote in Russian. The law firm specializes in the oil and gas industry. Another woman I know says knowing Russian has been key in her career - she negotiates broadcast contracts with a giant TV provider and overseas the Eastern/Central European/Russian sector.
But I also agree with skieurope: learn a language because you’re interested in it, not because of what advantages it might offer down the road.
Ski europe, that’s was my best imitation. The two words look identical to me.
As far as I know, all business people in Russia are studying English, because they really understand that to do business they must know it. Taking into account the last news, if Russia does not stop its not really smart strategy she will loose its economy and no one will make business with this country. I believe that it is not the language the one should spend so much time and efforts to learn.
@stacylove, It doesn’t matter that business people in Russia are studying English. Knowing Russian is an added advantage for Americans doing business in Russia and with Russians. If you know the language, you’re not going to be taken advantage of as easily. A Russian can’t turn to his cohort and try to deal behind your back just by speaking the language. If you know the language, you understand the CULTURE and have greater insight into what and who you are dealing with. Americans doing business overseas who don’t know the language - or have trusted employees who do - are simply at a disadvantage. And everyone involved understands this.
If everyone were making decisions about academic fields based solely on their career, no one would be majoring in anything other than finance these days. Thankfully that’s not the case. Follow your interest.
Thank you everyone for your responses. @katliamom I’m defintely pursuing it because I’m interested in learning more about the culture (for the arts - music, literature, and film and the people). There’s already a big Russian community in southern California, where I hope to stay during and after completing my undergraduate education.
I’m currently pursuing my associates in Sociology and planning to transfer to a university afterwards! I’ll most likely stay in California too.
You will like West Hollywood @LadyOrange
Yes, I’m planning to visit UCLA in a couple of months. So I’ll have to check West LA out. Thanks @ballerina16 ! Are you taking residence there or know a lot about the area?
And do you speak Russian?
It is not West LA. West Hollywood is located East of Beverly Hills, West LA is west of Beverly Hills.