Only 5% of Russians speak English and Russia's overall English language proficiency is still ranked as 'Low' in the international English Proficiency Index (EF EPI).
The Russian and English alphabets are very different. While Russians learning English may become accustomed to seeing the new alphabet, the lettering systems are different, making it challenging to decipher. It is a small challenge that can be overcome, but it may take some readers and writers a while to master.
English had been taught in most schools throughout the Soviet Union as a foreign language (German also, but rarely, and French in singular cases) and is taught in Russia in almost every school today. English is also taught in the majority of higher education institutions.
Ukrainian and Belarusian are the closest languages, as together with Russian they form the East Slavic group of languages. These three languages have an 86% lexical similarity; that is, they share 86% of the same words.
Many Russian speakers have difficulty pronouncing the English consonant sounds /w/, /v/, /r/ & 'th'. Russian has a quarter of the vowels that English does so many English vowels are challenging. Word stress is often flatter and more even than an English native speaker.
With some homework done beforehand, like making a list of sites you want to visit, using Google maps etc, the trip is doable even if you do not speak any Russian. <Is English common in Moscow?> No! But in Moscow and St Petersburg you will be able to find Englsh speaking people.
Those who know 1,000 to 3,000 words can carry on everyday conversations. Knowing 4,000 to 10,000 words makes people advanced language users while knowing more than 10,000 words puts them at the fluent or native-speaker levels.
The United States and India have the most total English speakers, with 283 million and 125 million, respectively. There are also 108 million in Pakistan, 79 million in Nigeria, and 64 million in the Philippines.
A study by international Educational company EF Education First found that the Dutch are the best non native English speakers in the world with over 90% of the population speaking the language! It seems that anyone that has graduated from a Dutch school or University holds a native or near native level of English.
Most students achieve the intermediate level (B1) in approximately 1.5 years. During this time, they spend around 500 hours actively learning. This equates to no more than 1 hour daily. Of course, you can go on learning Russian for 2 hours per day as you've been doing.
Our Student Sabrina advises, if studying daily, it could be possible to become fluent in Russian in 5 years. And of course, the best way to speak Russian fluently is to move to Russia to be inside of the language environment, to immerse yourself in everyday activities and challenges.
The Foreign Service Institute of the United States has determined that it takes about 1100 hours of study to reach fluency in Russian. If you're willing to study 3 hours every day, it could take you a year to reach that level.
Travelling in Russia can be challenging for non-Russian speakers. Migration cards may be in Cyrillic only, and immigration officials may only speak Russian. At train stations, most signs are in Cyrillic and ticket sellers usually do not speak English. Moscow metro signs use an inconsistent alphabet.
According to 2002 census data, 7 million out of 145 million people speak English in Russia, and the majority of those people live in Moscow.
Race & Ethnicity
The largest Moscow racial/ethnic groups are White (97.3%) followed by Two or More (2.7%) and Hispanic (0.0%).
Hi in Russian – Привет (Privyet)
Of all the European languages a native English speaker can learn, Russian is among the most difficult. The Germanic and Romance languages have a lot of the same core because they both have roots in Latin. Russian is from a completely different language branch called the Slavonic branch, which includes Czech and Polish.
In spite of this, complex as it might be, Russian is an incredibly beautiful and lyrical language. It's no coincidence that some of the world's greatest poets hailed from here. And once you have achieved some level of proficiency, the sense of achievement makes it all worthwhile.
Hugs, backslapping, kisses on the cheeks and other expansive gestures are common among friends or acquaintances and between members of the same sex. Russians stand close when talking. Putting your thumb through your index and middle fingers or making the "OK" sign are considered very rude gestures in Russia.
The grammar rules in Russian are very complex and have numerous exceptions. In addition, many learners struggle with the pronunciation – the stress in words is largely unpredictable and not marked in writing, while there are multiple homonyms.
Many countries, like Russia, use British English as their standard of evaluation.
While total fluency will take years of practicing Russian and will likely require you to spend time in a Russian-speaking country, it's absolutely possible to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, plenty of Russian words, and the basics of Russian grammar in six months.