Russian Language Day 2024 is on Thursday, June 6, 2024: in this modern day and age, what is a better language to know Russian or Japanese?

Thursday, June 6, 2024 is Russian Language Day 2024.

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Russian is easier for a native English speaker because it's also a Indo-European language. It shares some grammatical structures and cognates with English, and the alphabet and pronunciation are much easier than Japanese as well (don't let this fool you - it can still be tricky!)

That said, neither of them are 'better' than the other. They're pretty much confined to one particular area (though Russian is still commonly spoken in former Soviet republics and Israel due to many of the citizens being descendents of Russian Jews in the early 20th century, and to a lesser extent, many people in the former Soviet Bloc states like Poland and the Czech Republic grew up learning Russian in school.. so if you speak to someone over 40 there, they might be able to hold a conversation in Russian with you), and they're not 'hot' like Mandarin Chinese or even Arabic, but they're still plenty useful because they're still global players. If you're into advanced technology Japanese is useful since so many state-of-the-art electronics, games, and automobiles are manufactured there. If you like science, Russian is good because about 1/6th of all scientific literature published is in Russian (think of the Space Race from the 50s-80s). And of course, it never hurts to learn at least a few phrases if you're considering traveling to either of those countries. Yes, some of them do speak English, but knowing how to find the bathroom and ordering off a menu in the local language would make your experience that much smoother.

A little Russian language?

Here's my two bits on learning Russian:

Well, you're definitely not going to learn over night or even a year. Learning any language takes many many years, and only the truly dedicated learners will be able to master the language. With Russian, you have to take in the consideration of learning a whole new form of written works, called Cyrillic. You must also take in to factor about the grammatical setup and pronouncation. However, it is NOT impossible!

Websites:

First of all, try this one: ...

If good and easy. Also, you might want to try out youtube. Try typing in Learn Russian, and make sure to click on Victor Huglainov's, he's the odd looking guy, but his videos are GREAT! Of course, you can also try Rosetta Stone. I've heard alot of positive feedback on that.

Books:

One great book I know can be found in your local Barnes and Nobles Bookstore under the Language section. It's titled: "Learn Russian:10 Minutes A Day." This book is WONDERFUL, and I can't suggest it enough for beginners.

Culture:

Try finding anyone you live around and see if they're Russian, and ask to talk with them and have them teach you some. Also, try watching Russian movies. Two I can suggest to you are: Дневно́й дозо́р (Day Watch) and Ночной дозор (Night Watch). They come in subtitles, but you'll at least be watching a film in Russian that will help you progress, by hearing native speakers.

Music:

There are some GREAT Russian music groups! Go to youtube.com and type in: Fabrika, Blestyashie, Via Gra, Zhanna Friske, and Russian Music Videos.

Try these two websites as well: and ...

Russian language question....?

English translation i'll give to russian phrases is literate

surprise

с ума сойти [s uma saytEE] literally go crazy

ну ты даешь, ну вы даете [nu ti daYOsh (referring to you single or informal), nu vi daYOte (referring to you plural or formal] - you go!

вот тебе и на [vot teebE i na], вот тебе и раз [vot teebE i ras], вот это да [vot eta da], ничего себе [nichivO seebE], ну и ну! [nu i nu], ну надо же! [nu nAda zhe] - here you have

да ну? [da nu], серьезно? [ser'YOzna] - really, seriously?

не может быть! [ne mOzhet byt'] - can't be

боже мой, боже правый [bOzhe moy, bOzhe prAviy] - oh my god! (usually used by old or religious people)

amazing

здорово [zdOrava], клево [klYOva], прикольно [prikOl'na], супер [sUper], класс [klas], вот это да [vot eta da], вау [wow] - cool, wow

во дает [vo daYOt] - he goes!

ну ты герой [nu ti girOy] - you're the hero

shock/fright

боже сохрани [bOzhe sahranEE], боже помилуй [bOzhe pamEEluy], упаси бог [upasEE boh], не дай господь [ne day gaspOd'] - god save (usually used by old or religious people)

ой, ой-ой-ой [oy, oyoYOy] - ouch! (the number of ой can be increased)

черт [chyort] - hell!