No Stupid Questions

I think you're Russian to conclusions.

Learning the language is not a political statement, and you'll outlive Putin. Besides we're not solving anything by refusing to communicate with each other. If you want to learn Russian, learn Russian. Just be careful not to fall for the propaganda.

There's never really any downsides to learning another language, provided you have the commitment and resources.

IMO it depends on if you are interested in the language or culture, or if you plan to be in contact with Russia or Russians. For example, do you plan to translate Russian? Do you plan to read Russian-language literature?

Will that be offensive?

Bigots deserve to be offended.

Many people HATE Russia and the language.

Not your problem if people are prejudiced against Russians for the actions of the government that lords over them. If you want to learn the language, go for it.

It is never a bad idea to know the language of your enemy.

Learn Ukrainian first maybe, and then learn Russian? It may be easier to learn if you already know Ukrainian, too.

Of course, if you already know Ukrainian, why not learn Russian too?

I learned Russian when I was in school - after having family who left during the pograms. Learning the Russian language, or any language, should not be about politics. You don't learn the language to embrace government policies, you do it in order to better understand the artists and the art they created. I don't have my Russian keyboard, so you'll forgive me - but there are works which work best when untranslated and understanding some context. "We" by Zamyatin, "Master & Margarita" by Bulgakov, a bunch of Tolstoy's works, "Diary of a Madman" by Gogol, "Roadside Picnic" by the Strugatsky brothers, and movies like Solaris and Stalker. Not to mention the poetry.

Learn the language for the art. If it does make you political at all, it'll make you even more opposed to the Chekist in charge.

People should be able to understand what is going on there, so I say go for it.

This would also open the door to other Slavic languages, many not even written in cyrillic.

Of course not. If we blamed the language for the bad actions of the people who spoke it during, there would be virtually no language left in a pristine enough condition to learn.

That being said, tempers can boil over. So maybe don't shout your Duolingo answers at a full Starbucks. I mean, that's good advice regardless of the language but you know what I mean.

It's never a bad idea to learn another language.

It's never a bad idea to learn. period...full stop.

The act of learning anything wires our brains in a thousand different ways; increases our critical thinking skills. Increases our verbosity and our ability to communicate our own ideas more effectively. It increases problem solving skills, etc...

The very act of learning is something that should be practiced every day with something, whether that's a new language, or a hobby, or being a history buff...it doesn't matter. What matters is the learning itself.

So if Russian is what is giving you that interest right now, do it. At the very least, chicks dig polyglots.

As a Russian myself, it depends.

Do you want to explore classic Russian literature without translation losses? Explore the cultural ties of Russians and how language and culture affects history and politics? Figure out what Russian politicians are saying? Hang out with Russians somewhere? Are a proud pirate looking for Russian resources? Finally figure out how to write the word "лишишься" in cursive?

If at least one answer is "yes", go ahead! It's not easy, but quite rewarding. If you just want to dip your toes a little, however, and feel like you grasp something, there are better options.

Learning Russian could be useful in certain geographical areas near Russia, in the military, or translator position. It's also possible that when hostilities end (or escalate) more position openings could occur. But to learn for personal life the use will be limited.

I don't personally see how learning a language could be offensive, it's knowledge not a lifestyle or way of supporting current hostilities. The hate people have is mainly towards the Russian government and policies, anyone who extends that to a language likely also have a lot of other issues they lump together and are being small minded.

The only person who can determine the need to learn the language is yourself. I doubt the world will be overrun by Russian speaking soldiers any time soon, Mandarin is more likely in that kind of a situation.

I believe learning languages is generally a net good. But to answer your question, it would help to know: why do you want to learn Russian?

If you just find the idea of the language interesting, then yes! Start leaning it. If you have motivation, that will help.

Is there specific media you're looking to consume in its original language, Russian? Then yes, absolutely :).

Are you just trying to learn "any Slavic language", to extend the language families you have knowledge of? You already have some Polish, so what is it about Russian that attracts you? Is there another language that might have more resonance or utility for you?

As far as I am aware, mostly sue to Soviet influence, Russian is probably the most-widely-understood Slavic language, so this does offer some advantages. I have spoken with Ukranians and Georgians who now don't like speaking Russian, for obvious reasons, though I don't know how widespread this feeling really is. And at least here in Germany, I feel like Croatian, Czech, or Slovakian would be a more useful day-to-day or holiday language, but itball depends on your goals.

And, as a dentist once told me in regards to dental floss, but it applies here too: The best language to learn is the one that you will actually learn. If there's a language you'll actually stick with, that's good.

While it's true a language is tightly linked to the culture of its speakers by definition, a language's speakers aren't just their leaders. Russian represents centuries of cultural wealth, not just the misadventures of the last hundred or so years. It's not the language's fault that Putin invaded Ukraine. If you love learning languages for their own sake, do it. I made the same choice when attempting to learn Mandarin during the Hong Kong protests.

I’ll chime in to add that Russian grammar is fairly complex! As long as you’re willing to spend the time on it, I don’t personally see any downsides. As others have pointed out, Russian can help with other Slavic languages, and can also be useful for other countries in that area.

Learning Russian would be handy for when you meet them on counter strike and they start raging at you, but otherwise probably not.

The only solid worst-case reason is to learn "please dont kill me ive got a family" and thats not actually going to get you anywhere so whatever.

I'm of the general opinion that learning new things is never a bad idea, but let's break down your sub question regarding usefulness.

At the very least a basic understanding is certainly useful. I make a point to at least learn alphabets and their sounds so I have a fighting chance putting what I hear into a translation engine. Similarly, Russian isn't the only language that uses Cyrillic.

Paet that though? In my lifetime it was first unthinkable that I could ever visit Russia, then became possible and even a tourist destination (see: Trans-Siberian rail), and back to basically unthinkable to me.

It'll most likely swing again.

Ime people hate russia, not it's people or the language

30 years ago we had a saying that optimists start to learn Russian now. Pessimists Chinese.

(Sub text for the ones who need explanation: because it's going to be the language of the next world rulers)

I agree with the person who said it’s not a bad idea to learn the language of your enemy. And Russian culture is fascinating and worthy of study, even if the country is currently being run by a fascist dictator bent on world domination, at the expense and destruction of his own people. But then, that has been a trend in Russian history.

If this bothers you enough to ask about it, have you considered learning Ukrainian instead? You’ll get many of the benefits of learning Russian, and my understanding is that the two languages are mutually intelligible with some difficulty despite the differences.

I think the main thing holding me back in my attempts to learn languages is not having anyone to talk to. I've tried to learn Spanish, Mandarin, German, French, and Japanese. Never got that far in any of them, but I did best with Spanish and French. The former when I worked with Mexicans who don't speak much English, and the latter when I vacationed in France and didn't want to seem like one of those Americans, and studied like crazy ahead of time.

I can't think of many Russians I'd want to talk to. Maybe if I was in contact with dissidents I'd be able to put in the effort.

Find a culture you like and language you think is interesting and learn. No need to make it a chore, turn it into something positive and maybe go visit. You can find someone to talk to in their native language and even better someone who wants to learn yours!

The only use I could see for learning the language is if you use a lot of Russian torrent sites, and are too lazy to switch the language back to English when installing games from them.

Hey, I'm trying to be more proficient in my Russian.

I think that the more letters a language has, the more words it has, and the more ways you have of getting you message across. The Russian language has so much depth to it due to the many ways of saying the same thing. This can be heard through Russian music or read through Russian literature. The more words a language has, the better you can describe what you are feeling. Maybe there is a better language for translating the complexity of our minds into primal/basic words that we have created.

Now, I might me a bit further in my learning that you are, but if anyone is interested

I have just started a Russian Learning Community that I hope to grow in the coming months.

Beginners, intermediate or advanced / fluent speakers of the Russian language

All are welcome! Не стесняйтесь ребята!

• Feel free to join and create discussions and posts.

• Share insights, resources and lessons

• Participate in comments

• Spark conversations by adding questions at the end of your post

We have a rule of trying not to use translators, only dictionaries and being fine with posting a post that is grammatically incorrect and having others point out your current flaws and room for improvement.

It can be found at: RushB@lemmy.zip (pun intended)

Найти нашу группу можно по етой ссылке: RushB@lemmy.zip

or here https://lemmy.zip/c/RushB

When joining, please introduce yourself in the welcoming post

EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

Приглашаю Всех!

It is currently very dry, so consider yourself an OG and use that title when it gets more popular.