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5 Fascinating Facts About the Russian Language

Updated: Dec 12, 2023

One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way’. In the modern world, we live in, it’s important to equip yourself with knowledge of more than one language. The Russian language is a fascinating language to learn. Did you know Russian is a mandatory language for astronauts? If you didn’t, here are more compelling facts about the Russian language.


1. The Russian language is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world.

Russian is the 5th most spoken language globally, and it is estimated to have around 260 million speakers. It’s also the most commonly spoken language in Eurasia.


2. To be an astronaut to have to learn the Russian language

It’s quite interesting how astronaut had to learn Russian, and in some instances, they had to go to Russia to learn the language better. The main reason being that in case an emergency occurred, the instructions were given from stations in Russia. In 2000, a Russian-English language, Runglish, was made one of the languages in the international space station.


3. It’s one of the official languages of the United Nations

Apart from English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Chinese, Russian is one of the official languages of the United Nations.


4. The language has some resemblance to English

Approximately 10% of Russian words are similar to English, with about one out of ten Russian words having some resemblance with English.


5. Russian surnames vary depending on gender

The family name is usually borrowed from the father’s name. An ending is included to the name, -ovich for a son and -ovna for a daughter.

Get to know more about this beautiful language by enrolling for Russian language classes. This is a decision you won’t regret.



Moscow, Russia

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