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This Lesson Focuses on the history of the Russian languages and the top 5 reasons to study!

• Russia is the largest country in the world with a population of over 140 million people. It spans eleven time zones and contains the largest forest reserves in the
  world as well as a quarter of the earth’s fresh water within its lakes.

• The Russianlanguage has recieved numerous influences throughout history, including influences from Polish, German, and even Slavic.

• A lot of academic and intellectual vocabulary was used from languages such as Dutch, French, German, and even Latin. So by learning Russian, you get a sense
  of history, and the better you know it, the more familiarities you’ll pick up from other languages too.

Other than the amazing history of the Russian language and its huge geographical size we have composed a list of the top 5 reasons you should study Russian!

• Romance: Lots of people learn Russian because they either have or want a Russian partner.

• Business: Since the former Soviet Union opened its borders to foreigners, many businessmen travel to Russia and particularly the Ukraine.

• Travel and tourism: Russia has always attracted tourists by its historical past and culture. Russian theatre, and in particular, ballet, are famous all over the world.

• “Exotic”: Even though it’s considered challenging because it has a different alphabet, the Russian writing system makes it perhaps easier to learn than some other languages such as Arabic and Japanese.

• Extremely popular: According to estimations, between 144 and 160 million people speak Russian as their first language. It’s the eighth most spoken language in the world, before Japanese, German, French, and Italian. Still, people speak Russian natively in all former Soviet republics, some of which are part of the EU now such as Latvia. In Eastern Ukraine, for example, people speak Russian rather than Ukrainian.

On June 12th of each year, the Russians celebrate a holiday known as Russia Day. This National holiday of the Russian Federation marks the approval of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet that took place on June 12, 1990.

The holiday was initiated on June 12, 1992 in remembrance of this momentous occasion. It symbolized the fight for democracy against the communism that was dominant in Russia at the time.

The national interest in economic reform formed the democratic movement for change. People responded to this new idea and the Russian statehood was consolidated to reflect a new constitution and a new President of the Russian Federation.

This was a great landmark reached and so the Russians celebrated this milestone in their political life and called it Russia Day. December 25, 1991 marked a new day for Russia as the country’s name was changed as the Supreme Soviet of Russian announced the beginning of a National holiday.

Russia Day is a reflection of the country’s past and its present as most country’s holiday do. It celebrates the culture of Russia as well as the experiences that brought the country to this point.

Previously, the holiday was known as Russian Independence Day, but was soon changed to Russia Day in 2002 as the people of Russia struggled to understand from whom they had derived their Independence even though it was said to have been from the Soviet Union.

The Russians saw this day as a day off from their normal life of going to work and doing other things. They viewed their status as a nation that has always been a Russian State despite the different name changes. There are some that see this as the day that their government had crumbled under pressure. Some remembered it as a time of social disorder and economic difficulties.

There are some who embrace it and enjoy the day of track and field that is held on the exterior of the Kremlin. On that day, the President of Russia gives away achievement awards in Science and Culture.

There are activist that use this day as an opportunity to protest against environmental issues. It symbolizes something different for everyone.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from everyone here at RussianPod101.com! We’re grateful to have listeners just like you, and we’re eagerly waiting for the upcoming year to learn Russian together!

And when the New Year comes around, be sure to make a resolution to study Russian with RussianPod101.com!

Have a healthy and happy holiday season.

From the RussianPod101.com Team!