Russian

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Interesting information about the Russian language and culture

The Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin offers, among other things, Russian language courses for learners as well as further training for teachers of Russian.

About the language

Russian is the Slavic language with the largest number of speakers. It is spoken by about 145 million people as a native language (8th place worldwide) and around 110 million as a second language. Russian is an official language in Russia and Belarus, as well as in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and in Crimea. There are Russian-speaking minorities in all CIS states as well as in the Baltic states. In Israel, Russian-speaking immigrants make up about one-sixth of the population. Russian is also one of the official languages of the United Nations.

Standard Russian is based on Central Russian as spoken in Moscow. The spelling system uses the Cyrillic alphabet (see below) and largely follows pronunciation. In general education schools in Germany, more than 130,000 pupils are learning Russian. Among foreign languages taught in schools, Russian ranks fifth after English, French, Latin, and Spanish.

The Russian Alphabet

The Cyrillic script was developed in the 10th century at the court of Bulgarian Tsar Simeon the Great. Most letters were taken or derived from the Greek alphabet. For specifically Slavic sounds, characters from the Glagolitic script (Glagolica) were used. This script had been created somewhat earlier by the Greek monk Cyril (826/827–869).

Facts about Russia

  • Area: 17,075,400 km² (the Russian Federation is the largest country in the world)
  • Neighboring countries: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, North Korea, Japan, USA
  • Population: 145 million
  • Ethnic groups: Russians, Tatars, Ukrainians, Chuvash, Bashkirs, Belarusians, Mordvins, Chechens, Germans, and others
  • Languages: approx. 150
  • Official language: Russian
  • Federal subjects: 83 (21 republics, 9 territories, 46 regions, 2 federal cities, 1 autonomous region, 4 autonomous districts)
  • Million-plus cities: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Kazan, Ufa, Rostov-on-Don
  • Largest city: Moscow (approx. 11 million inhabitants, 2012)
  • Longest river: Yenisei (5,539 km)
  • Deepest lake: Baikal (up to 1,637 m)
  • Highest mountain: Elbrus (5,642 m)
Course structure

The course structure consists of the following classes:

  • Each course: 2 contact hours per week / total of 30 teaching hours
  • Courses:
    • Russian A1 – Foundations
    • Russian A1–A2 Part 1
    • Russian A1–A2 Part 2
    • Russian A2 Part 1
    • Russian A2 Part 2
    • Russian B1.1 Part 1
    • Russian B1.1 Part 2
    • Russian B1.2
Certificates

For information about the UNIcert® certificate in this language, please contact:.
 

Links

Online Learning Resources

Dictionaries on the Internet

German/Russian

Russian (monolingual)

Interactive Exercises – Learn and practice Russian online (DE/RU)

Russian for everyone – learn Russian online (EN/RU)

Learn and practice Russian online (RU)

 

Culture and Study Abroad


Everything about Russia: books, travel, recipes, learning Russian online (DE/RU)

Russian Newspapers Online

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