Russian Making a Comeback in Post-Soviet Countries
Friday January 5, 2007
Countries who were once under Soviet rule, and where Russian language was heavily "encouraged," are once again seeing the value of stressing the importance of Russian for business edge and communication benefits. Countries like Poland and Ukraine have, now that speaking Russian is no longer associated with and oppressive Communist government, begun to recognize Russian as a viable language.
This is good for travelers, as Russian is is one of the most widely available Eastern European languages offered in universities, colleges, and even some high schools. There are already a great many Russian speaking people in Eastern Europe (and a great many who will speak English if given the opportunity), but increased Russian language knowledge will mean an increased ease of getting around for everyone.
Comments
An interesting link to a news story which has been widely reported in Europe. But you make a grevious error in somehow implying that the historical experiences of Poland and Ukraine are somehow similar. Poland was never a part of the Soviet Union, so to refer to it and Ukraine as being somehow similarly post-Soviet is to really confuse. There is a tendency for some commentators, particularly in North America, to fail to discriminate between the very different experiences of the many countries that made up that part of Europe east of the Iron Curtain. Krakow and Kiev were and are very different places.
Nicky Gardner
editor
hidden europe magazine