Introduction
Russian is the official language of Russia. It's also the most widely spoken language in the former Soviet Republic and in the former Warsaw pact countries of Eastern and Central Europe, where many people learn Russian as a second language in most schools. In Addition, Russian is one of the official languages in the United Nations along with English, French, Arabic, Chinese, and Spanish.
In the language tree family, The Russian language belongs in the Eastern Slavic branch of the subfamily of Indo-European languages. Other languages in the Indo-European group include Belorussian and Ukrainian. The Belorussian and Ukrainian languages shows a great deal of similarity to each other, although some of the languages are written in the Cyrillic alphabet and other languages are written in the Latin alphabet.
The Russian Alphabet
Russian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, the way they speak the russian language. It has been introduced by the Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius during the 9th century. The Cyrillic alphabet is based on the Greek alphabet, Including the addition of several letters borrowed from the Hebrew language that symbolize sounds that don't exist in the Greek Language. The original written language in those early times used to be called Old Church Slavonic. The first documents written in Russian date back to the 10th century. By the 13th century, there were noticeable differences between Russian and Ukrainian; and by the 16th century, Belorussian appeared as a separate language.
The Russian Vocabulary
Many Russian vocabulary words have entered the English language -- politburo, vodka, tsar, steppe, and tundra, to name just a few. As you are learning Russian vocabulary, you will notice some words that have a resemblance to English.Some resemblances may be false so make sure if they are right. For example, the Russian word replica means "report" or "stage cue". The word is actually means "from" in Russian! Plus, the Russian word sam is pronounced just like the English word "some", but means "by himself".
Formal and Informal Language in The Russian Address
There are two forms of address in the Russian language, the polite second person plural vy and the familiar second person singular ty. There are certain ways to sometimes say a Russian sentence. It can be considered rude or polite. It is considered rude to use the familiar form when first meeting someone, unless the person you are addressing is a small child. Always use the polite form of address until you are invited to switch to the familiar. An invitation to do so is a sign that your friendship has reached a warmer, more intimate level.
Russian Grammar
Many people who are learning to speak Russian agree that one of the most difficult aspects of Russian to master is the correct placement of stress within words. The stress is mobile, and does not follow strict rules. In the Russian language, nouns (as well as adjectives, and most pronouns) decline in six cases. Because Russian is so highly inflected, the word order in Russian sentences is fluid (unlike in English). The declined endings of Russian nouns identify the subject and the direct and indirect objects, as well as other meanings.
Russian verbs discuss a feature called "aspect". The aspect can be perfective or imperfective, showing perpetual action and action that is completed. A variety of prefixes that help create perfective verbs can let a single Russian verb convey shades of meaning that frequently require several words in English, or defy translation altogether. Because the Russian alphabet is so different from the English letters, and because Russian pronunciation can be challenging, regular practice is necessary to learn to speak Russian well.
Russian verbs discuss a feature called "aspect". The aspect can be perfective or imperfective, showing perpetual action and action that is completed. A variety of prefixes that help create perfective verbs can let a single Russian verb convey shades of meaning that frequently require several words in English, or defy translation altogether. Because the Russian alphabet is so different from the English letters, and because Russian pronunciation can be challenging, regular practice is necessary to learn to speak Russian well.