Russian

While some in Japan may hold a somewhat distant or even intimidating image of Russia, as a Japanese pun ”osorosiya" suggests, such regions as Sakhalin and Vladivostok are right next door. Russian culture and arts have produced outstanding talents in fields such as physical expression like ballet and figure skating, or classical music, mathematics, and theoretical physics. Russian literature, with authors such as Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, has created its own unique world and has been widely read in Japan since the Meiji era. The language in which this literature was written is Russian.

Russian is one of the Indo-European languages, just like German, English, and French.

Within this family, the Slavic language group—which includes Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, Bulgarian, and so on—shares similar vocabulary and grammar, making Russian a good starting point for studying them. The Cyrillic alphabet, with letters like Б, Д, and Г, was originally created based on the Greek alphabet. Countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Serbia share a history of adopting Christianity from the Eastern Orthodox Church in the Greek cultural sphere.

Russian is not spoken only in Russia. Many people still speak it in the countries that once formed the Soviet Union, particularly in Belarus and Kazakhstan. Through immigration, there are also numerous speakers in countries such as Israel and the United States. While the population of the Russian Federation is about 140 million, it is estimated that there are around 250 million Russian speakers worldwide.

Russian writers and intellectuals have long been interested in the Far East and Central Asia. In Northeast China (Manchuria) and Sakhalin (Karafuto), one can find reminders of the contact and conflict between Japan and Russia. Russia itself is a culturally diverse space, with many topics that have yet to be fully known in Japan. Let's embark on an adventure of linguistic and cultural discovery, full of terra incognita, with the Russian language as our guide.

For first-year students taking Russian as a required foreign language, there are three classes per week. Two of these classes use a textbook and aim to teach basic Russian grammar, enabling students to achieve a simple level of reading and writing. In addition to grammar, the classes introduce, as much as possible, the history and culture of not only Russia but also other Russian-speaking regions. The third class is taught by a native-speaking instructor and focuses on practicing conversation and presentation skills.

For second-year students, the required Russian course meets twice a week. One class focuses on developing reading and writing skills through the careful reading of texts from various genres and practice in themed composition. The other class hones speaking and listening abilities through reading aloud and studying conversational expressions.

In addition, for students who did not choose Russian as their required foreign language, beginner and intermediate Russian classes are offered in Mita Campus. Students with intermediate or higher proficiency in Russian can also tackle more challenging texts in the "Source Readings in Russian" course. Many other Russian classes are available for enrollment in Research Center for Foreign Language Education and other faculties, so we encourage you to explore these options.

In December, there is an event called the "Russian Language Festa," where students studying Russian, mostly in the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Science and Technology, the Faculty of Letters, showcase performances that utilize their language skills, such as songs, plays, and quizzes.

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic was finally subsiding, making overseas travel and study abroad possible again, Russia's invasion of Ukraine occurred, and travel to Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus remains difficult. What, then, is the significance of learning Russian in such a situation? Among Russian speakers, there are those who believe the rhetoric of the Putin regime, those who are forced into silence despite their doubts, and those who express opposition to the war or flee abroad. Not only Russians but also many Ukrainians understand Russian. You may encounter opinions with which you strongly disagree. However, to accurately understand the thoughts and experiences of people from various standpoints, you must first learn their language. This is true for any language, but learning Russian, with all its positive and negative facets, is intrinsically linked to understanding our contemporary world.

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