In which countries is Russian useful for anglophone tourists?

Question

Related questions:

As a native English speaker, which two further languages would give me the most travel utility worldwide? (Russian is mentioned in one sentence in the accepted answer),

What language to use in Georgia (the country)? Is English widely spoken?,

What is more widely spoken in the Baltic countries: Russian, Ukrainian, or English? , and

Which languages to brush up on for Ukraine trip?

I'm thinking of visiting Ukraine, and I'm deciding whether to learn Russian or learn Ukrainian. I'm already familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet, though I recognise its pronunciation will be a bit different for Russian or Ukrainian compared to Mongolian. One factor I'm evaluating is whether Russian will be useful in countries other than Ukraine.

Amongst countries which are reasonably "touristy", ie places where the locals won't raise an eyebrow at an Australian visiting their country for tourism, and assuming I stay on the "beaten track" within those countries, where is knowing Russian useful to tourists who can already speak English?

Wikivoyage's phrasebook for Russian describes where Russian is spoken, but doesn't summarize where it's useful for those who speak English, and the promotional page for Lonely Planet's Russian phrasebook only mentions Russia.

Answer 1

For an English-speaking person, Russian is extremely useful in every former member of the Soviet Union, with the possible exception of the Baltic countries where English knowledge is not so bad. English education is horrible in the entire region so speaking Russian is a huge help. I am not aware of any other regions where Russian is commonly known, except for small immigrant enclaves such as Brighton Beach in New York.

I wouldn't bother with learning any of the local languages (such as Ukrainian) as it's only useful in that particular country and locals are never offended if you try to speak Russian to them, despite what fevered nationalists on the Internet might have you believe.

There is the stereotype that Warsaw Pact countries are also hospitable to Russian speakers, however that's far from true after 25 years of full independence. Russian curriculum has never been strong in the area (although mandatory) and the local people haven't needed to speak Russian to anyone for over a generation. Most people over 40 therefore only remember a few dozen random words (Vodka! Horosho!), but won't be able to keep up a conversation. It is similar to trying to speak Spanish to Caucasian Americans from Texas - almost everyone studied Spanish in High School, but few can actually use it.

Source: native Russian speaker visiting numerous post-Soviet states

Answer 2

When I visited in 2010 I found that this was the case in the Republic of Georgia.
When I visited it was nearly impossible to find anyone who understood even basic english words. Even our guides had poor English.

A number of people on our trip spoke Russian however and were able to communicate with nearly everyone (though apparently there is a reluctance to associate with/speak Russian among some people since the invasion of Ingushetia).

Answer 3

In Israel, Russian can be quite helpful.

Most of the population speaks English more or less, but a significant part of lthe population are immigrants from Russia and other ex-USSR countries, who speak fluent Russian.

Answer 4

I am native Polish, I speak fluent English and I was pretty much surprised to have had problems with communicating with people in Turkey. In tourist areas, all signs and attractions are very Russian-friendly. Probably it's not the case deeper in the country, but on the sea shore where many many Russians come, Turkish people in tourism industry are speaking Russian. Though, I also don't know Russian much, so I can't tell if it was good :)

I heard similar about Egypt, but I didn't have chance to be there myself.

Answer 5

As a Russian I can assure you that nobody really speak Ukrainian, Byelorussian in those countries. Even considering hostility of Ukrainian nationalists to Russia that we have nowadays - really nobody speaks so-called 'mova' (Ukrainian language). Even Ukrainian fascist soldiers that genocide Russian in newly-formed Donetsk and Luhansk republics, mostly speak Russian and seldom Ukrainian on their videos available on Youtube. They do speak with slight accent typical for southern regions of Russia, but words and sentences building patterns are Russian, not Ukrainian.

I have noticed that even newscasters on Ukrainian TV who stick to anti-russian point of view, of course, do speak Ukrainian, but noticeably reluctantly, as if they translate in mind that they are speaking about. Absolutely the same thing is with Byelorussia (where I was born BTW, but I absolutely do not know Byelorussian and have never known).

These national languages are indeed used in deep provinces and villages where local people really speak them and are seldom spoken in the big cities. It is not relevant only for abroad countries. For example, my grandma-in-law has lived almost all her life in the village of Rostov suburb (not far from Ukraine border, but it has always been Russian area) speaks almost pure Ukrainian, and pronounces most of the words in Ukrainian manner. And other people from that village do so. Despite it has never been under Ukrainian government - neither in Soviet times, nor after.

Another thing is with Moslem post-Soviet countries - like Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan etc. Even in Soviet times they poorly spoke Russian and speak fluently only their native languages. Nowadays in these countries, as I suppose, Russian is almost forgotten, but for the foreign tourist it is preferable to speak Russian anyway. Some of people still know it, but almost nobody speaks English throughout all post-Soviet space.

For Georgia, Baltic countries (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia) - i.e. for the post-soviet countries hostile to Russia, the whole thing is more similar to Ukraine rather than to Tadjikistan. I.e. formally they pretend to be non-Russian and pretend that they do not speak it, and Russian is officially prohibited, but indeed all of them are able to speak it. Since English knowledge is very poor among all post-soviet space and maybe 1% of people can make two English words with, do not expect to be understood. Maybe in large cities like Moscow and St Petersburg it is slightly better, and it will turn to be 2% instead of 1 )))

So... if you are going to travel to post-Soviet countries and going to study local language, Russian is the best choice. But do not delude yourself - most probably your pronunciation will not be understood by locals. As like as my English will seem clumsy to you )))