Why Study Russian? | Slavic Languages & Literatures

Why should I study Russian now?

Russian is one of three critical languages (with Arabic and Chinese) chosen by the US government for its National Strategic Language Initiative, with a wide variety of career opportunities.
There is a 30% estimated salary increase for jobs requiring Russian language skills in some sectors.
There are more than 3,000 estimated annual US government positions that require Russian language skills
Numerous national scholarships (the CLS Program, the Foreign Language and Area Studies Scholarship, Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, Boren Awards, Project Go Scholarships, and many more) aim to expand dramatically the number of US citizens studying world languages, especially critical-need languages such as Russian. Students of all disciplines and majors are encouraged to apply. Participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period, and later may apply their skills in their future professional careers.
Critical Language Scholarships program (CLS) provides fully funded intensive language instruction for 7-10 weeks for US undergraduate, Master’s, and Ph.D. students. Eligible levels: Intermediate or Advanced level.

Russian is the 5th most widely spoken language in the world, yet few Westerners consider learning it. Be among the few who do! 
Russian is the 3rd most common Internet language.
Russian is spoken by over 250 million people.
Russian is one of the 6 official languages at the United Nations.
Russian is the 2nd most frequently chosen language for scientific journals.
Russia occupies a 6th of the earth’s landmass, playing a critical role in the modern history of the world.
Russia is the largest country of the world.
Russia comprises 11 time zones and 6.6 million square miles.
Russia is an energy superpower, with around 40% of the world's natural gas and exporting petroleum.
Russia boasts a wealth of ecological and cultural diversity, including 29 UNESCO sites.
Russian is a gateway language: it is an official language of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan; it is an unofficial lingua franca in Georgia and several other former Soviet countries.
Russian proficiency allows you to read Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Bulgakov, or the Nobel winners Boris Pasternak, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and Svetlana Alexievich in the original.

Agencies seeking Russian expertise may include the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health & Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing & Human Development, Labor, and the Interior.
Russian proficiency is highly valued in the fields of cybersecurity and computer science.
Whether you aim for a federal job, an NGO, law or medical school, Russian language study testifies to your hard work and readiness to take on a challenge. These transferable skills can impress your future employers and admissions committees. Knowledge of Russian makes a candidate stand out from the crowd.

How can I possibly learn the alphabet?	It takes about one week; after another week you’ll be able to read and write in Cyrillic. About 18 letters look familiar to you already; if you can read the Greek sorority and fraternity names, you have a head start: Атом, танк, Америка, факт, гамбургер, папа, мама.
Russian is too difficult.	While Russian takes longer to learn than more commonly taught languages, it takes less time than Japanese, Chinese, or Arabic.
I can always study it later.	Russian is not offered just anywhere. At Pitt we are proud of our program: our faculty includes trained teachers with advanced degrees; classes are small, and you can expect individual attention. Exploit Pitt’s resources while you are here!