The 11 Reasons Why I Still Learn Russian in 2026

I’ve been learning Russian since 2016. But after Russia entered Ukraine I started asking myself “should I still learn Russian? Is it worth? And why am I doing this?” And chances are you’re asking yourself the same questions…

So today I want to share with you my top reasons why I decided to continue learning Russian.

Curious what they are?

Watch the video down below to hear me explain it in Russian (with English subtitles):

Or if you prefer to read, continue on this page (I explain some extra reasons there as well):

So why learn Russian this year?

I recently asked on Reddit what people’s reasons were for learning, and I got these answers:

The results surprised me, as I was expecting more people to be learn for one of the “useful” options (dating, job, family: 28%), but most people voted for the other options (sounds cool, no clue: 72%).

But let’s dive into my reasons why I’m still learning Russian in 2026:

1) Backup plan in case global warming destroys the planet and Russia, Canada and Scandinavia are the only inhabitable places left

If the average temperature in the world would rise by 4 degrees Celsius, many western countries would have a problem:

• The U.S. would have even more droughts
• Europe would have to deal with massive immigration from Africa and the Middle East
• The Netherlands would drown (where I’m from)

So basically the only good places left to live in would be Canada, Scandinavia and Russia.

If this would happen, it could be that more than 50% of the entire population of the world would end up in Russia. And you bet Russia would be taking advantage of that.

Putin said in 2003 that “global warming isn’t that bad: the winters wouldn’t be that harsh, and Russians would need to wear their fur coats a bit less often”.

Now he has changed his views though, and Russia is striving to be CO2 neutral by 2060.

Regardsless of what happens, it’s nice to have a backup plan in case this scenario becomes true.

I do believe in the shared power of humanity, and think we’ll solve the problem of global warming. But me and my girlfriend sometimes joke that if things become really bad in Europe, we’ll just move to Russia. And knowing Russian would make life a lot easier there.

2) The Russian language is easier than it sounds

The first thought I had when I heard Russian is that it sounds like a difficult language.

And while it’s true that the grammar and pronunciation are not easy, I found it’s not too difficult to SPEAK Russian.

For example, did you know that Russian does not have articles?

There are no ‘the’, ‘a’ or ‘an’ in the Russian language.

That’s great, because you don’t need to remember them. And if you compare it to a language such as French or German, where you need to remember a random article for each noun, Russian is a lot nicer to learn.

There are more reasons why Russian is not that hard to learn:

• Flexible word order. The flexible word order allows you to start speaking before you know the full sentence you want to say.
• Simple Russian pronunciation. Russian letters are pronounced the way they are written (except for the ‘О’).
• Russians don’t speak English well. So you MUST learn Russian if you’re traveling to a Russian-speaking country.

In the end, each language has its own difficulties and easy parts. I’d say that Russian is hard to start, but easy to master. The difficult grammar (verb conjugation + cases) is needed in the beginning stages. But once you master that, you’ve learned all the grammar you need.

So this means that if you can push through the beginning stages, everything will become easier later on. Also, since few foreigners learn Russian, it’s easy to stand out. Your Russian doesn’t need to be good to get compliments from native speakers.

3. You will learn more about one of the most mysterious countries in the world

Russia was closed off from the outside world until the collapse of the Soviet Union. And 30 years later, the Russian Federation is still one of the most shrouded countries in the world.

It’s the largest country in the world. But we barely know what’s going on there. Only Russians and people that know Russian as a foreign language (or second language), can understand Russian culture.

If all you do is rely on Western media to tell you what’s happening in Russia, you’re not going to get a good idea of what life’s like in Russia.

Knowing Russian will make it much easier to understand what’s going on in Russia and what the Russian people are going through.

4. You can now communicate with 300 million native Russian speakers (or second language speakers)

If you take Russia and all the former Soviet Union countries, you get around 300 million Russian speaking people. Most of them speak Russian as their native language. And a lot of them speak it as their second or third language.

The reason why this is important is that it opens up a complete new world to you. You’ll be able to travel through the large forests of Siberia, to the steppes of Kazakhstan, to the bustling metropolitan life in Moscow.

I’m not a big fan of the ‘the more people speak the language, the more useful it is’ mentality. As this on its own will not give enough motivation to learn a language to a good level. But Russian is one of the languages that does give you a lot of opportunities to meet interesting people.

2026 update: before 2022, I’d hear Russian on the streets of Amsterdam once every couple of days. After 2022, I hear it every day. A significant part of these are Ukrainian refugees. I’m not sure what the fate of the Russian language will be in Ukraine. But for now all Ukrainians I’ve spoken to were happy to communicate in Russian with me.

5. You have know Russian to if you want to travel to Russia

So why learn Russian if you can speak English everywhere? If that were true, then you would indeed lose a large motivation to learn Russian. The fact is that few Russian people speak English at a good level. Most understand you if you speak English, but cannot form good sentences in English.. So communication in English is limited

This means that if you’re travelling to Russia, you MUST learn the Russian language.

Otherwise you will not understand anything, and you’ll be unable to communicate with any native speaker. You’ll feel like the third leg everywhere you go, and can only communicate through a translator, or by using your hands and facial expressions.

Now, if your entire experience consists of traveling to Moscow for a week to see the Red Square, Kremlin and the Bolshoi Theater, this won’t matter too much.

Those are tourist places and you’ll find plenty of people that speak English there. (Though not as much as you’d expect!).

But if you plan on having any meaningful communication with native Russian speakers, you must learn Russian. Or if you plan on going outside of Moscow/Saint Petersburg. And even in the outskirts of big cities, you’ll already find it hard to find people that speak English well.

This is great news, because it FORCES you to speak Russian. Necessity is the mother of invention. And this is a large reason why my Russian is as good as it is now. Because every time I was in Russia, I had to speak it.

6. You will improve your memory and become smarter

Mastering any new skill will be great for your brain. Learning a second language could even stave off alzheimer. An that’s why learning Russian will improve your cognitive skills.

That means that your memory will improve. Now when everyone has a smartphone, it seems like memory is becoming less and less important. But if you don’t use it, you lose it. You must practice your memory on a daily basis. And if you don’t need to remember phone numbers, or relevant facts anymore, then what use does your memory have?

Very little.

Now, you could do crossword puzzles or use apps designed to improve your memory. But that’s useless in the real world.

It’s much better to learn Russian, as it practices all the cognitive skills you find important. While at the same time learning a cool and useful language.

Another thing I noticed is that my verbal fluency has increased. Also in English and Dutch. Because I have spent so much time speaking Russian, it has trained my verbal skills. They weren’t bad before, but after several years of speaking Russian, I find it easier to form meaningful sentences in other languages too.

7. You can read Russian literature in its native form

In the comments to the Reddit poll I mentioned above, a significant amount of people said because they want to read Russian literature.

The works of Russian writers of the 19th century were among the best in the world during that time.

And of course all those books such as Crime and Punishment and Anna Karenina are translated to every language. So you can read them in your native language.

But reading them in Russian is a whoe different experience. You’ll be able to feel what the writers meant. The translations take away a significant part of the experience.

For me this wasn’t the main reason why I started learning Russian. But after 2 years of learning, I started to read classics such as Master and Margarita, Crime and Punishment and Roadside Picnic. And that was a cool experience.

8. You’ll impress your friends and family

If we’re really honest with ourselves, everyone likes to feel smart, right? When I was younger, I often felt the need to prove myself to others that I was smart. I’d get into meaningless discussions or would say drop smart comments to show off a bit.

Now, I’d say this is a normal human tendency. But it doesn’t mean that people appreciate it. Often, it’s annoying.

But I don’t do this anymore. And one of the reasons is because most people already know that I speak Russian.

And since everyone thinks Russian is the most difficult language ever (half joking), knowing Russian means that I’m not stupid. I’ve had this at job interviews, and people take you just more seriously.

Knowing a foreign language will always draw admiration from others. But Russian seems to have this effect much stronger.

I mean, if a friend came up to you and said he had learned to speak fluent Swahili. What would you think? Probably cool, right? But if that same friend came up and started saying something in fluent Russian, that would be way more impressive.

9. Russia is a growing economy that you can tap into

People have different views on the Russian economy, but you can’t deny that Russia is a major player in the world. They have so many natural resources ranging from gas to gold to wood to precious metals that it’s difficult to ignore them.

So even though there are lots of sanctions right now, many countries still do business with Russia (if not directly, then through other countries).

That means that there will always be a need for foreigners in other countries to speak Russian. Just to be able to communicate with Russian companies.

And if you are the only person in your company that speaks Russian, it can change your professional life. You’ll be able to get more responsibility, which usually means a higher paycheck

10. You can read the global news from both sides

Whenever I speak to Dutch people about Russia, I’m always surprised by the lack of nuance they have about the country. Often, they repeat the same thing that the media has been telling for ages.

Now, without diving into details, things are more complicated than this. And if all you do is read/listen to Western media about Russia, you’ll get a very singular view of the country.

If you know the arguments from both sides, you can form a nuanced opinion. You cannot blindly follow what one side says, but need to investigate what the other side says as well. Then you can think through the arguments and come to a meaningful conclusion on your own.

Knowing Russian allows you to see each political issue from different points of view.

11. It’s fun

The last argument is that it’s a fun and rewarding process. This is true for any language or skill, but the great thing about Russian is that the perceived difficulty together with the many boons that you get, make it a very rewarding skill to learn.

It takes time and effort, that’s for sure. But if you spend your time learning Russian by listening to engaging audio podcasts, watching movies/series and having conversations with native speakers, it will be a fun process. You’ll look forward to it every day, and the progress you make will motivate you to learn even more.