Survival Russian Phrases: Survive in Russia using just your words

Let me start with saying hello to you, dear reader! There are quite a few stereotypes about Russians in the world. Let me tell you the truth. We are certainly not as scary as people think. In reality we’re rather friendly and open. Sure, we don’t smile as much, especially to people we don’t know, like in many other countries, but we are open to those we know and trust. I’d like to help you learn a bit more about our language, learn a few useful words and phrases, which you may use some day if you decide to visit our wonderful country.

The most common phrases, which are usually covered in such articles, are greetings, polite phrases etc., but I’m not going to bore you with that. We need to survive in Russia, isn’t that right? Russians traditionally think that people from other countries are usually quite sophisticated and courteous, so don’t forget about that, you’ll be looked up to.

So, surviving in Russia isn’t as hard as it may seem language-wise. You should learn a few phrases, which are an absolute must, including basic greetings, asking for directions, shopping (just in case) and so on.

In case you haven’t quite mastered the Russian language yet, don’t worry. We have drawn up a list of most frequently used Russian phrases which will suffice to cover most of everyday situations. ‘Privet’ and ‘Zdrast-vui-te’ which are simple greetings followed by ‘kak dela?’, which means ‘how are you?’ are great openers to break the ice and fire up a conversation. The most common answers are ‘vsyo horosho’, which stands for ‘I’m fine’. ‘Chem zanima-esh-sya?’ is another one of the most common phrases, which means ‘what are you doing?’. This is how we express interest in somebody’s activity at the moment, or just a simple way keep up the small talk. This is the basic stuff. Learning more is recommended, and this awesome online-course is just what you need, if you want your linguistic journey to be interesting and fun!