Hi! Can anyone please point me to information about how closely related the various Slavic languages are? I have read in a few places that the Eastern ones (Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian) are closely grouped, but I've also been told (by someone I trust) that this classification is worthless, that Russian is really very different from the other two, and ought by rights to be classified on its own. Is this true?

How much of a help will learning Russian be to me if I decide, at some point, to study Slovak or Bulgarian? Will it help me to understand a TV broadcast in the Czech Republic?

Also, if I delve into, for example, Old Russian, will it be like learning a completely new language? Or will it be like reading Italian for someone trained in French and Latin- a lot of it already comprehensible? (Leaving aside the question of different alphabets for the minute.)

Кстати, я просто обожаю русский язык и я надеюсь продолжать его изучать на всю жизнь. Этот вопрос мне интересен, но я никогда не буду бросать обучения русского языка. I'm not learning it because it's "useful".