Thread: Russian in Everyday Life, Russian as a world Language and Keeping your skills up..

I thought I'd start a thread for those who like the Russian language, to share experiences of how and when we use Russian in everyday life.

Apart from overhearing some conversations in Russian, I have not had an opportunity to practice it since returning to Sweden.
But today, I found myself in a communal laundry room in a block of flats that I am temporarily staying in (a corporate flat, rather modest).

Myself, an old Iranian woman and a an Estonian programmer were all trying to do our laundry in this place, but the machines were quite complicated. After trying but failing to communicate in Swedish and English it eventually emerged that all of us could get by in Russian. The woman was in fact Armenian-Iranian and spoke Russian. She had emigrated to Sweden to be with her family and for some reason, the state had put her up in the same building that my company and the company of the Estonian coder had put us up in. Quite a mix of people from different backgrounds! We ended up having a rather nice chat in Russian after working out how to operate the laundry equipment. Cool to see that Russian can work as a language of communication when English does not.

But I was really disappointed to notice how much I'd forgotten in only a few months. Words that I am sure I used to know just didn't come to me... As soon as I've settled down in a nicer place I will surely sign up for a Russian course to continue my studies.

When did you last speak Russian outside of Russia and how did it go?
Do you find that you can keep up your skills if you don't use them for a while?