Quote Originally Posted by Hanna View Post
So how many percent of the population of Russia would be able to understand an American film without subtitles/dubbing?
How many would be able to understand the messages here?
Does it vary a lot between bigger cities and rural area?
It's hard to tell. 10-15%, maybe? I guess more people will be able to understand written English, as part of the problem (listening skills) disappear. I know quite a lot of people who can spell certain words, but who have no idea how they are pronounced.
And it's general consensus that more people know English in cities (there's more motivation to study foreign languages and more exposure to people from different countries), than in rural areas.

But I must admit, it's a weird situation.
Allmost everyone in Russia and CIS studied English at some point of life (it's a foreign language #1 at schools), but few can really keep a conversation. I guess there's not enough exposure to English, after all. Moreover school program rarely prepares learners for real life situations. When I was a kid we spent crazy amount of time learning abstract vocabulary, but no one knew how to ask where we could wash our hands. It means that even those who do put effort into studying are often unable to use English when they need it.