Political Forum?

[Hanna]

Adding one more comment to this:

I think it's important that people who study Russian also understand and respect the Russian mindset. And that mindset is represented here through Russian posters on the forum. Whether you like it, or not! Multiple types of views are represented among the Russian participants: Conservatives, communists, anarchists and liberals have participated actively.

But normally the native Russian speakers hold worldviews that are slightly different from what you'd hear from a European or American.

It's also good to hear from native Russian speakers in other ex-USSR countries - the Russian language belongs to them too. I try to bear in mind that at least 15-20% of native Russian speakers don't live in the Russian Federation.

But I don't see the point of using a forum like this for lecturing native speakers about political correctness, the alleged evilness of Putin or some negative aspect of Russian history. But we see a lot of that here. I think it's safe to assume the Russians know the downsides of their own government or history as well as anybody from abroad.

Anyone who can't stand the Russian worldview and isn't ready to accept the fact that it's different from the European/American worldview might want to re-think their choice of foreign language to study.

I think this principle applies to any foreign language that a person studies, whether it's Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, French or Chinese. It's cultural imperialism to assume that your own worlview is the only one that's valid or makes sense.

Meanwhile, I think Russian speakers should consider carefully how they represent their country to learners of their language. There are things you might not necessarily want to post on a forum like this, and being deliberately provocative or aggressive serves no purpose.

[eisenherz]

Adding one more comment to this:

Anyone who can't stand the Russian worldview and isn't ready to accept the fact that it's different from the European/American worldview might want to re-think their choice of foreign language to study.
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with all respect, I think there is no reason nor need for these two items ['learning a foreign language' and 'agreeing with their worldview'] to be related or relevant. firstly; there is no such thing as 'one russian worldview'; within every nation or culture there is many different views and on top of that 'views' are in no way bound by country borders (or nationalities) but flow to all cultures and corners of the world. and secondly, even if there were to be 'one russian view' why should subscribing to that view be a prerequisite to learning the language? that is akin to insinuating 'only study law if you agree with the law', but maybe i am studying law to become better at defending myself against unscrupulous lawyers. then there is a myriad of reasons why some people study langauges that are completely apolitical, one has a russian girlfriend, the next needs university credits and picks the next best subject, another one is maybe trying to improve his job opportunities etc.; surely you are not suggesting these people should stop as they might not agree with a russian worldview? in my own case, just thinking now, for example i learned english because i needed it for university; i learned french because i had the opportunity at school, but did I ever agree with a french or english worldview? probably not, and i would not have cared, but I am very happy i have learned the language. I would only go as far to agree that you probably learn a language better and quicker if you you acquire a feel for the culture and people, but really no need about having to worry to agree to someone's worldview - (the irony of what you say is also that Ukrainians (at least those in the west) no need to stop speaking Russian with their worldview now so differing to Russias).