Wanting to study Russian at uni, is it worth it anymore?

Hi there! I've just finished yr 13 and am gonna study French/Russian/German next year. My opinion: it is still worth it. Who knows what the situation will be like in 5 years - the war could be over and the need for Russian speakers could be on the rise. Employers also like people that have learned another language with another alphabet as its that bit harder. And as you're going to study it with Spanish or History, at least is there are other options for the future.

Unis are still doing the year abroad for Russian but in other countries. Any ex-USSR country has a high proportion of Russian speakers, so many are looking there. Riga in Latvia and Almaty in Kazakhstan are two popular cities at the moment for universities. But other than Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, any ex-USSR country is on the table.

Hope this helps!

Just remember that you dont always need to 'do a degree' in a language - there are planty of opportunities to study languages outside of your degree (example - https://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/foreign-languages-courses-for-university-of-bath-students/). And there are also Study Abroad options that dont always rely on a degree being 'with a language' (example https://warwick.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/explore/study-abroad/)

And - most Language degrees at Uni will include elements of the history/culture of that country - but you could also look at 'area studies' if you want more of this :
Spanish Studies - https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/spanish-studies-ba-hons-r410/
Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies - https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/2022/00249/ba-spanish-portuguese-and-latin-american-studies/course-details/
Russian and Slavonic Studies - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ugstudy/subject/Russian-and-Slavonic-Studies
History and East European Cultural Studies - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ugstudy/course/History-and-East-European-Cultural-Studies-BA
Politics, Sociology and East European Studies with a Year Abroad - https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/degrees/politics-sociology-and-east-european-studies-year-abroad-ba
Etc.

Hi thanks for your response! I think I've decided I'm going to do it, I've started a MOOC in Russian and hopefully I'll enjoy it and can write about it in my personal statement. I'm happy they're still running years abroad to post-USSR countries, I wasn't sure if they still would be as my A-Level History trip to Poland was cancelled due to the war, but I suppose it's different anyway. Anyways, good luck on your degree and just out of interest what uni are you going to? I've been looking at Leeds and UCL.

Hi, I'm currently at the end of Year 12 and am looking to study Russian, along with either Spanish or History at degree level as I've always been interested in the language and culture surrounding it. I currently am doing History, Geography and Spanish for my A-Levels and I think that Russian will be a useful language in the current political climate. However, can anyone tell me how the year abroad portion of the course will work due to the war? And if so, is it even worth doing as a degree anymore? Any advice would be appreciated thanks