Should I change my degree choice because of the Russa-Ukraine war?

so my degree choice is currently French and Russian, but obviously, if this situation stays the way it is which is likely, the possibility of a year abroad would be scarce, and I don't want to live in Russia or do Russian diplomacy anymore because of this.

I know it could seem unreasonable to close off opportunities to learn about Russian history and culture but I can't explain it I just have a bad feeling about it

I currently study Spanish, and there are other beginners languages I'd be interested in such as Japanese so I'm just wondering if I should contact the unis I have offers for to see if I can change my course to one of these

I'd be really grateful to hear the opinions of people who are going to study Russian in September, people who currently study Russian or any advice really

As unfortunate as the situation is, do you not see this as a potential opportunity in your case? Russian is going to become an even more so critical language for the government and you would be more likely to find opportunities in government positions, security services, journalism, armed forces etc because of your language skills and knowledge of the country.

Can you not do your year abroad in France instead of Russia?

that is very true, I think its more because Russian would be a beginners language for me and I don't know if I would get the immersion required to speak the language well

If Russian is from beginners, you might have the option to switch.

If you are still at the application stage, you can email your universities and ask to change. They might ask you to do an extra small personal statement on why you want to do another language, but that’s not a big deal.

I’d recommend taking a little more time to think about it, as you have plenty of time to consider.

What were your original reasons for choosing Russian?

I don’t think it’s wrong for you to not want to pursue a language for political reasons. If you don’t want to live in Russia for various reasons fair enough. I share your beliefs. I love Russian, I think it’s a beautiful language and I would love to learn it. But I also have no interest in living or working in Russia so I believe that it is not useful for me at this moment, and there are other languages I am more interesting in. That’s why I chose to study Japanese instead of Russian (I was originally deciding between Italian and Russian and Italian and Japanese!)

But yes, take the time to think about it and then email the unis you’ve applied to / firmed if you so choose.