Cultural Differences between

USA and RUSSIA

Languages in the US
Russian Language
Russia is home to diverse cultures, which are manifested
in the high number of different languages used all over
the country. The Russian language is the most
popular in the country, with about 260 million
speakers and is legally recognized as the country’s
official language at the national. There are other 35
languages which are used as official languages in
different regions of Russia. The country is also home to
about 100 other minority languages.
 Private
Space
In Russia, personal space is not an option; your space is
their space. Americans prefer more personal space
than Russians do. In America when friends or family
greet they shake hands or give a short hug and
immediately step aside to have some distance for
conversation(normally 3-4 feet). In Russia, people are
comfortable talking right on top of each other with
very little (maybe 1-2 feet) personal space between
them(Natalia Kozyakova, 2014).
Many people mention that Russians prefer to
keep silence in public transport, while in America
during their trips by the underground lots of
people speak loudly, talk to each other, and make
business phone calls.
Many Russians don’t conduct business on the phone due to
the phone system being poor. While American business is
conducted over the phone, email, letter or fax. Russian
prefers to hear and discuss directly from people they trust,
face-to-face.
Literature
If you ask most American people about their favorite
writers, they might name a couple of them without
going into details. Instead, talking to a Russian you
won’t even be able to finish your question because he or
she will already be reciting by heart a 25-page-long
Pushkin poem from elementary school.
Compromise is seen as failure in Russian business deals,
whereas compromise is expected and accepted in most
American business deals. Saying phrases like “I’m
sorry” or “thank you” is commonplace and expected in
American business meetings. This generally helps your
image as a person who knows and follows social
norms. Russians on the other hand tend to view these
phrases negatively. Using them too often is seen as a
weakness.