CEO of Language Trainers explain that Russian is spoken by at least 167 million native speakers and 110 million students around the world. When taking Russian classes students have fun at the finding out of interesting facts like the following:

• During WWII, Moscow metro stations were used as air-raid shelter. One hundred and fifty people were born there.
• Travelling from Moscow to Chicago takes less time than from Chicago to Rio de Janeiro.
• Ten percent of the government's income comes from the sale of vodka.
• The Russian prince Alexei had hemophilia.
• The most expensive Russian White Wine, called "Livadiya" (1891) was sold in an auction for 2900 GBP.

We can learn a lot from random facts like these. Sometimes these curiosities awaken our mind and encourage us to keep learning about the language and the people. We should also take the opportunity to bust some myths about Russia:

Myth: Russia is full of mafia

Truth: Russia is today like any other place in the world, and not dangerous than anywhere else. If you stay away from the ‘bad’ places – just like you should when travelling to any other place in the world- you will be okay. Also, there is so much police in the streets of Moscow that it should be considered as one of the safest places in the world.

Myth: Tavelling to Russia is a real hassle

Truth: All the paperwork you need are a passport and an invitation, that is currently very easy to get: invitations can be made through hotels or hostels (that will only ask you to book one night) or travel agencies (that will only ask for a small sum of money). In both cases the price will be between US$ 25 and US$35 for an invitation. Afterwards, you just need to get that invitation or a copy to the Russian consulate to get your visa (which is way cheaper than the visa required by the USA for foreign travelers). When taking Russian classes travelers know that this step is not as complicated as everyone thinks.