Essay on Effects Of Westernization Of Russia

Analysis of the interview questions revealed American and Western culture made a big impact on Soviet youth in the late 70’s and 80’s, even if it was illegal. John emphasized how much English music he had listened to in the USSR. Not only by American and British artists, but many European artists were signing in English as well. While he did watch American movies in pop-up home movie theaters, the movies were dubbed in Russian. John also took basic English courses for about 2 years at his school. However, despite having access to English media and language courses, John would rate his English a one out of ten before immigrating to the US, he only knew the absolute basics. Upon the participant’s arrival to the US, he went straight to work and did not take English courses due to his financial need. At John’s first job (landscaping) he did not really have to speak to anyone to get by. Nonetheless, he later worked in a mechanics shop, all his coworkers were native speakers, and he needed to be able to communicate with them efficiently to keep the job. To John, and many other immigrants, learning English became essential to his survival. Because John was unable to take English language courses after immigrating, he learned English from engaging with coworkers/friends and popular media. Outside of work, John did not interact with native speakers at first. It took him some time to learn enough English to become friends with his coworkers and others. Then, he would go out to bars and such to hang out with his new American friends. After immigrating, the participant surrounded himself with English movies and TV. It was only when he started feeling nostalgic for his youth many years later when he started engaging with Slavic media again. John made note how he was able to pick up American idioms quicker than the rules of the English language; primarily due to how he learned English by talking to native speakers rather than a classroom setting. The participant admitted that while popular media did have an influence, speaking with his coworkers daily was the greatest contributing factor to his English fluency today