Clichés & Prejudices (About Russia & Russians)

As many non-Russians as there are in the world, there are just as many stereotypes about the Russians. They drink vodka like water and survive on pickles and beetroot soup. All women over fifty look like farmers or grandmothers, and men over fifty don’t exist. Oh yes. Russians love Adidas, Russians don’t smile, and Russia is impossible to understand, and so on. More stereotypes here, and there’s much more to come.

Inventories below, sometimes with responses or rebuttals.

Stereotypes about Russians | Learn Russian with movies
(Hack Your Russian, 2020, 11 m)

Street Interviews with Russians – Stereotypes About Russia
(RussianPlus, 2019, 28 m)

More about Russians than About Russia, but still relevant here.

Top 5 national stereotypes about Russians that we hate
(Russia Beyond, 2019, 6 m)

See also:

• 3 Stereotypes About Russians (Be Fluent in Russian, 2019, 5 m)
• 10 Ways Russians are Misunderstood Around the World (TopTenz, 2018, 12 m)
• What’s Wrong with Russian Stereotypes? (Living Life With The Shirins, 2018, 11 m)
• Russian stereotypes in 60 seconds (Crazy Russian Dad, 2018, 1 m), Crazy Russian Stereotypes (2016, 3 m)
• Russian Stereotypes (The Infographics Show, 2017, 6 m)
• Riqo in Russia: Stereotypes (Riqo in Russia, 2013, 5 m)

The Land

There are also plenty of stereotypes about the land of the Russians. It’s cold, dangerous, and fill in the blanks.

Here’s what Russians themselves said about it, in St. Petersburg 2018.

Stereotypes about Russia | Easy Russian 35
(Easy Languages, 2018, 5 m)

See also:

• 5 most ridiculous questions people Google about Russia (Slow Russian, 2020, 3 m)
• 8 Myths about Russia debunked (Jonny Tickle, 2019, 10 m)
• What Do Foreigners Think Of Russia? Что иностранцы думают о России? (So Russian, 2019, 17 m)
• Let’s talk! Myths about Russia (Easy Russian, 2014, 6 m)
• Stereotypes About Russia. Top 12 (Sergey Baklykov / Real Russia, 2013, 6 m)
• True Russia: Stereotypes (Alena Stewart, 2013, 3 m)

World Cup Football

Russia as the host nation for the 2018 World Cup brought in tourists from all over. Not all arrived with a favorable view of the place. But once there, both the country and the people pleasantly surprised them.

Watch: two English football fans – father and son (17), visiting Russia for the World Cup – discuss expectations versus reality, and the warnings they received beforehand. ‘Russian hooligans will beat you up the minute you walk into the country.’

10 мифов о России. Страна глазами английских болельщиков (10 myths about Russia. The country through the eyes of English fans)
(Oleg Torbosov, 2018, 16 m)

For more World Cup impressions, but with a bit more energy, see this. Tакого иностранцы не ожидали: foreigners didn’t expect this (Едим спорт, 2018, 7 m).

More of that in Иностранцы о России. Иностранцы о ЧМ 2018. Туристы в Москве. Чемпионат мира по футболу 2018 в России (Дмитрий Равилевич, 2018, 15 m), Что говорят иностранцы о России / Чемпионат мира 2018 / World Cup 2018 (Бездельники, 2018, 9 m), Иностранцы откровенно о России: ожидание и реальность (LinguaTrip TV, 2018, 8 m).

Expats

For a more realistic view: instead of asking vacationers with football tickets in hand and a beer nearby “how they like it,” ask неловкие вопросы (awkward questions) to expats. Also see Russians: Who are they really? | Expat life (Russia Beyond, 2020, 8 m).

More

• 10 Russian Stereotypes That Are Actually True (Tripsavvy, 2020)
• 10 most ridiculous questions people ask about Russia (Russia Beyond, 2019), also 28 stereotypes about Russia: Which ring true and which are complete rubbish? (2018)
• 15 Stereotypes Every Russian Hates (Culture Trip, 2017)
• Top 7 Stereotypes About Russia (Express to Russia)

See Russians are awesome (Lifey, 2015, 3 m).

last updated 09-12-2020