Russian people always greet each other with a firm handshake. They also make direct eye contact while greeting. Only when men shake hands with women do they make the grasp a little gentler.
For many generations, the Russian people have lived as agricultural farmers in small villages spread across this vast land. These villages were tightly knit communities where the land was held under a central authority that was composed of several heads of households. Submitting to authority and being accountable to a group is something that comes naturally to the Russian people. They also easily integrate into a group rather than live as individuals. This can even be seen in everyday life quite evidently. If a Russian walks into a restaurant alone, he would head towards a table where there is a group of strangers and eat with them rather than sitting alone by himself in another table. People like to commune and share everything with each other. It is quite common to see strangers comfortably talking to each other. As a result, almost no one will be left feeling alone in any situation.
Russian people always greet each other with a firm handshake. They also make direct eye contact while greeting the person. Only when men shake hands with women do they make the grasp a little gentler. Otherwise, most of the time, it is like a bone-crushing vice grip. It is more common for women to kiss each other, sometimes ritualistically three times in the cheeks.
Russian people almost always have three names – their first name, their middle name and their last name. The first name is the person’s personal name. The middle name is usually a variant of the father’s first name or a patronymic. The last name is a surname or family name. All three names are used when is a formal situation. Friends and acquaintances normally use the first name and the patronymic names. When the relationship is very close, they call each other with their first names.
The Russian people like to give gifts to each other. It is quite common for friends and relatives to give and receive gifts during special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries and festivals like Christmas and New Year. When you are invited as a guest to a Russian home, it would be nice to get a gift for the host. It is their formality to avoid the gift, but you need to insist that it is a very small gift and offer it again for them to receive it. Male guests can bring flowers when invited to a home, but you need to avoid the yellow colour. When a couple is expecting a baby, you need to get a gift for the baby only after the baby is born and not before.
Russian people also respect time. So you need to be on time for any meeting, whether formal or informal. When invited to a home, you might need to remove your shoes. You need to be well dressed which is a way of showing respect to your host. The people take good care of their guests and treat them with respect and honour. You can also offer to help the hostess in clearing the table after the meal. She might refuse as a sign of politeness, but you can insist and help them once she agrees.
One of the most important factors to consider while communicating with the Russian people is to be able to speak to them in Russian. Since most of them would not understand any other language than their own, you need to learn Russian at least for the sake of easily communicating with them. Of course, even if you do not speak Russian, you can make them understand what you are trying to say using sign language. They might even be able to understand you based on the context of the situation. But if you really want to understand the people of Russia and really get to know them better, you have to learn Russian in one way or the other.
You can even learn Russian free online. There are very many website on the Internet where you can easily learn Russian online. Learning the language will help you so much to communicate with the Russian people ever more so closely. And when you have the opportunity to learn Russian free, why not make the most of it.
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