[DiogenesKynikos]

Yes, there's strong anti-Russian feeling in several countries, but Russian is still, by far, the Slavic language with the most second-language speakers.

According to Ethnologue, there are more than 100 million Russian speakers outside of Russia. It is the primary language in Belarus and half of the Ukraine (and is known by most people in the country). Almost 7 million people in Poland know how to speak it.[1]

English is probably becoming more of the lingua franca of Eastern Europe, but still, if any Slavic language were to serve as the lingua franca, it would be Russian. It's the Slavic language with the largest international presence, and in contrast to constructed languages, it actually has a large speaker base and significant cultural heritage.

1. http://www.ethnologue.com/21/language/rus/

[wavefunction]

I think feelings tend to run negative towards the Russian government rather than Russian people. I feel that Russian and American people are more alike than we care to admit at least.

[hourislate]

>but Russian is still, by far, the Slavic language with the most second-language speakers

Only because Russia tried to destroy the language and culture of all the nations it occupied. They forced citizens of other countries to speak Russian and not their native languages. It is only the most spoken by older generations while the younger generations of other countries are being raised in their native language.

Given enough time, the Russian language will only be spoken by Russians.

[DiogenesKynikos]

What a negative comment! The same could be said of English, which is the dominant international language because of British imperialism.

It's also, historically speaking, simply not true that Russia tried to wipe out the languages of the countries it occupied (also, liberated from the Nazis) after WWII. Russian was taught in school as a second language, but there wasn't any plan to wipe out the Polish language, for example.

[tempest345]

> liberated from the Nazis

'Liberated' by invading first you mean. As was done in my country, among others.

[dmurray]

The second-language speakers skew old, though. People under 30 are much more likely to speak English or German. (Not trying to say that English should be the preferred lingua franca here, just that Russian doesn't have the headstart your statistics suggest).

[DiogenesKynikos]

We're talking about Slavic languages. I've said repeatedly that English is the international language, but if it comes down to Russian vs. a constructed Slavic language, Russian is obviously more attractive, given its existing speaker base and culture.

[tom_mellior]

People are arguing against you because what you claim is not as obvious as you claim.