We celebrate the Day of the Russian Language on June 6, the birthday of Pushkin. But the language lives not only in museums and textbooks. It breathes in chats, TikTok videos, in advertising, in angry comments under news. What is its true nature? And what will it be in 20 years? About this — without panic, without enthusiasm, honestly. Russian language today: numbers and facts Russian is one of the six official languages of the UN. About 260 million people speak it worldwide. It ranks 8th in popularity (after Chinese, Spanish, English). In the countries of the former USSR (Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan), it remains the language of interethnic communication. However, its position is weakening: young people in the Baltics, Georgia, Ukraine use Russian less and less. In Russia itself, the number of speakers is decreasing due to migration and demographics. But the main thing is that the language itself is changing. What is happening with Russian right now Main trends: borrowings (almost all new technologies come with English); clipness (short phrases, emojis, abbreviations — "lol", "kek", "hze"); blurring of norms ("their", "losers" in news); an increase in profanity (especially on the internet). Many are sounding the alarm: the language is dying. But this is not extinction, but transformation. Literary language remains in books and official documents, while spoken language changes. The problem is not in changes, but in a gap: school teaches one thing, life — another. Children do not understand classics, and adults do not understand slang. The Day of the Russian Language as a reminder June 6 is not a linguist's day. It is a day for everyone who speaks Russian. Schools hold dictations, libraries — readings aloud. On social networks — the flashmob "my favorite Pushkin's poem". But the main meaning is to pay attention to how we speak. Not to "punish for a mistake", but to think: is it convenient for us to explain ourselves? Do we understand each other? Is it ti ... Read more