B1 Dialog #45 TOP 10 stereotypes about Russians in American movies

Today we are going to have a look at TOP 10 stereotypes about Russians that you might have seen a lot in American movies. We are going to discuss them and who knows, maybe some of them are true indeed. As always you can read the text in PDF, which you can find in the description. Follow our podcasts on iTunes and Yandex Music. For more new dialogs subscribe to our channel.

How to work with the dialog?

  1. Listen to the dialog and read the PDF transcript. Turn on subtitles if necessary.
  2. Listen to the dialog again, repeating the questions and answers aloud (!!!).
  3. Come up with your own answers to the questions. Use PDF vocabulary if needed.
  4. Listen to the questions and answer them aloud (!!!), with a correct intonation, pronunciation and rhythm.
  5. Go back to the video from time to time and repeat the exercise.

TOP 10 stereotypes about Russians

(1) Russian accent in American movies

Yeah, that’s funny to hear how Russians talk in American movies or series. I remember when I was a child and watched movies I was always wondering how Russian people can speak like that. It’s unnatural and it’s not true of course. We don’t talk like that.

(2) Russians drink a lot of vodka

We don’t drink vodka in the morning during breakfast. Come on! We don’t drink it from big glasses ?. Vodka is a strong drink and there are special shorts for it. As for drinking in general, Russia is not the most drinking country. Moreover, each year Russians drink less and less according to statistics. 

So if you are not an alcoholic, you don’t do that of course. Normally we drink it occasionally on some big holidays or something. So this stereotype is also not true.

(3) Stereotype about USSR and communists

We can often see bad and sometimes funny things about the USSR in American movies. I think it’s a part of propaganda and I really hope that American people don’t believe it. The USSR was not so terrible like it’s shown in movies. Now a lot of people in Russia would like to come back to the USSR because of its social standards for everyone.

(4) Everyone is in the Russian Mafia

For a Russian person, people from the Russian Mafia are as disgusting as for an American watching those in movies. So nobody in Russia is proud of it. So don’t think that all Russians are in the mafia or all Russians are bad. It’s not true.

(5) It’s very cold in Russia

Yeah this is true. Russia is a country with a hard climate. But it’s pretty much different depending on the region. In the north it’s cold of course. In European part of Russian climate is similar to North America and Canada I think.

(6) Russians never smile

Russian people do smile! But if they smile at you, it means they really mean it. So we don’t usually smile if there is no reason for it. 

(7) Russians only wear ushanka hats

That would be like saying that all Americans wear baseball caps. So no, it’s not true of course. 

(8) Russian girls are dating only bad guys

This myth is also fuelled by the many Hollywood movies about russian villains. Needless to say that it’s not true and unfair to Russian girls. 

(9) Stereotype about bears in the streets

It’s funny and not true of course! ? There are a lot of bears in Russia, but they live in forests and don’t usually walk in the streets. And of course Russians never keep  bears as pets.

(10) Russian literature is all about Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky

They are the most famous indeed, and fantastik of course. But there were a lot of other writers before and after them that many people like as well.