The hardest lesson
Every Saturday morning in a church hall in Hammersmith, thirty children aged five to fourteen sit down to learn Russian. They conjugate verbs, recite poetry, and argue about whether Cheburashka is better than Peppa Pig.
It looks like any language class. It is anything but.
The boom
Since 2022, enrolment in Russian-language Saturday schools across Western Europe has surged:
| City | Schools (2021) | Schools (2026) | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 8 | 14 | +75% |
| Berlin | 12 | 21 | +75% |
| Paris | 5 | 9 | +80% |
| Tbilisi | 3 | 11 | +267% |
The curriculum question
The language itself is straightforward. The culture is not.
- Do you teach Pushkin? (Yes, but do you mention the imperial context?)
- Do you celebrate Maslenitsa? (Yes, but what about the Z-symbol pancakes that went viral?)
- Do you use Russian state-published textbooks? (Absolutely not — but alternatives are scarce and expensive)
We want our children to love the language without loving the regime. That requires a curriculum that does not yet exist.
Building something new
A consortium of diaspora educators is developing an open-source Russian-language curriculum — politically neutral, culturally rich, and freely available. The first modules are expected in late 2026.