Where the Slavic language family is concerned, Russian may be considered the mother of them all. Indeed, as the official language of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Russian is a language spoken by more than million people worldwide. Casting aside the sinister overtones of the communist era and the bleakness of Siberia, the Russian language is taking its rightful place on the global stage. For language lovers everywhere, especially in our current political and economic climate, this is a tongue that should not be neglected. So numerous are Russian immigrants in London that the city is jokingly referred to as Moscow-on-the-Thames and Londongrad.