Cross-Cultural Connections : Using Russian Proverbs to Engage Students in the Business Classroom

This paper suggests the use of Russian proverbs related to money to engage Russian-speaking students in the business classroom. Russian proverbs enhance teaching by appealing to Russian students' cultural background, by presenting ideas in a concise and memorable way, and by creating a friendlier classroom environment. Russian proverbs also assist English-speaking instructors to break down language barriers and to develop a close relationship with students. The use of Russian proverbs benefits non-Russian speaking students by promoting cultural and language diversity in the business classroom as well. The paper proposes 61 Russian proverbs to explain 33 financial concepts and 4 general learning concepts. A short description of each financial concept is accompanied with phonetic and literal translation of related Russian proverbs and an equivalent English proverb. Teaching strategies for incorporating Russian proverbs in the classroom are presented as well