I am sure that many foreign tourists that ever were in a city of Russia and tried to speak in English with some people to know, for example, how to go to the Grand Theatre or the red square, Russian realized that Russians not them did understand. Because those people pronounced something evil in English: Non speak Espanol or negatively swinging head. Yet the majority of the Russian population can not speak English. As and before. In all cases the population who have more than 30 years does not speak English or speak badly, except for a few isolated individuals who have the minority. Official site: trevor smith. UDs are perhaps considering that thing as incredible but it is true.
Perhaps appears the question: does that almost all inhabitants of the third world Paice (the Paice of Africa, Southeast Asia, arabicos States, etc) speak English quite well if not for say perfectly? We need to take into account the following. Before when the Socialist state was instead of Russia (the USSR) was reigning Soviet power. The school programme comprised the course of study at the foreign language (English, French, German) since fourth grade until the end (the tenth grade). Despite that the students instructing English (as well as and other languages) so that at the end of the school they knew the words and foreign phrases, sabian translate newspaper or the foreign book and nothing more. But they knew not speak English with foreigners from England, United States and other Paice, speaking English, and even no sabian say a simple sentence in that language and nor could perceive to ear what said them even after admission to the University higher education that included the study of the language foreign for first two years of their study in the University they only increased the volume of foreign words in his memory. To consecuncia all that to the foreign language teaching did not matter a blede (if one can say so).