How to Change the Language to Russian on an Amazon Kindle - Opposing Views

by Andrew Aarons

Turn your Kindle into a Russian-reading machine.

Hemera Technologies / AbleStock.com / Getty Images

There’s something to be said for reading the classics in their native tongue: Marquez in Spanish, Kundera in Czech or Tolstoy in Russian. Well, with the Kindle, you can read electronic books in a variety of languages ??- including Russian, according to Amazon, the manufacturer of the Kindle and the distributor of its e-books. Before long, you’ll be appreciating Dostoyevsky all over again.

Step 1

Check if your Kindle supports Russian out of the box. Newer Kindles, including the Kindle Fire and other tablet-like devices, have built-in Russian language support for Russian e-books. Earlier Kindle versions, including the PaperWhite, can display Russian after a system update to newer software. If you have an earlier version of Kindle, proceed to Step Two to update your software.

Step 2

Unlock your Kindle and then press the menu button and choose “Settings,” “Menu” and “Device Info.” Look at the information beside “Firmware Version.” You need to run version 5.1 or later to have Russian support. If you are running an older version than 5.1, download version 5.1.0 from Amazon (see Resources) by right-clicking the file and downloading the file to your desktop. Connect your Kindle using the provided USB cable and drag the file from your desktop to the root folder of the Kindle – not into one of its subfolders.

Step 3

Disconnect the USB cable from the Kindle and then press the “Menu” button and choose “Settings,” “Menu” and “Update Your Kindle.” The Kindle will install the new device firmware, which includes support for displaying Cyrillic documents . After version 5.1, you can update to version 5.3.2.1 by repeating Steps Two and Three.

Step 4

Press the menu button and then choose “Settings.” Scroll through the menu until you see “Device Language” and then scroll down through the list until you see “Russian.” Press the “OK” button to select the language and change the Kindle’s native language to Russian. If you don’t see this option, then your version of the Kindle doesn’t support Russian in the menus but will still support Cyrillic documents automatically. When browsing the “Books” menu, tap “Settings” and “Language” to view only Russian-language books.

References

• Amazon: Kindle
• Amazon: Customize Your Reading
• Amazon: Kindle Touch Software Update

About the Author

Living in Canada, Andrew Aarons has been writing professionally since 2003. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the University of Ottawa, where he served as a writer and editor for the university newspaper. Aarons is also a certified computer-support technician.

Photo Credits

• Hemera Technologies / AbleStock.com / Getty Images

1. Science »
2. Phones & Gadgets »
3. How to Change the Language to Russian on an Amazon Kindle