Cubans embrace the English language as Cold War enmity fades

A poster where English classes are offered is seen at a private house in Havana April 7, 2016. REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa

HAVANA (Reuters) - Gilberto Gonzalez learnt Russian at a school in Havana at the height of the Cold War when the Soviet Union was Cuba's closest ally, but 30 years later he's rusty and remembers little more than, 'da,' and 'nyet.'

Now, as relations thaw with the United States, Gonzalez wants his children to learn English to grasp opportunities arising from Cuba's new closeness to the old enemy. He has ordered them to sign up at a private English school in the city.