Sociolinguistic competence is as important in language acquisition as other types, such as grammatical, discourse and strategic. There are different types of sociolinguistic situations in different countries, and, hence, different emphasis in the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence. Important for Russian is the dominance of the standard upon other varieties – both regional and social; in Britain, where no more than 3% of native speakers are considered to speak the RP, the knowledge of regional variation is essential; in the USA the sensitive opposition is the speech of Anglo-Americans and Afro-Americans (AAVE), also of relevance there are requirements of political correctness. Adequate communication is possible when the full range of competence types is acquired.