Constantly living in the same environment does not make it possible to fully understand what the native language means to a person. When there are no difficulties in overcoming the language barrier, few people think about the role of communication for the psychological and moral state of each individual. Sometimes only the arrival of foreigners can shake confidence and peace. Even the slightest difference in languages with the inhabitants of the countries makes it clear how difficult it is for a person without understanding the speech of his interlocutor.
The importance of speaking skill in a person's life
From birth, a child is instilled with knowledge and skills that will help in life. And speech is one of the most important skills that one masters. small man. Remember how awkward you feel when you cannot understand what exactly a two-year-old child wants from you. Babbling and distorting words, he tries with all his might to convey his point of view, desire, emotions. And if it is simply difficult for adults to understand such a “conversation,” then it is sometimes even more difficult for a child. Despite all his efforts, he remained unheard. It is from this age that it is important to form in children an understanding of what their native language means for a person, to instill a love for words.
How to educate in your native language?
It is very important to help children learn the language. And this applies not only to the school curriculum. In educational institutions, teachers polish the basis the child has already received, expanding lexicon, correct some errors that are present in the speech of the child and his environment. But you can’t place all your hopes only on school curriculum, which is limited by scope, time and methods. Teachers cannot always convey to their students the role native language In human life. Discussions, reading, watching films, listening to songs in a relaxed home environment will be the key not only to spending time together, but also to preserving the native language. 
The language of a people is a mirror of its soul, cultural heritage
Language is not only a tool for communication between different people. The meaning of the native language in a person’s life is much deeper and more important. He is the bearer of the culture, mentality, traditions and history of every nation. There are more than 6 thousand in the world different languages. Some of them are similar, and representatives of neighboring countries can understand oral speech each other in whole or in part, others are absolutely incomprehensible and have nothing in common with a person’s native dialect. Even within the same country, different dialects may be in use. 
Each of them is the highlight of the region, its soul. After all, language is a reflection of the thoughts of both one individual person and a group of people, an entire nation. This is a defining component of national unity, uniting those who are different in spirit, way of existence, social aspects of people. E. Sapir’s statement very characteristically describes the role of language in the formation of culture as a phenomenon and the culture of an individual person: “Culture can be defined as what a given society does and thinks. Language is how one thinks.”
Away is good, but home is better
The easier it is to understand what a person’s native language means, the further he is from his home. This problem is felt very acutely by emigrants who, due to various circumstances, were forced to leave their homeland. The need for communication, which cannot be fully satisfied by speaking a foreign language, pushes people to create interest groups, communities, and diasporas. Very often, such communities preserve centuries-old traditions much more reverently and reliably than their compatriots who do not experience difficulties of a similar nature.
It is very important to have the opportunity to hear, speak, and understand your native language every day. It is a kind of path connecting him with home and loved ones. It is not for nothing that many, unable to bear the separation from their native land and suffering from nostalgia, are unable to settle down in a foreign land. Often the reason for this is not only the economic aspect, but different mentality and habits. The impossibility of free communication in the language in which you think becomes an insurmountable obstacle to permanent residence abroad.
After all, the lack of speaking practice, writing, and reading can lead to forgetting and distortion of even the native language that a person has been using since birth. Of course, some everyday phrases, absorbed with mother's milk, will not disappear forever, but vocabulary, the ability to speak freely and without an accent may be lost. It is all the more important to try to preserve a piece of your homeland, to cherish and glorify it through the word.
Is it necessary to teach a child their native language while living abroad?
For every person, their native language is the language they speak from birth, these are mothers’ lullabies, first questions and answers. However, what about children born in a country foreign to their parents, or those who moved to a new area while still a toddler? How to determine which language is their native language? How to explain the difference between the two different ways express your thoughts and feelings?
Trends modern world are such that knowledge of several foreign languages is no longer a whim or desire of parents. Most often this is a necessity, without which adult life difficult to navigate, settle in Good work. Psychologists and teachers say that it is much easier for a child to learn a language than for an adult. Moreover, the basic foundation is laid at a very young age, even before school. The brain’s ability to perceive information in this period of life is colossal. Children living in a bilingual country or family can freely communicate both in the generally accepted language and in their native language.
It is very important for parents to pay a lot of attention to their native speech, because school and communication with peers will help the child speak competently and clearly in the language necessary for life. But complete absence or lack of practice will lead to the fact that the native language is completely erased from memory, forgotten and the invisible thread connecting a person and his homeland is broken.
How to overcome the language barrier
Often communication problems arise due to a person’s inability to solve this problem. An extensive vocabulary, understanding of the basics of grammar, and ways of constructing sentences still do not provide the opportunity for free communication. Such difficulties occur due to a lack of understanding of the spoken language. The acquisition of the necessary skills occurs only during live communication, through reading fiction, periodicals, watching movies. At the same time, it is important not to forget to improve the pronunciation of individual words and phrases. What a person’s native language means will help you figure out the knowledge of several dialects. And only by feeling the difference can you really understand how much you love your country and its language.
Russia is a multinational country, and therefore multilingual. Linguistic scientists count 150 languages - here both a language such as Russian, which is spoken by 97.72% of the population in Russia, and the language of the Negidals - a small people (only 622 people!) Living on the Amur River - are taken into account on equal terms.
Some languages are very similar: people can each speak their own language and at the same time understand each other perfectly, for example, Russian - Belarusian, Tatar - Bashkir, Kalmyk - Buryat. In other languages, although they also have a lot in common - sounds, some words, grammar - it will still not be possible to come to an agreement: a Mari with a Mordovian, a Lezgin with an Avar. And finally, there are languages - scientists call them isolated - unlike any other. These are the languages of the Kets, Nivkhs and Yukaghirs.
Most of the languages of Russia belong to one of four language families :
- Indo-European;
- Altai;
- Ural;
- North Caucasian.
Every family has a common ancestor language - proto-language. Ancient tribes who spoke such a proto-language moved, mixed with other peoples, and the once single language split into several. This is how many languages arose on Earth.
Let's say Russian belongs to Indo-European family . In the same family - English and German, Hindi and Farsi, Ossetian and Spanish (and many, many others). Part of the family group Slavic languages. Here, Czech and Polish, Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian, etc. coexist with Russian. And together with closely related Ukrainian and Belarusian, it is included in the subgroup East Slavic languages . Indo-European languages are spoken in Russia by more than 87% of the population, but only 2% of them are not Slavic. These are Germanic languages: German and Yiddish; Armenian (one makes up a group); Iranian languages: Ossetian, Tat, Kurdish and Tajik; Romance: Moldavian; and even modern Indian languages spoken by gypsies in Russia.
Altai family in Russia it is represented by three groups: Turkic, Mongolian and Tungus-Manchu. There are only two peoples who speak Mongolian languages - Kalmyks and Buryats, but just the enumeration of Turkic languages may surprise you. These are Chuvash, Tatar, Bashkir, Karachay-Balkar, Nogai, Kumyk, Altai, Khakass, Shor, Tuvan, Tofalar, Yakut, Dolgan, Azerbaijani, etc. Most of these peoples live in Russia. Turkic peoples such as Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turkmens, and Uzbeks also live in our country. The Tungus-Manchu languages include Evenki, Even, Negidal, Nanai, Oroch, Orok, Udege and Ulch.
Sometimes the question arises: where is a separate language, and where are only dialects of the same language? For example, many linguists in Kazan believe that Bashkir is a dialect of Tatar, and the same number of specialists in Ufa are convinced that these are two completely independent languages. Such disputes occur not only regarding Tatar and Bashkir.
To the Ural language family relate Finno-Ugric and Samolian groups . The concept “Finnish” is conditional - in this case it does not mean the official language of Finland. It’s just that the languages included in this group have related grammars and similar sounds, especially if you don’t parse the words and listen only to the melody. Finnish languages are spoken by Karelians, Vepsians, Izhorians, Vods, Komi, Maris, Mordovians, Udmurts, and Sami. There are two Ugric languages in Russia: Khanty and Mansi (and the third Ugric is spoken by Hungarians). The Samoyed languages are spoken by the Nenets, Nganasans, Enets, and Selkups. The Yukaghir language is genetically close to Uralic. These peoples are very small in number, and their languages cannot be heard outside the north of Russia.
North Caucasian family - the concept is quite arbitrary. Unless specialist linguists understand the ancient kinship of the languages of the Caucasus. These languages have very complex grammar and extremely difficult phonetics. They contain sounds that are completely inaccessible to people who speak other dialects.
Experts divide North Caucasian languages into Akh-Lagestan and Abkhaz-Adyghe groups . On Nakh The Vainakhs speak mutually understandable languages - this is the common name for the Chechens and Ingush. (The group received its name from the self-name of the Chechens - nakhchi.)
Representatives of approximately 30 nations live in Dagestan. “Approximately” - because not all the languages of these peoples have been studied, and very often people determine their nationality precisely by language.
To the Dagestan languages include Avar, Andi, Iez, Ginukh, Gunzib, Bezhta, Khvarshin, Lak, Dargin, Lezgin, Tabasaran, Agul, Rutul... We named the largest Dagestan languages, but did not list even half. It’s not for nothing that this republic was called the “mountain of languages.” And a “paradise for linguists”: the field of activity for them here is vast.
Abkhaz-Adyghe languages are spoken by related peoples. In Adyghe - Kabardians, Adygeans, Circassians, Shapsugs; in Abkhazian - Abkhazians and Abazins. But not everything is so simple in this classification. Kabardians, Adyghe, Circassians and Shapsugs consider themselves a single people - Adyghe - with one language, Adyghe, and official sources call four Adyghe peoples.
In Russia there are languages that are not included in any of the four families. These are primarily the languages of the peoples of Siberia and Far East. All of them are few in number. In the Chukchi-Kamchatka languages Chukchi, Koryak and Itelmen speak; on Eskimo-Aleutian - Eskimos and Aleuts. The languages of the Kets on the Yenisei and the Nivkhs on Sakhalin and Amur are not included in any language family.
There are many languages, and in order for people to agree, they need a common one. In Russia, it became Russian, because Russians are the most numerous people in the country and they live in all its corners. It is the language of great literature, science and international communication.
Languages, of course, are equivalent, but even the most rich country cannot publish, for example, books on all issues in the language of several hundred people. Or even several tens of thousands. In a language that is spoken by millions, this is feasible.
Many peoples of Russia have lost or are losing their languages, especially representatives of small nations. Thus, they have practically forgotten the native language of the Chu-lymys - a small Turkic-speaking people in Siberia. The list, unfortunately, is long. In Russian cities, Russian is becoming the common language for the multinational population. And most often the only one. However, in Lately taking care of one's own languages major centers took over the national cultural and educational societies. They usually organize Sunday schools for children.
Most of the languages of Russia before the 20s. XX century had no writing. Georgians, Armenians, and Jews had their own alphabet. Germans, Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and Finns wrote in the Latin alphabet (Latin alphabet). Some languages are still unwritten.
The first attempts to create a written language for the peoples of Russia were made even before the revolution, but they began to take this seriously in the 20s: they reformed the Arabic script, adapting it to the phonetics of the Turkic languages. It did not apply to the languages of the Caucasian peoples. The Latin alphabet was developed, but there were not enough letters to accurately designate sounds in the languages of small nations. From 1936 to 1941, the languages of the peoples of Russia (and the USSR) were transferred to the Slavic alphabet (except for those that had their own, which was also ancient), superscripts were added, tall straight sticks to indicate guttural sounds, and combinations of letters that were strange to the Russian eye like "ь" and "ь" after vowels. It was believed that a single alphabet would help better absorption Russian language. Recently, some languages have begun to use the Latin alphabet again.
The only national state language Russian Federation- Russian. In total, according to the 2002 All-Russian Population Census, Russians speak more than 150 languages, belonging to approximately 14 language families.
Official languages of Russia
Russia is a multinational country, therefore some federal subjects that are part of it, along with Russian, also approve their own languages as official ones.
Adygea - Adyghe language
Altai Republic - Altai language
Bashkortostan - Bashkir language
Buryatia - Buryat language
Ingushetia - Ingush language
Karachay-Cherkessia – Abaza, Circassian, Karachay languages
Kabardino-Balkaria - Kabardian language
Kalmykia - Kalmyk language
Komi Republic - Komi language
Mari El - Mari language
Mordovia – Moksha, Erzya languages
North Ossetia - Ossetian language
Tatarstan - Tatar language
Tuva - Tuvan language
Udmurtia - Udmurt language
Khakassia - Khakassian language
Chechnya - Chechen language
Chuvashia - Chuvash language
Yakutia - Yakut language
In the republics of Sakha, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, in addition to Russian, Yakut, Tatar and Bashkir languages are compulsorily studied in schools.
Facilities mass media can work, and documentation is maintained in languages other than Russian in places where peoples live compactly. Thus, in different regions of Yakutia, along with Russian and Yakut, Dolgan, Chukchi, Evenki, Even and Yukaghir are officially used, in the Altai Republic - Kazakh, in Karelia - Vepsian, Karelian, Finnish, in the Perm region - Komi-Permyat, in Khanty-Mansk Autonomous Okrug - Khanty, Mansi and Nenets, in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug - Khanty, Nenets and Selkup.
Unofficial languages of Russia
There are also very rare languages in Russia, albeit unofficially: for example, less than 200 people speak Enets, about 100 people speak Ket and Kerek, and only a few dozen people speak Votic. Some of these languages have never had their own written language, so most often they use Russian graphics, and Karelian and Vepsian use Latin. IN Soviet years The languages of small nations disappeared because a deliberate policy of Russification was carried out. After the collapse of the USSR, they are trying to revive these languages, but in Russia today, according to UNESCO, there are 136 endangered languages, and 20 of them have already been declared dead.
Also, on the territory of the modern Russian Federation there live quite a lot of people whose native languages are the languages of foreign countries that a couple of decades ago were part of Soviet Union. The most common of these languages are Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Armenian and Azerbaijani.
Dialects in Russia
Among Russian speakers living in different regions of central Russia, several groups of dialects can be distinguished. Usually scientists talk about northern and southern dialects and Central Russian dialects. Despite the fact that differences between dialects concern all levels of the language from phonetics to syntax, they do not prevent speakers of different dialects from understanding each other.
Knowledge of foreign languages in Russia
Unfortunately, most Russians do not speak foreign languages well. According to various opinion polls, only about 14-18 percent of the country's population can speak freely with foreign guests. The most common foreign language– English (about 4/5 speak it), in second place is German. Young people under 35 years of age living in the central regions of Russia know languages best. In distant provincial cities, it is difficult for foreigners - there you may not find a single person who understands foreign dialects.
According to the Constitution of Russia, Russian is the state language throughout the Russian Federation, but the republics are given the right to establish their own state languages. According to the Basic Law, a person and a citizen are granted the right to use their native language, to freely choose the language of communication, education, training and creativity. The Constitution also guarantees all peoples of Russia the right to preserve their native language and create conditions for its study and development.
Now the issue of studying native languages in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation has been transferred to the competence of regional authorities. In Russian schools, 89 languages are studied, of which 39 are taught.
Adygea
In 2013, the parliament of the republic returned the compulsory study of the native language for Adyghe children in schools where instruction is conducted in Russian, abolished in 2007. If desired, parents of preschoolers can also assign their children to groups in state kindergartens, where education and training is conducted in the Adyghe language.
On March 14, on the Day of the Adyghe Language and Writing, the Ministry of Education and Science reported on the results: in 43 preschool general educational institutions 4,759 children are studying the Adyghe language; in 127 preschool educational institutions, children are taught the basics of ethnoculture, Adyghe customs and traditions. All Russian-language schools teach the history and geography of Adygea, and Russian-speaking students are given the opportunity to choose to study the Adyghe language or Adyghe literature. In total, about 22 thousand schoolchildren study the Adyghe language, and more than 27.6 thousand students study Adyghe literature.
Altai
Teachers and the public of the Altai Republic regularly take the initiative to introduce compulsory learning of their native language for Altai children. Several years ago, an attempt was already made to pass a law that would oblige Altai children to learn their native language, but the prosecutor’s office considered that this would violate their rights.
On March 15 in Gorno-Altaisk, at the ninth Kurultai of the Altai people, a resolution was adopted proposing to make the Altai language compulsory for all schoolchildren of the republic, without exception, to study. The public organization "Russian Center" spoke out against it. According to its representatives, this will inevitably cause an increase in protest sentiments among Russians and other non-titular ethnic groups in the region, which could ultimately lead to the elimination of the very status of the republic.
Bashkortostan
The republic has a law providing for the compulsory study of Bashkir as the state language. The number of hours devoted to its study in schools is determined by itself. educational institution. Parents of Russian children regularly hold protests and seek the introduction of voluntary learning of the Bashkir language. According to their information, district administration officials are forcing school management to adopt curricula with a reduced number of hours of Russian language and literature. These speeches even influenced the region's position in one of the rankings of interethnic tensions.
It is not only Russians who experience problems with learning their native language in the republic - recently, language and culture have been infringed complained Chuvash activist.
Buryatia
The issue of the possible introduction of compulsory study of the Buryat language in the schools of the republic is being discussed in government offices with broad public support. In January, cultural and artistic figures of the republic made a call not to forget their native language in the video “Buryaad halaeree duugarayal!” - "Let's speak Buryat!" The public campaign was supported by director Solbon Lygdenov with a number of his short propaganda films; the first KVN in the Buryat language was recently held in the republic.
However, deputies of the People's Khural decided to leave language learning optional. Some deputies protested this resolution, but the amendments adopted after this did not change anything significantly.
Opponents of the idea of compulsory study of the Buryat language in schools fear that this will lead to inter-ethnic tension in the republic.
Dagestan
The specificity of Dagestan is that its inhabitants speak 32 languages, although only 14 ethnic groups are officially recognized as titular ones. Teaching in schools is conducted in 14 languages, primary school is in the native language, further education is in Russian. According to Murtazali Dugrichilov, a columnist for the North Caucasus service of Radio Liberty, the native language in the republic is spoken at the everyday level. “In rural areas, almost everyone speaks local languages. major cities, in Makhachkala or Derbent, teaching national languages is optional,” he said.
In the near future, in Dagestan, at the proposal of the head of the republic, Ramazan Abdulatipov, a commission will be created on the problems of the Russian language and the languages of the peoples of Dagestan. It is also expected that after the adoption of the law “On the languages of the peoples of the Republic of Dagestan”, all 32 languages in the republic will receive state status.
Director of the Institute of Language, Literature and Art of Dagestan scientific center Magomed Magomedov believes that after the adoption of the law, the native language in school will be studied in mandatory. Negative experience other national republics in Dagestan were taken into account - as Magomedov said, the law will prohibit demonstrations and pickets of parents demanding exclusion from the list of mandatory academic disciplines subject of the native language.
Ingushetia
According to the law “On the state languages of the Republic of Ingushetia”, Ingush and Russian are studied as state languages in all educational institutions of the republic.
Experts believe that in order to preserve and develop the Ingush language, it is necessary to ensure its use along with Russian in all areas of life in the republic. In addition, there is talk in the republic that it is now necessary to develop industry terminology in the Ingush language, the full use of the Ingush language as the state language and the development of methods for teaching the native language in the schools of the republic.
Kabardino-Balkaria
In Kabardino-Balkaria, a discussion around language issues flared up in connection with the adoption of amendments to the law “On Education”. According to them national languages, Kabardian and Balkar, will be studied compulsorily from the first grade by children for whom one or another language is their native language.
Meanwhile, members of the public are asking the head of the CBD not to sign the changes. In their opinion, the law “will significantly reduce the number of students studying the Kabardian and Balkar languages” and will become “a significant step towards narrowing their living space.” They believe that education and training in kindergartens and primary school schools should be conducted in native languages. However, this clause, proposed during the discussion of the bill, was not included in the final version.
Kalmykia
According to the law "On the languages of the peoples of the Republic of Kalmykia" in secondary schools, where instruction is conducted in Russian, the Kalmyk language is introduced from the first grade as compulsory academic subject as one of the state languages of the republic. However, national activists believe that the status of the Kalmyk language as the state language still remains declarative in the sphere of use. As an example, they cite the fact that cultural events and even national holidays are held exclusively in Russian.
Representatives of the non-titular ethnic group are unhappy with the current situation, but there are no public statements on this topic.
Karachay-Cherkessia
The official languages in the republic are Abaza, Karachay, Nogai, Russian and Circassian. Mandatory teaching of native languages by native speakers in schools is stipulated in the Constitution of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. In addition, according to the Law “On Education”, the native language must be studied as a compulsory subject in educational institutions where instruction is conducted in Russian. However, as it turned out, this obligation does not guarantee a sufficient level and quality of education in the opinion of national activists. Now in the republic there is an urgent issue of updating the content of textbooks on native languages - Abaza, Karachay, Nogai, Circassian.
Karelia
Karelia is the only national republic of the Russian Federation in which there is only one state language - Russian. The problem for raising the status of the Karelian language is the small number of representatives of this ethnic group relative to other residents of the republic and, as a consequence, low level spread of the Karelian language. Recently, the chairman of the Karelian Congress, Anatoly Grigoriev, proposed introducing three state languages in Karelia - Russian, Karelian and Finnish. The reason was the authorities' promise to introduce trilingualism in Crimea.
National languages are optionally taught in primary school, are studied in universities and preschool institutions. According to the Ministry of Education, in 2013, more than 6.5 thousand people studied Karelian, Finnish and Vepsian languages in the republic’s schools.
Komi
The Komi Ministry of Education introduced compulsory learning of the Komi language from the first grade in 2011. According to an employee of the Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Natalia Mironova, this leads to latent dissatisfaction in youth environment. “High school students don’t understand why they should take away their precious time from preparing for the Unified State Exam in mathematics to study the Komi language,” the researcher said.
In September 2011, the Constitutional Court of Komi made a decision on the compulsory study of the Komi language in schools of the republic - for both Komi and non-Komi students. Now in the republic, schools can choose a program for teaching the Komi language - “as a native language” (up to 5 hours a week) and “as a state language” (2 hours a week in primary grades).
Crimea
In the recently adopted constitution of the new Russian region three state languages are fixed - Russian, Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar. Education in schools will be conducted in these three languages.
Parents of schoolchildren in Buryatia, Bashkiria and Tatarstan have already contacted to the President of Russia and a number of officials, including from the leadership of Crimea, with a request to consolidate the voluntary study of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages in the republic. Activists fear that otherwise, in the future, all children of Crimea, regardless of nationality, will be obliged to study all three state languages. The signatories cite as an example their national republics, where schoolchildren have to learn non-native languages.
Mari El
In the Republic of Mari El, where the official languages are Russian and Mari (meadow and mountain), compulsory study of the latter was introduced in 2013. Analysts note that there is growing dissatisfaction among the Russian population that they are being forced to learn a language they do not need, but so far there have been no public statements on this matter.
Mordovia
The republic introduced compulsory study of Erzya and Moksha languages in all schools of the republic in 2006. Initially, the study of these languages was mandatory only in national schools in areas and settlements with dense populations of Erzyans and Mokshans. Since 2004, these subjects began to be taught as electives in Russian-language schools.
At the time of the introduction of compulsory study of Mordovian languages, there were manifestations of dissatisfaction on the part of Russian-speaking parents. Now, after 7 years, the number of dissatisfied people has decreased significantly, and their voice has become almost invisible. Teachers said that the introduction of new subjects over time changed the attitude of parents of non-Mordovian nationality to the study of national languages.
Yakutia
According to the law of the Sakha Republic "On Languages", the languages of instruction in secondary national schools are Sakha, Evenki, Even, Yukagir, Dolgan and Chukotka, and in Russian-language schools - Russian. In national schools, Russian is studied as a subject. Local official languages It is also studied as a subject in Russian-language schools in areas where small-numbered peoples of the North live densely.
Despite the measures taken, positive trends in last years observed only in the development of the Yakut language. Native languages as methods of communication are well preserved only in seven settlements where indigenous peoples live compactly. In other uluses, native languages are practically lost. They are used mainly by representatives of the older and middle generations, and even then only in everyday life or in those families that maintain a traditional way of life.
North Ossetia
According to the regional law on languages, parents, taking into account the opinions of their children, have the right to choose an educational institution with one of two state languages of education and training - Russian or Ossetian, which includes the Iron and Digor dialects.
As Ossetian journalist Zaur Karaev writes, studying the native language in the schools of the republic is mandatory for everyone - Russians, Armenians, Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis and all other nationalities. But for those who are not strong in knowledge of Ossetian, there are special “weak classes” - with a simpler learning system and with teaching almost entirely in Russian. IN strong classes the program is much more complicated. However, this does not help preserve the Ossetian language. According to Karaev, for some reason, approximately a third of Vladikavkaz schoolchildren of Ossetian origin are studying under the program prepared to familiarize representatives of a non-titular ethnic group living in the North Ossetia with the Ossetian language in general terms.
Tatarstan
The leadership of the republic has been accused of inculcating the Tatar language for several years now. In Tatarstan, where only half of the population is the titular ethnic group, the Tatar language is mandatory for everyone to learn. Parents of Russian children in Tatarstan regularly hold protests and even contacted the prosecutor’s office about discrimination against Russian-speaking schoolchildren, but the audit did not reveal any violations.
Meanwhile Tatar nationalists For their part, they are also sounding the alarm. According to them, the status of the Tatar language as the state language in the republic is almost not realized - there are few information stands in the national language on the streets, there is no full-fledged state federal channel in the Tatar language, there is no university in which teaching would be conducted entirely in the Tatar language.
The official authorities refute both the statements of Russian parents that the study of Tatar is being carried out to the detriment of the Russian language, and the claims of Tatar nationalists. The republic regularly implements language projects and programs, for example, studying the national language in kindergartens.
Tuva
In Tuva in 2008, the catastrophic state of the Russian language was recorded. According to a researcher at the sociology and political science sector of the Tuva Institute for Humanitarian Research Valeria Kan, the authorities were forced to pay attention to this problem. 2014 was declared the year of the Russian language. Systematic measures are being taken to ensure that children in rural areas, first of all, can master this language. According to her, the Tuvan language is doing great. Travelers also note that the residents of the republic speak mostly Tuvan among themselves, although signs in Russian predominate on the streets.
Meanwhile, Tuvan journalist Oyumaa Dongak believes that the national language is being oppressed. Yes, in my blog she notes that among the population it is difficult to find Tuvans who speak their own language purely, and even the government of the republic employs mostly people who do not know their native language. At the same time, she points out, the head of Tuva allocated 210 million rubles for the development of the Russian language, but nothing for the development of Tuvan.
Udmurtia
The issue of compulsory study of the national language in schools did not bypass Udmurtia. At the beginning of the year, the Udmurt Kenesh association came up with a similar initiative. According to them, compulsory learning of Udmurt by everyone will help combat the loss of the Udmurt language in those families where parents do not speak to their children, as well as develop a culture of multilingualism among the residents of the republic.
Russian activists of the republic spoke out sharply against it. In February, the State Council of Udmurtia rejected the initiative to compulsorily study the Udmurt language in the republic’s schools. According to the acting head of Udmurtia, Alexander Solovyov, money is already allocated from the budget annually for teaching the national language, which can be chosen voluntarily.
Khakassia
As in many republics, in Khakassia the national linguistic environment is preserved mainly in rural areas, where the indigenous population lives compactly.
The Khakass language is compulsorily taught only in national schools of the republic.
Meanwhile the candidate political sciences Garma-Khanda Gunzhitova stated in the media that in Khakassia, from September 1, 2014, compulsory study of the Khakassian language will be introduced in three programs: for Russians, Russian-Khakassians and for Khakassian schools. According to her, the language will be studied from grades 1 to 11 with an exam.
Chechnya
In Chechnya, the national language is taught in all schools of the republic as a separate subject. Since 95% of the population of the republic is the titular ethnic group, no protests regarding the study of a non-native language have been recorded. It is noted that in rural areas there are no problems with the Chechen language; on the contrary, children in villages do not speak Russian well. But despite the fact that the national language is actively used in everyday life, the republic still notes that the scope of its use continues to steadily narrow, as interest in its study and use in society is declining. At the last round table at the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, they noted the alarming, in the opinion of the participants, process of mixing colloquial speech native and Russian languages, as well as a tendency towards the gradual displacement of the Chechen language from the official sphere.
According to the director of the Institute for Educational Development of the Chechen Republic, Abdulla Arsanukaev, the introduction of teaching in schools in the native language could have a positive effect on the Chechen language. The government, for its part, is going to equalize the Russian and Chechen languages at the official level - for now, document flow in the government is conducted in Russian. It is also expected that a state commission will be created for the preservation, development and dissemination of the Chechen language.
Chuvashia
The Chuvash language is studied as a compulsory subject in schools of the republic and in a number of universities in Chuvashia for one or two semesters. “At the very beginning of teaching, there were a lot of parents who came to school and opposed their child studying Chuvash. But today I can say with confidence: such parents no longer exist. Some even, on the contrary, want them the child developed and knew the native language of Chuvashia and, probably, this is correct,” notes Olga Alekseeva, teacher of the Chuvash language and literature at secondary school No. 50 in Cheboksary.
The severity of the language issue in the republic can be judged by recent events - in 2013, a court in Chuvashia found journalist Ille Ivanov guilty of inciting ethnic hatred for a publication that spoke about the disadvantaged position of the Chuvash language in the republic. Discussions around the native language have also been intensified by the recent language reform. According to the new rules, some Chuvash words must be written separately. However, the resulting phrase can be interpreted in two ways. According to opponents of the reform, it has impoverished the language and could serve as a catalyst for its Russification.
Nenets Autonomous Okrug
43 thousand people live in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, of which about 8 thousand are indigenous people. The main problem in studying the Nenets language is the lack of textbooks and teachers. In educational institutions of the district, hours for language learning have been introduced, electives are organized, but there are simply not enough teachers.
According to the methodologist of the State Budgetary Institution "Nenets regional center development of education" by Lyudmila Taleyeva, such specialists have not been trained at the educational pedagogical institutions of the district for a long time. Basically, the native language of children is taught by teachers of Russian language and literature, who at one time, as students, studied the Nenets language. Training is carried out using old grammar textbooks.
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
The indigenous peoples of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug face similar problems - a shortage of teachers of native languages and teachers with the right to teach their native language for nomadic schools, a lack of methods for teaching native languages for beginners, insufficient provision of schools teaching aids in national languages.
The main languages of the indigenous peoples of the North in the region are Nenets, Khanty and Selkup.
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
The main languages in Chukotka are Chukchi, Eskimo and Even. The government is currently developing a Concept for the development of native languages of indigenous peoples of the region. So far, the Association of Indigenous and Minority Peoples of Chukotka has itself organized courses for studying the Chukchi and Even languages.
The Chukchi language is the language of everyday communication among the majority of Chukchi - in the family and in the process of traditional economic activity. In schools of ethnic villages, the Chukchi language is studied in primary grades as a compulsory subject, and in senior grades as an optional subject. There is no teaching in the Chukchi language in the republic.
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
According to public organizations, out of 4 thousand Khanty and Mansi living in Ugra, only a few go to native language courses. Representatives of youth organizations of indigenous peoples of the North even suggested deprive of national benefits those who do not know their native language.
“Young people have different attitudes towards their native language. Some are fluent in two languages, some understand speech but do not speak it themselves, and some even consider it sufficient to know only the Russian language, which is spoken by the majority,” says the president Youth organization of Ob-Ugric peoples Nadezhda Moldanova. She is also concerned that the new generation is less and less interested in national languages. Due to low demand for the specialty in Yugorsk state university they even closed the department of Finno-Ugric language.
One problem
Almost all languages of the Russian peoples suffer due to the fact that parents and students themselves prefer to learn Russian. This is not surprising - in addition to the fact that it is spoken by the majority of the country's population, it also remains the only language interethnic communication in multinational Russia. The introduction of the Unified State Exam also played a role - students simply need to pay more attention to the Russian language in order to pass the mandatory exam. However, the native language is the basis of culture and preservation of ethnicity. Each region is trying to solve this problem in its own way.
Forcing those for whom it is not native to learn the national language, as seen in the example of Tatarstan, does not give good result. Moreover, it leads to the appearance in the region of people who believe that they are oppressed on ethnic grounds. The situation is aggravated by the fact that, unlike all other peoples of the country, the largest people - the Russians - according to the laws existing in Russia, cannot choose their language as their native language to study at school, thus refusing to study the national language.
Voluntary teaching of the native language also does not lead to significant success due to the lack of interest among young people in it. Realizing this, the authorities of many regions began to introduce language elements into everyday life - to translate laws, famous books, and signs into national languages.
Apparently, the best tool for preserving the native languages of peoples remains communication in them in the family. And also classes traditional types activities. Thus, the northern peoples still use their native language to denote phenomena that are simply inconvenient to translate into Russian.
With the spread of the Internet, people interested in preserving their culture undoubtedly have more opportunities to study their native language. But for the Russian language, the World Wide Web, on the contrary, turned out to be harmful. More foreign borrowings and new formations began to penetrate into it. In addition, words are often deliberately used incorrectly online, which also has an impact Negative influence on the level of knowledge of schoolchildren.
As the head of the Center notes national problems education FIRO Ministry of Education and Science Olga Artemenko, the Russian language in mass use is gradually turning from literary language in household. In schools in a number of republics, hours for studying the Russian language in primary grades are being reduced. At the same time, it is studied on communicative basis with the function of interethnic communication, and not as a language that ensures the competitiveness of the younger generation.
In her opinion, to relieve interethnic tension and improve the quality language education it is necessary to adjust the conceptual and terminological apparatus in the normative legal acts. In particular, remove such concepts as “native non-Russian”, “non-native Russian”, “Russian as foreign”. Eliminate the opposition between native and Russian, since Russian is also a native language. Remove Russian language from status state language republics, removing their functional equality.
A bill clarifying complex aspects of the legal status of the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation has long been prepared by the State Duma Committee on Nationalities. However, despite positive reviews from the regions, its consideration is constantly postponed indefinitely.
