What is the difference between Belarusian and Russian languages? A Belarusian teaches MOV to Russians: “I had to translate the word“ pamyarkoўnasts ”- I broke my head! How to learn Belarusian in 5 minutes
Officials in Minsk talk about the need to know the Belarusian language, but it is not so easy to learn it in the country's schools.
In Minsk, you can spend a whole day and hear the Belarusian language only in transport when announcing stops. The correspondent was figuring out whether young Belarusians have a chance to learn the Belarusian language and whether the school course is enough for this?
Schools - Russian and Belarusian
According to the standards of the Ministry of Education, Belarusian-speaking schools are those that have at least one class taught in Belarusian. As the press secretary of the Ministry of Education Yulia Vysotskaya explained to DW, there are almost half of such schools in Belarus (1419) of the total number of secondary educational institutions (3063) - schools, gymnasiums and lyceums.
The officials of the department will summarize the data as of the beginning of this academic year in mid-September. And last year, according to official statistics, 128,566 people studied in Belarusian-speaking schools, and about a million in Russian-speaking schools. This difference in the number of students is explained by the fact that there are more schools with teaching in the Belarusian language in rural areas, and there are few students in them.
In everyday life, the citizens of the country call Belarusian only those schools where all subjects are taught in Belarusian from the first to the final grade, and where all school staff communicate with children and parents in Belarusian. And only in such schools it is possible to fully master the literary language, believes the linguist Vintsuk Vecherko, pointing out that the vast majority of children study in Russian schools.
In addition to statistics on the country as a whole, this is confirmed by the situation in the capital of two million: in Minsk there are 5 gymnasiums with the Belarusian language of instruction, and 5 more schools have separate Belarusian classes in which all subjects are taught in Belarusian. There are 138 such classes in the city in total. Vysotskaya explained that Belarusian classes are being opened according to the parents' statements: this requires at least 20 people who want to study in Belarusian.
Locales and proportions
The program and methods of teaching the Belarusian language today are practically the same in all types of schools, but students of Russian schools are not given the skills of a living language, pronunciation, thematic vocabulary, notes the linguist Vecherko. As a result, in his words, those who nevertheless master a lively spoken language do it not thanks to school, but to an alternative cultural space - primarily the Internet, rock music and enthusiasts who organize courses, festivals and everything that creates an environment for communication in the Belarusian language.
Today in Belarus there is a unified state standard for textbooks and the number of teaching hours in the subjects studied. So, in the first grade of Russian schools, six hours of Russian language and literature per week, and one in Belarusian. In Belarusian - the opposite. Then the number of hours is leveled. But it doesn't matter, Vecherko believes, because in Russian schools all subjects, except for the Belarusian language and literature, are taught in Russian, Belarusian is just one of the subjects that can really be mastered at the level of a foreign language.
With that difference, adds the director of the Belarusian Humanities Lyceum Vladimir Kolas, learning English or Chinese is promising, because it can be useful in life. And learning Belarusian is unprofitable, unpromising, and sometimes even dangerous because of associations with opposition activities. In addition, in Belarusian schools, Vecherko continues, teachers of physics, mathematics or foreign languages often refuse to teach in Belarusian, because they were not taught this at the university. Physical education and labor education teachers who teach lessons in Belarusian can be counted on one hand.
The queue to the Belarusian school was taken from the night
The proportion of students in Russian and Belarusian, according to Vysotskaya, corresponds to the real linguistic situation in the country: although in the polls most of its citizens indicate as their native Belarusian language, in everyday life they speak Russian. Such an alignment, notes Kolas, is the result of the authorities' support for the historically developed situation: "As if the language policy of the Russian Empire continues, in which Belarus has been colonially dependent for several centuries."
Meanwhile, the competition for the few Minsk gymnasiums with teaching in the Belarusian language is growing from year to year, the parents say. In order to enroll children in the 1st grade of the 23rd gymnasium in Minsk, parents take the queue at night, and last year not everyone could get in, says the chairman of the board of trustees and mother of a 13-year-old student of this gymnasium Kristina Vitushko to DW.
She explains that, first of all, the gymnasium is obliged to accept children according to universal education - a system that has survived from Soviet times, when a certain district of the city is assigned to each school. The building of the gymnasium is old, small, there are only two first grades, and those who are simply higher in the list of applicants have an advantage when enrolling in school.
Why are parents not seeking to open Belarusian classes?
Igor Palinsky, the leader of the rock group Sumarok, the chairman of the Polotsk city branch of the Francysk Skaryna Belarusian Language Society, is sure that there is a demand for teaching in the Belarusian language. “This is confirmed by resonant stories, when parents tried to open Belarusian-speaking classes for almost one child. But the problem is that even among those who want their children to study in Belarusian, there are few initiative people,” Palinsky complains.
Kristina Vitushko looks at the situation differently: opening Belarusian classes is not a solution to the problem. She explains the advantage of Belarusian schools over Belarusian-speaking classes in Russian schools: “It is not the sign on the gymnasium that is important, but the fact that the nurse, physical education teacher, other teachers speak Belarusian, time for extracurricular activities - in a word, so that there is a comfortable language environment. Russian schools do not have it. "
I AM learning Belarusian language. What will compiling a personal dictionary give me?
A personal dictionary is a list of words you want to learn, translated into Belarusian language.
You can create one large list of words for all occasions, or create several lists (dictionaries) by topic, so that you can learn them later.
For example, a list of words that you need when visiting a restaurant (or a bank, or for playing sports, etc.)
It is important that you are able to compose a dictionary only from those phrases and expressions that you need to learn.
You don't waste time and effort learning the words you don't need.
How do I make a list of words (my vocabulary)?
Just enter a word in the left field and in a few seconds you will see its translation into Belarusian language.
Attention! There is an iteration of several meanings until the program selects the most adequate translation of your word.
It can take a few seconds to find the correct translation. Do not be alarmed!
Moreover, if you suddenly do not like this translation, you can enter your own!
After saving the dictionary for each word added to it, a card will appear in which you can enter your comment and even your photo for this word, which will make the learning process more varied and interesting and, at the same time, more productive!
How many dictionaries (lists of words) can you make?
How many you want! It all depends on which one is more convenient for you. learn words- one large dictionary or several small ones dedicated to different topics.
Why compile a dictionary?
You make a list of words with translation into Belarusian language, then on our website to check your knowledge of these words online.
The very process of compiling a dictionary already contributes to its memorization.
And then you pass tests on it on our website.
Tests can be taken both from Russian into the target language, and vice versa.
If you entered the wrong meaning of the translation of a word, then our site will tell you the correct one and even show you a picture. So there is a high probability that the next time you will not forget it.
Thanks to this, the testing process itself becomes quite funny and even reckless, because then the results of statistical processing are still waiting for you.
And it's all completely free!
The Belarusian language (Belarussian Mova) is included in the group of East Slavic languages.
The state language of the Republic of Belarus. It is spoken by about seven million people.
In Belarus, there is also such a phenomenon as "trasyanka". It is a spoken language, which is the existence of various intermediate forms between Belarusian,
In Belarus, at the moment, in general, there is no natural Belarusian-speaking environment, observers note. In Minsk, you can spend a whole day and hear the Belarusian language only in transport when announcing stops. The DW correspondent figured out whether young Belarusians have a chance to learn the Belarusian language and whether the school course is enough for this?
Schools- Russians and Belarusian
According to the standards of the Ministry of Education, Belarusian-speaking schools are those that have at least one class taught in Belarusian. As the press secretary of the Ministry of Education Yulia Vysotskaya explained to DW, there are almost half of such schools in Belarus (1419) of the total number of secondary educational institutions (3063) - schools, gymnasiums and lyceums.
The officials of the department will summarize the data as of the beginning of this academic year in mid-September. And last year, according to official statistics, 128,566 people studied in Belarusian-speaking schools, and about a million in Russian-speaking schools. This difference in the number of students is explained by the fact that there are more schools with teaching in the Belarusian language in rural areas, and there are few students in them.
In everyday life, the citizens of the country call Belarusian only those schools where all subjects are taught in Belarusian from the first to the final grade, and where all school staff communicate with children and parents in Belarusian. And only in such schools it is possible to fully master the literary language, believes the linguist Vintsuk Vecherko, pointing out that the vast majority of children study in Russian schools.
In addition to statistics on the country as a whole, this is confirmed by the situation in the capital of two million: in Minsk there are 5 gymnasiums with the Belarusian language of instruction, and 5 more schools have separate Belarusian classes in which all subjects are taught in Belarusian. There are 138 such classes in the city in total. Vysotskaya explained that Belarusian classes are being opened according to the parents' statements: this requires at least 20 people who want to study in Belarusian.
Locales and proportions
The program and methods of teaching the Belarusian language today are practically the same in all types of schools, but students of Russian schools are not given the skills of a living language, pronunciation, thematic vocabulary, notes the linguist Vecherko. As a result, in his words, those who nevertheless master a lively spoken language do it not thanks to school, but to an alternative cultural space - primarily the Internet, rock music and enthusiasts who organize courses, festivals and everything that creates an environment for communication in the Belarusian language.
Today in Belarus there is a unified state standard for textbooks and the number of teaching hours in the subjects studied. So, in the first grade of Russian schools, six hours of Russian language and literature per week, and one in Belarusian. In Belarusian - the opposite. Then the number of hours is leveled. But it doesn't matter, Vecherko believes, because in Russian schools all subjects, except for the Belarusian language and literature, are taught in Russian, Belarusian is just one of the subjects that can really be mastered at the level of a foreign language.
With that difference, adds the director of the Belarusian Humanities Lyceum Vladimir Kolas, learning English or Chinese is promising, because it can be useful in life. And learning Belarusian is unprofitable, unpromising, and sometimes even dangerous because of associations with opposition activities. In addition, in Belarusian schools, Vecherko continues, teachers of physics, mathematics or foreign languages often refuse to teach in Belarusian, because they were not taught this at the university. Physical education and labor education teachers who teach lessons in Belarusian can be counted on one hand.
The queue to the Belarusian school was taken from the night
The proportion of students in Russian and Belarusian, according to Vysotskaya, corresponds to the real linguistic situation in the country: although in the polls most of its citizens indicate as their native Belarusian language, in everyday life they speak Russian. Such an alignment, notes Kolas, is the result of the authorities' support for the historically developed situation: "As if the language policy of the Russian Empire continues, in which Belarus has been colonially dependent for several centuries."
Meanwhile, the competition for the few Minsk gymnasiums with teaching in the Belarusian language is growing from year to year, the parents say. In order to enroll children in the 1st grade of the 23rd gymnasium in Minsk, parents take the queue at night, and last year not everyone could get in, says the chairman of the board of trustees and mother of a 13-year-old student of this gymnasium Kristina Vitushko to DW.
Context
She explains that, first of all, the gymnasium is obliged to accept children according to universal education - a system that has survived from Soviet times, when a certain district of the city is assigned to each school. The building of the gymnasium is old, small, there are only two first grades, and those who are simply higher in the list of applicants have an advantage when enrolling in school.
Why are parents not seeking to open Belarusian classes?
Igor Palinsky, the leader of the rock group Sumarok, the chairman of the Polotsk city branch of the Francysk Skaryna Belarusian Language Society, is sure that there is a demand for teaching in the Belarusian language. “This is confirmed by resonant stories, when parents tried to open Belarusian-speaking classes for almost one child. But the problem is that even among those who want their children to study in Belarusian, there are few initiative people,” Palinsky complains.
Kristina Vitushko looks at the situation differently: opening Belarusian classes is not a solution to the problem. She explains the advantage of Belarusian schools over Belarusian-speaking classes in Russian schools: “It is not the sign on the gymnasium that is important, but the fact that the nurse, physical education teacher, other teachers speak Belarusian, time for extracurricular activities - in a word, so that there is a comfortable language environment. Russian schools do not have it. "
See also:
Watch video 02:39
World of Tanks from Belarus at Gamescom in Cologne (26.08.2017)
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From Moscow - to Minsk
The Moscow-Minsk photo series is a long-term project of photographers Sandra Ratkovic and André Fischer. The main task of German photographers is to correctly understand and document the culture in the post-Soviet space.
Photo gallery: Moscow and Minsk through the eyes of German photographers
Time ago
Sandra Ratkowitz and Andre Fischer became interested in Russia and Belarus three years ago: then young photographers were shooting monuments of Soviet architecture in Berlin. “In many places, time seems to have stopped,” Ratkowitz shared her impressions in an interview with DW. Several years later, the photographers decided on a new journey. Architectural monuments of Moscow and Minsk were captured by the camera lens.
Photo gallery: Moscow and Minsk through the eyes of German photographers
Militarism in detail
During the two-week trip, the photographers were most struck by the militarism that penetrated all spheres of life of Russians and Belarusians. The photo shows a souvenir shop in Moscow.
Photo gallery: Moscow and Minsk through the eyes of German photographers
Two weeks in the capital
“Choosing Moscow as the first stage of the trip was the right decision. After visiting the capital, you immediately want to see other Russian cities. In addition, Moscow has important architectural monuments and the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War,” explained Andre Fischer.
Photo gallery: Moscow and Minsk through the eyes of German photographers
Summer walk
Visitors to one of the largest walking areas in the capital - Izmailovsky Park in Moscow.
Photo gallery: Moscow and Minsk through the eyes of German photographers
Floral Weapon
"It was very interesting to observe the military and everyday culture in Moscow and Minsk. In Germany, you rarely see a bride and groom who are photographed against the backdrop of the Eternal Flame," said Sandra Ratkowitz. In the photo - guns in the style of Gzhel and Khokhloma.
Photo gallery: Moscow and Minsk through the eyes of German photographers
Spectacular structures
Photographers describe Moscow as an amazing city: "It attracts with numerous historical sites and impressive architecture: old churches, buildings in the style of socialist realism, the Moscow Metro."
Photo gallery: Moscow and Minsk through the eyes of German photographers
Next stop - Minsk
It was no coincidence that Andre Fischer ended up in the Belarusian capital: “After the language courses at the Linguistic University, I had the opportunity to spend a whole month in Minsk to immerse myself in the local culture and everyday life. Much in this city resembles Moscow, only in a smaller format.”
Photo gallery: Moscow and Minsk through the eyes of German photographers
Tankman's Day
During his stay in Minsk, Andre Fischer got into an unusual show. Tanker's Day is a professional holiday that has been celebrated annually in Belarus since 1946 on the second Sunday of September.
Tolstoy and Mayakovsky are translated into MOV, despite the fact that Belarusians can easily read them in the original. Pushkin was translated into Belarusian by Yanka Kupala and Yakub Kolas, and our contemporaries continue to translate it. What is this: Russophobia or the norm of literary life?
If the level of language proficiency allows reading Hemingway, Baudelaire and Goethe in the original, then the translator is definitely the third extra. When you come to the Louvre, you will not look at the postcards with the Mona Lisa instead of enjoying the original by Leonardo? But the situation is different with the Russian language: although we all understand it and read it in it (for example, this article), translations of Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol into MOV are the sea.
Maybe translators shouldn't waste time on what is understandable without them? Perhaps, in conditions when the Russian-speaking component of the life of a Belarusian is many times outweighed by the Belarusian-speaking, the Russian classics are also in Belarusian - this is, in principle, superfluous?
“Right now, it may not be necessary [to translate Russian literature into Belarusian]: almost everyone can read Russian classics in the original language. And this money can be spent on translations from other languages, - believes the candidate of philological sciences, associate professor Dmitry Gomon. “But in the long term, when Belarusian will be the only language of the state and education, then, of course, it will be necessary to translate: this is a classic, so it will still need to be read”.
About nonsense and mutual enrichment
On this topic: How to legally read Kafka in BelarusianThe arguments in favor of translating school textbooks or technical literature into Belarusian are quite transparent. But with works of art, where not only the content is important, but also the author's style, everything is more complicated. And, nevertheless, Pushkin alone was translated into Belarusian by Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas, Maxim Bogdanovich, Pyatro Glebka, Ales Dudar, Ryhor Sinitsa, Arkadz Kulyashoў ... citizens who lovingly look towards the eastern border of the Republic of Belarus.
“Once I was present at an evening where the author read his translations of A. Pushkin's poems into Belarusian. Everybody applauded him, said eulogies. I got up and said that the translations are not bad and I can appreciate it, because, probably, unlike the majority of those present, I speak Russian and can read A. Pushkin in the original, - said Andrei Gerashchenko, journalist of the information portal Rus Young. " - It was taken almost as an insult to the translator. But why - the translation was originally intended so that some work could be read by people who do not know the original language. Why translate works of world literature into Belarusian if there are Russian translations, because all Belarusians speak Russian, and a much smaller number of our fellow citizens speak Belarusian ?! Moreover, why translate Russian texts into Belarusian? "
What some (like Mr. Gerashchenko) explain by Russophobia, others consider it to be completely normal. Doctor of Philology, Chairman of the St. Petersburg Association of Belarusianists Nikolai Nikolaev is sure that it is possible and necessary to translate Russian writers into Belarusian. “Belarusian culture has its own values, although there are also gaps, including in translations of Russian literature. It is necessary that all Russian classics be presented in Belarusian, and Belarusian authors - in Russian. This work should be systematic, then Russian and Belarusian literatures will mutually enrich. "
On this topic: A dozen of Belarusian pearls with history Mutual enrichment is a good word, but it sounds a little hypocritical here. This remark is almost the only call we have found to translate Belarusian authors into Russian lately. And the progress of acquaintance of the Russian reader with the Belarusian literature is noticeable no more than a horseshoe on the paw of a flea from Leskov's "Levsha". Yes, Russian classics.
"Geta in" ektsya va alasnuyu kultury i movu "
Prykhilnіkaў dumkі, INTO translation from Russian language to Belarusian patronage, neshmat is big, chym tykh, hto lichyts geta byazgluzdzіtsai. Andrei Khadanovich - paet, perakladchyk and spreading out of literature
“The parish of racial literature is so patronized to us, as is the parcel of leather and literature. Bo, pa-pershae, geta sign of our samastoyna: we interpret Russian language and Russian culture as blazkuyu, albeit the most neighboring one, as well as іnshya - geta time. Pa-another, vidats, і pa-haloўnae, geta neiki belongings, as it is possible to skarystaztsa. This is something that is for the self-cultivation of a literary vocation, and for the very language and culture - a geta ney krynitsa ўzbagachennya. For such chyns we grind the cold and store new, dadatkovy magchymasts. Mova, culture - yany tym bagatseyshya, which is great in pryntsyp rosy such perkladў.
Geta patrebna not rasіі and geta not danіna pavagі and chagosci іnshaga. Geta ін "ektsya va lasnuyu culture і movu. On shchatsse, I grew up pakalenne aўtaraў-perakladchykў, yakіya valodayutsь peўnymі movamі, pachynayuchi ad exatychnaga sanskritu, іtym moguts arіgеrіchlаtslаtsu. , but the most important thing, the most meaningful, was the most important thing, the most important thing for our culture, but not an ideological one.
"We ourselves will understand ourselves better if we read this translation."
Olga Zueva, Ph.D. in Philology and Chairman of the Council of Young Scientists of the Faculty of Philology of the Belarusian State University, finds several answers to the question "why" at once:
On this topic: "Huevo" in the salad and "hule" on the table. Language surprises for tourists in Spain, Czech Republic and Greece “In a global sense, the question, it seems to me, is speculative, since the answer is obvious:“ Yes ”. The Translator's Charter, adopted in 1963, begins with the following words: “Considering that translation in the modern world has established itself as a permanent, ubiquitous and necessary form of activity; that by making possible spiritual and material exchange between peoples, it enriches the life of peoples and promotes better understanding between people ... ”. Thus, translation from one closely related language to another, even in conditions of huge socio-cultural inequality of these languages (one is world, the second is regional, and under a dropper) is necessary, since it "enriches the life of peoples and promotes better understanding between people."
A Russian person who speaks the Belarusian language will probably understand the Belarusian better if he reads the translation of the Russian classics into Belarusian. We ourselves will understand ourselves better if we read this translation. It's very idealistic and romantic, but in the end, the world is largely based on idealists and romantics.
It was a global meaning. Now local. What is the target audience of "consumers" of the translation being carried out? I throw in a few offhand:
1. A Belarusian patriot - perhaps even an extreme nationalist who tries to read non-Belarusian texts in Belarusian. Especially Russian speakers! Translation is required.
2. Researcher of the poetics of artistic speech - a specialist in the theory of literature. Translation is required.
On this topic: Mova roce. Kur "ezy ўzhivannya 3. Linguist-researcher (including the translator himself). Just give him / her more texts. By the way, translation can open gaps in both languages, unexpected expressive abilities of the Belarusian language, potential of resources, for example, dialect speech. That is, translation enriches the language. Translation is required.
4. The translator himself, of course. Literary translation is a creative act, with all these pains of creativity, insights, self-realization, etc. Translation is required.
In addition, translation contributes to the preservation of information. It is safer if the text is translated into many, many languages - it's like many, many copies of it. But these are already the interests of the language from which they are being translated.
Translation is not needed for those who see behind it only a linguistic exercise. From the series: to translate Dostoevsky into the languages of the small peoples of Siberia, the last speakers of which are 80 years old. Everyone has a different view of the viability and prospects of the Belarusian language and the Belarusian society, hence the spreads.
I appeal to skeptics to the enthusiasm of the Translator's Charter ”.
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Anton Somin is a well-known person: for many years he has been organizing the Festival of Languages in Minsk, on April 1 it will be held for the sixth time. Now he lives in Moscow, where he teaches the Belarusian language.
"STARTING SPEAKING BELARUSIAN IS MORE DIFFICULT THAN ENGLISH"
Right now, it would be more correct to say "taught". This was the project "School of Neighbors' Languages", within the framework of which free courses in the languages of the CIS were held. Now the project has been temporarily suspended - funding has ended. The courses lasted six months. There was a competition for each language: in particular, for Belarusian - 2.5 people per seat (in Armenian, for comparison, 16 people per seat).
- Who came to Moscow to learn the Belarusian language?
Motivated people. Most of them have grandparents from Belarus. One girl is a folklorist who deals with the Russian-Belarusian borderlands, she needs him for work. And there was also a senior accountant, a woman of about 60, who came because she heard from her Belarusian friend what a deplorable situation we had with our language. It's a shame, the language is beautiful - she decided to do her bit. It was delicious, I took it right away. But in general, there is a demand for MOV in addition to courses: students periodically come up to me and ask where they can learn Belarusian in Moscow.
- How did the Belarusian seem to them? Simple, complex, funny?
During class, I myself looked at the language from a different angle. I saw how people perceive words familiar to us from childhood, and it turned out that there are things that we simply do not notice. For example, on the Internet, you may come across a button "grab" ("save"), but it would not even occur to us that you can move the stress and read it as "grab". And the Russians are having a lot of fun! For them, unexpected, completely familiar words for us - "vadaskhovishcha", "muzhinski", "zhanochy" also sound funny.
There were also difficult moments, as in any language. The consonant before E causes difficulties: for some reason everyone thinks that it is solid, as in Ukrainian: "Ploshcha NezalEzhnastsi", "pEramoga". It takes quite a long time to retrain. The second point is hard H, they strive to say it mildly. And there are no problems with the fricative G, although initially it seems to everyone that there will be.
They begin to understand Belarusian well after two months of study, but they do not begin to speak for a long time - they are afraid of trasyanki. It turned out to be a more difficult language barrier than in the case of English or French. There you wait for the moment when your vocabulary will suffice, and here you can start making Belarusian sounds almost immediately - and everyone will understand you. There is no need to overcome misunderstandings, there is a need to make a cleaner Belarusian, reducing the share of Russian.
"IF IN BELARUS SUDDENLY SPEAK IN BELARUSIAN, THIS WILL BE EXACTLY TRASYANKA"
- Is Trasyanka evil or not?
Last year I translated an article by a German linguist who has been working in trasian language for many years. He wrote that trasyanka is a step towards universal Belarusianization: if the political situation in Belarus suddenly changes so that Belarusians start speaking Belarusian, then the output will not be such a pure language, but a mixed one, more like trasyanka. Literary Belarusian will remain as the target, but it will be the intermediate one. Therefore, it is wrong to spread rot on those who speak it. Even if it sounds not prestigious to our ears, this is our "administrative trot", and we should treat it favorably.
Did you show them the famous poem "Vetraz" by Sergei Grakhovsky, in which there is not a single word understandable to Russians?
An ordinary literary text with artistic descriptions works even better when a huge number of mismatched words appear among the understandable ones. In the case of Vetrazem, one might think: "Ay, he sat down on purpose, picked up such words, in any language you can do that."
And when you give an arbitrary text, which for the most part is understandable, but every third word is incomprehensible, it becomes clear that Belarusian is not at all the same as Russian. By the way, once I had to translate the word "pamyarkoўnasts", I broke my head! In the end, he explained it with a mixture of "humble, accommodating and pliable." A very specific word.
"A TEXTBOOK ON BELARUSSIAN SAWED ON A SHIP FROM INDIA"
Anton is fluent in English, French, German, Italian and Polish. Slightly worse - Arabic, Bulgarian, Maltese, once learned Swedish:
If you know three or four Slavic languages, then you more or less understand the rest, at least in writing. I’m ashamed to admit it, but when I was in school, I didn’t like Belarusian. It was difficult to teach him, he spoke much worse than in Russian, he did not like to read it. The interest arose after a trip to the International Summer School of the Russian Language, when I saw how foreign students - French, Italians, Koreans, Macedonians - speak Russian. For the first time this feeling appeared: we have our own language, separate! Plus, the move influenced - here you acutely feel that you are different, that your language is different. I began to read in Belarusian, develop - and brought the language to the level that I was able to teach and even write a self-instruction book.
- Tutorial?
It was commissioned by the Living Language publishing house, which produces a whole series. I almost refused, but then I thought that they could offer someone who is really bad with this, and agreed - they will still write some nonsense! Better me. I always wanted to correct mistakes in existing textbooks and manuals, but at the same time it seemed that this should be done by authors for whom the language is their native language, who have been speaking it all their lives.
It took a little over six months to work (taking into account breaks for five years). The book has 224 pages. There are a few pictures that I drew myself (it turned out so bad that I decided to leave it). Everything in Belarusian is written in red, and everything in Russian is in black.
I immediately decided that he would not describe how it should be, but how it really is. For example, the dictionary says that the driver is “vadzitsel”, and almost everyone says “kiroўtsa”. This is the only self-instruction manual that says that in addition to the official form of the language there is an unofficial one, that the same words in them can be translated in different ways (for example, "shpatsyr" and "pragulka").
Interesting fact: the book traveled better than me! The publisher prints them in India - it's cheaper that way. Then they are loaded onto a ship (along with the Belarusian they sailed the self-instruction manuals of the Kazakh, Ukrainian, Kyrgyz languages) and sent to Hamburg. Then they are overloaded and sent bypassing Scandinavia to Murmansk. And from there by train to Moscow.
- How did you end up in Moscow?
Through the university. In the 11th grade I suffered for a long time: I wanted to work with languages (and preferably also with programming). Dad discovered a suitable specialty in Russian universities - "Theoretical and Applied Linguistics". I graduated from the Russian State University for the Humanities, now I live in Moscow and teach at two universities - the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian State University for the Humanities and the School of Philology at the Higher School of Economics. I’m a research assistant there.
Books of different genres. At school we read books about the hard life of the people, about the war, about the villagers. And in the seventh grade, my dad slipped me a book by Ales Yakimovich "Eldarada pros_ts dapamogi". I thought: amazing, fantastic in Belarusian? That's lovely!
Then he began to read books describing modern reality. I came across a book by Alena Brava "Kamendantski Hour for Lastavak": about a woman who married a Cuban and left for Cuba. Thanks to her, the installation “Belarusian literature is about Belarusian peasantry, and about everything else - in Russian” was broken.
Modern literature, in which your contemporaries speak Belarusian, is a bigger step towards language than admiration for the unattainable level of language of classic writers. And when it is completed, then you can enjoy the beauty of the language: for example, I love Bykov very much. Recently I have read Belarusian translations - "Oliver Twist", two volumes of "Sherlock Holmes", "Call of Cthulhu".
Anton's next step is to release an audio addition to the tutorial.
It is difficult to learn Belarusian phonetics without samples, so last summer my friends and I voiced all the dialogues from the tutorial. Now we need to find time to put them together and lay them out.
