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Being forced to learn a minority language

 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
42 messages over 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
Saim
Pentaglot
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5087 days ago

124 posts - 215 votes 
Speaks: Serbo-Croatian, English*, Catalan, Spanish, Polish
Studies: Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Occitan, Punjabi, Urdu, Arabic (Maghribi), French, Modern Hebrew, Ukrainian, Slovenian

 
 Message 41 of 42
03 June 2011 at 12:15pm | IP Logged 
Komi-language classes won't really teach anyone the language anyway. What is needed is
Komi-medium education, which will actually produce proficient speakers.

What are some examples where a minoritized language succesfully regained its place as
the language of the majority of a region/population? Hebrew and Ukrainian are two
examples that come to mind. In both cases there was an expansion of the minoritized
language as medium of education, but I don't think it was made compulsory in either.
What is needed is the development of an inclusive Komi identity, and ethnic Russians
will want to learn it themselves. This isn't an unrealistic scenario - in Finland, the
until recently dominant Swedish-speakers were some of the very first "Fennicizers" who
wanted Finnish to become the main official language of the country.

I do think you Russian friend is just whining and should really get over her close-
minded attitude. That being said, does compulsory Komi classes actually work to
preserve the language? If not, it should be scrapped, and replaced with a
new strategy. There are whole books and articles written about language maintenance and
revitalization and I suspect and dearly hope that Komi leadership is reading them. I
really hope de-Russification spreads throughout the country's diverse republics....

Edited by Saim on 03 June 2011 at 12:20pm

6 persons have voted this message useful



hribecek
Triglot
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 5353 days ago

1243 posts - 1458 votes 
Speaks: English*, Czech, Spanish
Studies: Italian, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Toki Pona, Russian

 
 Message 42 of 42
03 June 2011 at 5:14pm | IP Logged 
My heart agrees with Aabram and my head agrees with Chung and I think that basically they agree with each other.

@Saim - I agree that my Russian friend is whining a little but only she knows what it's like to learn a language for years that she never uses and probably never will. She also hates it because her 10 year old son had to learn it and she had to pay for Komi language activities for him even though both he and her didn't want to. They live in the Czech Republic now though so problem solved.

She also backed up some other people's opinions here by saying that she now only knows a few words and phrases despite learning it for several years, so there was no real point in her learning it from the point of view of spreading the Komi language.

Just to make clear my own personal feeling. I'm pleased that there is this system in Russia and if I lived there, I would relish the chance to study Komi.
1 person has voted this message useful



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