|
 |
Learning the minority languages of the RF | ||
Tags: Russia | Endangered Language | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| zhiguli Senior Member Canada Joined 6440 days ago 176 posts - 221 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Mandarin | Message 25 of 38 17 January 2010 at 9:33pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Obviously written in Russian. You're not going to find very much on these languages in English (though there's this nice Chechen-English English-Chechen dictionary, all yours for only $265) There's also this German site for Avar, with all of three lessons. I get most of my books from a Russian friend with whom I've organised a book exchange. He says most of these books are impossible to find, even in the republics.
And if you're willing to assume some degree of personal risk. My Dagestani friends would regularly regale me with tales of westerners or even their neighbours getting kidnapped, or being eyewitnesses to terror attacks. There have been several high profile incidents of kidnapped foreigners turning up dead. So that's something to think about. But hey, some people are willing to do *anything* to learn a language they don't need. As for me, someone who very much wants to stay alive (and can't afford a plane ticket or a university education in any case), I'll stick to more "useful" languages. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6702 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 26 of 38 18 January 2010 at 1:05am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
If your interest in languages has a scientific edge then learning some of the almost extinct languages in Russia would certainly be worthwhile, - and so much more if the use of these languages is close to nil, because that means that you belong to the last geenration that may get the chance to study them.
But personally I would not consider learning or just studying a language if I didn't have a chance of actually doing it. So without knowing Russian learning those languages is just not an option. And because few of them have much of a representation on the internet and a limited to non-existant literature it would be difficult to learning them without actually staying in a Siberian village for maybe a year or more - you must be very dedicated to consider that! In other words: I might consider learning a language without having any realistic chance of speaking it with anybody later (actually that might be the case with my Latin and my Low German), but I would not start to learn a language if I didn't believe that I could get enough materials to carry through my decision. Edited by Iversen on 18 January 2010 at 1:06am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Wilco Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6329 days ago 160 posts - 247 votes Speaks: French*, English, Russian | Message 27 of 38 18 January 2010 at 1:29am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Actually, it might be easier than most people would think. Thanks to the federal educational system, all russian republics have their own national university, and most of them offer courses of the titular language (some in russian, some in English) for foreigners. KAZAN STATE UNIVERSITY "Special Tatar language program" MARI STATE UNIVERSITY Summer School in Mari Language and Culture UDMURT STATE UNIVERSITY Summer School of the Udmurt Language I remember seeing others - for Ossetian, Mordvin, Yakut and Buryat, but I can't find the links for the moment. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| unityandoutside Diglot Groupie United States Joined 6013 days ago 94 posts - 149 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: Latin, Mandarin | Message 28 of 38 18 January 2010 at 7:26am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Before this tangent goes any further, I'd like to point out that the OP has listed that he can already speak Russian in his profile, so this is a non-issue. Anyway, Russia does have many really cool minority languages, and I think that if someone is willing to put forth the effort to learn one of them, then more power to them. Although it would be incredibly difficult to bring such a language to fluency due to the paucity of resources, it would likely be a very enriching experience for what it's worth. And if you have the time, energy, and desire, why not? Edited by unityandoutside on 18 January 2010 at 7:26am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Arti Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 7011 days ago 130 posts - 165 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: French, Czech | Message 29 of 38 18 January 2010 at 9:15pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Before choosing a language for learning try to get the info about the "native speakers" attitude towards it. My ex-colleague is Chuvash. In Chuvashia everyone learns Chuvash (no difference what nationality you are) at school, but almost no one uses it and most people hated it. So my colleague gladly forgot this language.
In Novokuznetsk (Siberia, I was there), the Native ethnic group "Taleuts" was almost Russified and mixed with Russians. There is one village in the neighborhood of Novokuznetsk where some of them still live, but they drink a lot and do everything to die out, though local government tries to protect their culture, at least you can learn the language. Nobody of the local Novokuznetsk people who I asked, said if they speak their language or not, at least nobody heard. The level of interest inside of Russia for these languages is almost zero. They are learnt for Academic studies only and all the Russian population speaks Russian as main language, so other languages slowly disappear... 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| elvisrules Tetraglot Senior Member BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5468 days ago 286 posts - 390 votes Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German | Message 30 of 38 18 January 2010 at 9:40pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I believe you're confusing Welsh with Cornish... 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gusutafu Senior Member Sweden Joined 5520 days ago 655 posts - 1039 votes Speaks: Swedish* | Message 31 of 38 18 January 2010 at 10:42pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
No, not really. Cornwall is pretty far from Wales. I've visited both, and granted I was only in Wales for I few days, but I didn't hear anyone speak in Welsh, nor did any of people I asked speak it. By revival I meant the street signs, that really only serve a nostalgic purpose in the sense that there is probably not a single person alive that know Welsh but not English. Mind you, I am all for Welsh, and I think English should be banned outright from all public places in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, Isle of Man, the Hebrides, Orkney etc. You get the idea... Edited by Gusutafu on 18 January 2010 at 11:05pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| elvisrules Tetraglot Senior Member BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5468 days ago 286 posts - 390 votes Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German | Message 32 of 38 18 January 2010 at 11:49pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Perhaps you were in a mostly English speaking area such as the west or Cardiff, but over 20% of Welsh speak it fluently. In Wales, like in Ireland/the Hebrides, many of the people speak the language but often don't use it to be 'polite' with those who don't or because English is just easier for them. And exactly what celtic language is spoken in Orkney might I ask? 2 persons have voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
