Window on Eurasia: Should Non-Russians Who Teach Russian Think in Russian or in Their Native Languages?

Paul Goble

 

            Staunton, December 7 – Suggestions that those who teach Russian to Tuvans should think in Russian rather Tuvin has sparked a sharp debate in that republic between those who think that such proposals intended to destroy the Tuvin language and Russianize if not Russify the population and those who say that this is normal or no big deal.

 

            Oyumaa Dongak, an AsiaRussia.ru journalist, offers the views of seven intellectuals, educators, activists, and commentators about this issue drawn from their respective Facebook pages on the occasion of the end of the Year of the Russian Language in that republic (http://asiarussia.ru/blogs/5183/).

 

            Leila Nazgul Sahidbek says that calls for those who teach Russian to non-Russians to think in Russia are intended to lead them to forget their native language. “It is all about politics,” and it must be opposed in order to “preserve the languages of numerically small peoples.”

 

            Sergey Tiunov says that being able to think in a second language is “necessary” because otherwise the instructor will not be able to show or judge “a very deep level” of knowledge. At the same time, calling for this does not put native languages at risk because “even at the level of thought they are isolated from what is being studied.”

 

            Mo Lo says that it would be “strange for a bilingual individual” not to be able to think in both languages. Consequently, “If a teacher of Russian cannot think in Russia, then questions arise …”

 

            Manas Samatov says that “for Tuva, Russian is a foreign language. The development of Tuva will begin from that moment when the Tuvins themselves recognize this.” Like all other “civilized peoples,” they should “recognize that Russian for them is completely alien.” It would be better for them to study a real “international” language like English or Chinese.

 

            Vyacheslav Salchak says that when he was a teacher of English in one Tuvin district, he heard from Russian language instructors there that “for Tuvins, Russian remains a foreign language.” He called for the introduction of Chinese as a conversational rather than written language.

 

            Svetlana Mongush says that it is “simply impossible” to force anyone to “think in another language.” What matters is to listen, understand and speak it. Language, “as grandfather K. Marx said, Is a means of communication but not of thought.”

 

            And Viktoriya Khomushku says that this is a non-issue. What is important is for non-Russians to read Russian literature, the best way, she suggests, for them to learn how to read, write and ultimately speak it.