One is good, but two is better: how to convince an American child to learn the mother tongue of the parents - ForumDaily
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One is good, but two is better: how to convince an American child to learn the native language of parents

Moving to another country, mixed families - these are the main reasons when the native languages ​​of parents and children are different. A child often does not understand why he needs to learn Russian or Ukrainian if most of his life is spent in an English-speaking environment. ForumDaily visited three schools near Washington: Ukrainian, Russian and Jewish. In each of them we asked the same question: how to motivate a child to learn his parents’ native language? The methodology of each school turned out to be different.

Russian school: you can easily pull the fish out of the pond

I don’t want to, I won’t, you can’t force me. 20-year-old Danila has been learning Russian since childhood, but often against his will. Katerina Pyankevich, his Russian-speaking mother, says: it was 12 years of struggle. She read books to him, took him to a Russian school, hired a tutor, did homework with the boy and was sure that all her efforts would pay off in the future. And so it happened.

Now Danila is studying in Prague, is fluent in two languages ​​and teaches the third. Photo: from the personal archive

Now Danila is studying in Prague, is fluent in two languages ​​and teaches the third. Photo: from the personal archive

“I had to endure this for 12 years, sitting through lessons, which he often failed. And now he says: Mommy, how grateful I am to you that I have two languages,” says Katerina.

Her husband is British, and the family lived in England for more than ten years, and recently moved to America, to Virginia. That is, her son spent his entire adult life in an English-speaking environment, but thanks to his mother’s persistence, he speaks two languages. “Danila entered the university in Prague. It’s easy for him to learn Czech with knowledge of Russian, and he already has two languages ​​on his resume, this increases his value on the market,” Katerina is sure.

Knowledge of Russian can be used in American school and college

Now she has sent her youngest daughter to the Russian school “Perspective” in Virginia. Studying here is serious - children study according to the general education program of Russian schools, adapted textbooks for foreigners are not used. Director Anna Karlen believes that they are not always of high quality, and is not going to lower the bar. Anna is originally from Moscow, but has been living in the States for more than 20 years, where her children were born. Therefore, the question of how to interest a child in the Russian language is not only professional, but also personal.

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Lisa (right) successfully passed the exam in Russian. Photo: Lesya Bakalets

Her 12-year-old daughter Lisa is fluent in Russian. Like all students of the school, every Saturday at nine in the morning she is already in class. And no matter how much you want to have an extra day off, the girl knows: the Russian school can provide concrete practical benefits. She passed the exam World Language exam, which confirmed the level of the Russian language. “We had to write two essays in Russian: the first on the topic “What we did on vacation,” the second on “What would you show foreigners in your native country,” says Lisa. The girl showed good results in her American school, and she was exempted from studying a second foreign language in the school curriculum.

According to the same scheme, you can not learn a second foreign language and in college after passing the exam. Advanced placement exam .

“If they have Russian, then a second language in college is no longer necessary. This way, you can reduce your study time or choose other subjects,” explains Anna Karlen.

The exam is standard for all of America and includes an interview, a test and the ability to translate from language to language. Of all the school students, only 4 people have passed it so far.

The smaller the child, the easier it is to interest him.

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Yulia 2,5, and the girl speaks fluently both in Russian and in English. Photo: Lesya Bakalets

Two-year-old Julia first danced to a Russian song, then, together with other children, tried to sing something, and then sat down to have a snack. She goes to the kindergarten at “Perspective”, and her mother Irina accompanies her classes. A woman is sure: the earlier you start learning a language, the better the result will be.

“I learned from bitter experience: when my eldest son was growing up, we lived in a city where there were no Russians at all and, as a result, at eight years old he understands Russian tolerably, but practically does not speak. I decided not to make a similar mistake with my youngest,” says Irina.

Irina is married to an American, and Yulia speaks Russian with her mother and English with her father. The baby jumps from language to language easily, without mixing up words. She already speaks Russian better than her 8-year-old brother, and so far sees school as fun.

Don’t read “Kolobok” in Russian - use the language to tell your children something new

One of the reasons why children, and especially teenagers, lose interest in Russian is the discrepancy between the general and linguistic levels of development. “When you are 12 years old, and you can’t read anything more complicated than “Kolobok”, because you don’t read Russian well, it turns out to be an inconsistency. Then you need to leave “Kolobok” alone and study in Russian what you don’t know in English,” says teacher Yulia Dunaeva. She is originally from Moscow, taught English literature in Malta for 17 years, and has been living in the States for several years. Yulia long ago developed a formula for herself: if you give children something that they can later show off in an American school, they will simply run to a Russian one.

“I have several excellent students, I tell them some term, and they immediately: is there such a thing in English? I say yes, and give an example. They immediately write it down, and I can already see how they later tell it in an American school and brag that they learned this in Russian lessons,” continues the teacher.

In general, the successful study of Russian envy depends on three factors: parents, teachers and the child himself. If parents, first of all, control themselves and speak only Russian with their children, if the teacher can interest and explain clearly, and the child wants to teach, the result will not be long in coming.

Jewish school: Hebrew is the language of God

Six-year-old Maxim does not have to be dragged to Sunday school by force. He agrees to wake up early in the morning and spend half a day in the classroom. His grandmother, Irina Feldman, explains: the child is interested in everything related to Judaism. And she is sure that in their large and unorthodox family he will be the first to speak Hebrew. The boy perceives language in a special way.

“If I say to my grandson: do you know that that person over there now speaks Hebrew? - then he just starts to shine. She says this is God’s language,” says Irina.

And the woman likes this attitude. “For us, this is not “another language.” For us, this is part of Jewishness. So that he feels like he belongs to something, so that he has an understanding of who he is,” explains Irina.

There are school friends, so there are no questions - why go there?

Maxim, like the twins Lisa and Isaac, goes to the Shalom Jewish school in Maryland. The question “why come here?” It has not yet occurred in children either. Moreover, they clearly like it here.

“Lisa and Isaac are five years old, and they are interested in everything. At this age, they somehow all organically turns out", says their mother, Maria Makavoz. She is sure that the environment in which children find themselves at school is very important. After the second or third lesson here they made friends. And now they are waiting for Sunday to see them again.

Neither Masha nor her husband Vadim speak Hebrew, and they are not going to make the children know the language perfectly either. Masha says: the practical benefits of knowing Hebrew their children will not receive. “Hebrew is, of course, not a plus for your salary. What is this plus? And it doesn’t mean anything for a resume.” But language, in their opinion, is part of culture, and in order to understand it better, you need to know at least the basics.

“If they don’t speak, for example, Russian, then I will be very sorry. But if they forget that they are Jews, it will be just a tragedy for me,” says Vadim.

His opinion coincides with the point of view of school director Ella Kagan. She says that Hebrew is actually taught here more as a tool for understanding Jewish culture. Every Sunday 90 students from 3 to 17 years old come to school. First, the children are sent to kindergarten, where they begin to learn Russian. This is one of the features of the school: teaching two languages ​​at once. From the age of six or seven, at the request of the parents, you can take additional Hebrew classes. But Jewish traditions and history are taught to everyone. “Children don’t understand who they are: Americans, Russians or Jews? This means that we need to create an environment that will explain that they have two cultural roots – Russian and Jewish,” explains Ella Kagan.

There are no standardized exams at school. The only criterion that determines language proficiency is whether the child is ready to undergo a bar mitzvah. “During the ritual, you need to read the Torah, make a speech and pray. They have been preparing for this for a whole year. And children can go through this ceremony only if they can at least read Hebrew,” says Ella Kagan.

Just 15 minutes a day is enough for progress

Professor Robert Leavy prepares for the traditional Jewish ceremony for a boy or girl to reach religious adulthood at the Shalom School. He understands that after five days at school, studying on Sunday is not particularly fun for children, so he needs to try very hard to win their attention. “They already have school with regular teachers for a whole week. That's why I teach the lesson differently. I sit them in a circle, I sit next to them so that I can be on the same level with them, and we communicate. Sometimes I have donuts stashed for them,” he says.

At the first lesson, he always asks students to write a short story on the topic “Why do I go here”. Then, before the bar mitzvah, they again answer the same question. Robert says the lyrics are completely different:

“The first text is most often with the words“ my parents make me ”. But the second is “I want to know Hebrew, I want to go through the Bar Mitzvah to feel like a part of society and to be able to later teach the traditions of my children.”

Ukrainian school: language as a way to save the community

Sarah with her husband Oleg and children. Photo: from the personal archive

Sarah with her husband Oleg and children. Photo: from the personal archive

A personal example is how Sarah from Pennsylvania motivates her sons Andrey and Theodore to learn Ukrainian. She is an American without Ukrainian roots who speaks Ukrainian perfectly. “Yes, I often get compliments that I don’t have an accent,” she admits with a smile.

Even after school, Sarah went on an exchange year to the Soviet Union and ended up with a Lviv family. There I learned the language. Then she returned again - to the university and to work. In total, she lived in Ukraine for seven years. Her husband is Ukrainian, and they speak Ukrainian in the family.

“It’s not difficult for me to speak Ukrainian; when I lived in Ukraine, I even had dreams in Ukrainian,” she says. At the same time, she remembers that she learned the language by ear rather than from textbooks, and it was the language environment that gave the greatest progress. Therefore, the family tries to travel to Ukraine twice a year to visit relatives.

“My children in real life understand the benefits of language - otherwise, for example, they simply will not be able to talk with their grandparents from Ukraine,” she explains.

And the eldest son, Andrew adds: there are friends, to communicate with whom Ukrainian is needed. That's why the boy goes to school on Saturdays. He is not without pleasure doing his homework and reading Ukrainian books. “Now it’s “The Martian” in translation, and my brother is reading “Harry Potter” - also in Ukrainian,” says Andrey.

He also likes to speak a language that no one at his American school knows. “It’s great when we speak Ukrainian to each other, but those around us don’t understand what we’re talking about.”

Speaking with children only in Ukrainian means more chances of success

Sarah's children go to Taras Shevchenko School in Maryland. She is one of the oldest in America. Language, history, geography, Ukrainian songs and dances have been taught here for more than 50 years. Thanks to the existence of the school, more than one generation of the Ukrainian diaspora began to speak Ukrainian.

Andrei brought her two sons here - 11-year-old Andrei and 8-year-old Peter. She herself is from a family of emigrants, and she was taught Ukrainian at home - her parents spoke exclusively their native language.

“My parents simply left us no choice: if I told them something in English, they simply did not answer me. I now do the same with my sons,” continues Andreya.

She admits: this is a strict but effective method. The young woman understands how her children feel now, because she once also rebelled against learning her parents’ native language as a child. “But now I am grateful to them for the fact that I know Ukrainian,” she assures.

Ukrainian school is not just lessons. This is a weekly meeting of the Ukrainian community: some bring their children here, some work here, everyone has known each other for a long time and are friends. “You know, my children want to come here. They have “weekend friends” here, and they see that their parents communicate with each other, we celebrate holidays together. We are all like one big family,” says Andreya.

Preserving the Ukrainian community is the main goal of the school, says its director Oleg Voloshin. He is one of the few teachers born in Ukraine. Most of the parents and teachers are representatives of the diaspora.

“The majority of students here are already the third generation of emigrants. We stick together, we get married, our children are friends,” he says.

The director says: both teachers and children have a common understanding that only a few will know Ukrainian perfectly. Voloshin’s son, Ostap, is now in 5th grade, and the director is confident that he will speak good “diasporic Ukrainian” - with Americanisms, the use of incorrect endings and cases, but he will definitely speak. The main thing is to stay in school until adolescence. “The most important thing is that until the age of 14 the child is in a Ukrainian environment, then he will retain his knowledge. If you leave school early, all previous efforts will be reduced to zero,” he says.

It is also possible to improve the American diploma at the expense of the Ukrainian language.

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In Ukrainian class in the 5 class. Photo: Alexander Yanevsky

The Ukrainian school operates according to a program specially developed for the diaspora. Upon completion, you need to take an exam - a matura. But despite the result, the very fact of studying at school can greatly help a child with basic studies.

“In America, the trust system works well - if you bring a certificate stating that you studied for 11 years in a Ukrainian school, and no matter how you passed the exams there, this certificate is credited to you as knowledge of a second foreign language,” says school director Oleg Voloshin.

Also, Ukraine is now one of the most talked about countries in the United States, and knowing Ukrainian can help you find a good government position. But these are still secondary reasons for learning a language. Oleg Voloshin says that in Washington and the surrounding states there are many Ukrainian organizations that need new people, and the diaspora itself as a whole needs a new generation that will further pass on knowledge, traditions and language.

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