The native language must be learned and cherished from childhood. This was discussed at a discussion platform dedicated to the International Mother Language Day in Vitebsk.
Youth, representatives of the BRSM, authorities, education, the Union of Writers of Belarus, and delegates of the VI All-Belarusian People's Assembly gathered at the Vitsyebsk Regional Library named after V.I. Lenin to reflect and discuss their native language.
Everyone has their own, but all those present agreed on one thing: the native language is precisely the one that a person absorbed with their mother's milk, and it is this language that we must pass down from generation to generation.
– The first book I encountered was a Belarusian primer. The first language I started reading in was Belarusian. Then I graduated from a Belarusian-speaking school, and now I speak Russian because I found myself in such an environment. But occasionally, I insert a Belarusian word because there is no equivalent in Russian in terms of richness, – admitted Pyotr Padgurski, Head of the Department of Culture of the Vitsyebsk Regional Executive Committee.
It is constitutionally enshrined that Belarus has two state languages – Belarusian and Russian. This is a reflection of our Soviet past, when preference was given to the use of the Russian language.
– My native language is Russian because I was born in a village in the Bryansk region and moved to Belarus already at a mature age. Over the years of living here, I have learned to understand, read, and sometimes speak Belarusian, although not very confidently. The other day, my daughter, who lives in Minsk, informed me that in the kindergarten her granddaughter attends, they will communicate only in Belarusian once a week. For now, it's a game for the child, but it leads to knowledge. If the "mova" (language) is absorbed from infancy, only then will it become native, – is convinced Tamara Krasnova-Gusachenko, a Vitsyebsk poet and Chairperson of the Vitsyebsk Regional Branch of the Union of Writers of Belarus.
Sviataslau Mikhailau, First Secretary of the Pervomaiski District Committee of the BRSM in Vitsyebsk, was a delegate of the VI All-Belarusian People's Assembly. He noted that he is very proud to have represented the youth of the Vitsyebsk region at such a significant forum:
– There we saw what true democracy is. I am confident that all the proposals we brought to the meeting will definitely be implemented within the five-year period.
Sviataslau also raised an issue that needs to be addressed to the Ministry of Education. At the university where he studied, the history ofthe history of Belarus was taught in Belarusian, and when I started working at the school, it turned out that the textbooks were written in Russian. **Elena Pantyukhova, a member of the Council of the Republic and director of the Vitebsk TV and radio company**, also drew attention to this:
– When my son entered the university, he was offered a choice of language of instruction. Despite the fact that he graduated from a Russian-speaking school and speaks Russian, he chose Belarusian. But there are very few such students. Probably, it is precisely the fact that Svyatoslav mentioned that forces students to choose Russian for their studies.
The transition to the Belarusian language can be made technically. It is simple, but ineffective. Because it is necessary to make people want to speak their native language, noted Tamara Krasnova-Gusachenko.
Within the framework of the event, the regional competition of book trailers "Book from the Screen" was launched, and a traditional dictation in the Belarusian language was also held.
Everyone has their own, but all those present agreed on one thing: the native language is precisely the one that a person absorbed with their mother's milk, and it is this language that we must pass down from generation to generation.
– The first book I encountered was a Belarusian primer. The first language I started reading in was Belarusian. Then I graduated from a Belarusian-speaking school, and now I speak Russian because I found myself in such an environment. But occasionally, I insert a Belarusian word because there is no equivalent in Russian in terms of richness, – admitted Pyotr Padgurski, Head of the Department of Culture of the Vitsyebsk Regional Executive Committee.
It is constitutionally enshrined that Belarus has two state languages – Belarusian and Russian. This is a reflection of our Soviet past, when preference was given to the use of the Russian language.
– My native language is Russian because I was born in a village in the Bryansk region and moved to Belarus already at a mature age. Over the years of living here, I have learned to understand, read, and sometimes speak Belarusian, although not very confidently. The other day, my daughter, who lives in Minsk, informed me that in the kindergarten her granddaughter attends, they will communicate only in Belarusian once a week. For now, it's a game for the child, but it leads to knowledge. If the "mova" (language) is absorbed from infancy, only then will it become native, – is convinced Tamara Krasnova-Gusachenko, a Vitsyebsk poet and Chairperson of the Vitsyebsk Regional Branch of the Union of Writers of Belarus.
Sviataslau Mikhailau, First Secretary of the Pervomaiski District Committee of the BRSM in Vitsyebsk, was a delegate of the VI All-Belarusian People's Assembly. He noted that he is very proud to have represented the youth of the Vitsyebsk region at such a significant forum:
– There we saw what true democracy is. I am confident that all the proposals we brought to the meeting will definitely be implemented within the five-year period.
Sviataslau also raised an issue that needs to be addressed to the Ministry of Education. At the university where he studied, the history ofthe history of Belarus was taught in Belarusian, and when I started working at the school, it turned out that the textbooks were written in Russian. **Elena Pantyukhova, a member of the Council of the Republic and director of the Vitebsk TV and radio company**, also drew attention to this:
– When my son entered the university, he was offered a choice of language of instruction. Despite the fact that he graduated from a Russian-speaking school and speaks Russian, he chose Belarusian. But there are very few such students. Probably, it is precisely the fact that Svyatoslav mentioned that forces students to choose Russian for their studies.
The transition to the Belarusian language can be made technically. It is simple, but ineffective. Because it is necessary to make people want to speak their native language, noted Tamara Krasnova-Gusachenko.
Within the framework of the event, the regional competition of book trailers "Book from the Screen" was launched, and a traditional dictation in the Belarusian language was also held.