The future popularity of studying the Greek language is difficult to predict, says the chairman of the board of the Guild of Linguists Experts in Documentation and Information Disputes, Professor Mikhail Gorbanevsky. At the same time, he points to close cultural ties between Russia and Greece, which may be a factor in attracting attention to the language.
“It’s hard to say that it will become popular right away. However, we have such close ancient cultural ties with Greece that we do not even suspect that we use many words of Greek origin. For example, all words with the letter “f” are Greek in origin,” Gorbanevsky noted in an interview with RT.
In his opinion, for Russian schoolchildren the Greek language will seem no more difficult than any other European language.
“Greece has made a huge contribution to the development of our history. I don’t see anything complicated in the Greek language from the point of view of mastering its syntax and pronunciation, its morphology by our schoolchildren. It is no more difficult than any other European language,” the professor emphasized.
The main problem in including Greek in the school course will be the lack of a sufficient number of teachers, the professor noted.
“The question is who will teach Greek. We have too many such initiatives. But in Moscow alone there are only about two dozen teachers,” noted Mikhail Gorbanevsky.
Learning multiple languages is not so much an obligation in the modern world as it is a necessity. The Russian language, however, is not popular today, the professor believes.
“In European countries, it is common to know three languages: your native language, English as an international language, and any language related to your profession. Therefore, learning many languages is a necessity, not an obligation. Russian now is not as popular as it was in the 1970-1980s. Russian language teachers are very often invited to China. There is a real boom there now,” Gorbanevsky concluded, explaining the reason for the demand for Russian in China by the close economic ties between Beijing and Moscow.
Greek for the Russian South
“For some regions, for Crimea and southern Russia, for example, where there is traditionally a compact residence of Greeks, this may be interesting,” the dean of the philological faculty of the State Institute of Russian Language told RT. A.S. Pushkin Andrey Shcherbakov. “The only difficulties for schoolchildren can be the graphic designs of Greek letters coupled with linguistic features.”
He also called it a common practice to study Russian as a compulsory foreign language in other countries, especially in the CIS and Syria.
“In many CIS countries, Russian is studied as one of the compulsory foreign languages. For example, in Tajikistan. Although at the same time there are Russian classes where disciplines are taught in Russian. In addition, in Syria the first compulsory foreign language to learn is Russian. This decision was made just a few years ago. But many people already know it, since they studied in our universities in Soviet and Russian times,” said Shcherbakov.
In the context of economics
The introduction of the Greek language in schools responds to economic realities, says Igor Sharonov, professor of the Russian language department at the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian State University for the Humanities.
“The countries have recently moved towards rapprochement. Cultural and economic ties are strengthening. I don’t want to say that this piece of the economic pie is very large, but it has become larger than it was and has become significant. And in those cities in which it is present, in the twin cities, learning the Greek language in schools will be appropriate,” Sharonov noted.
At the same time, he believes, the new language will not cause much difficulty for those studying it.
“Modern Greek is much easier than Ancient Greek, which our ancestors studied. Now it, like Vulgar Latin, is greatly simplified. Now this language is somewhat more difficult than English, but no more difficult than German,” the professor concluded.
Strengthening cooperation
Greek will appear in the school curriculum from the new school year and will be widespread in the southern regions of Russia, where a larger number of ethnic Greeks live. The language will also be taught in those cities and areas where there is interest in Greek culture.
“I am pleased with the interest of Russians in learning the Greek language. We have a single civilizational code, a single religion and common Christian roots,” Vasilyeva’s commentary quotes the portal of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery.
She noted that in addition to this, it is also planned to open several Greek language departments in Russian universities. Currently, only four higher education institutions have them.
Polina Dukhanova
From January 1, 2017, Greek will be taught as a second foreign language in Russian schools. An agreement on this was signed on November 10 by the Russian Minister of Education Olga Vasilyeva and the First Deputy Minister of Education for Research and Innovation of Greece Kostas Fotakis.
Previously, students of Kuban State University had the opportunity to study Greek as a second foreign language. Now, according to the signed agreement, primary and secondary school students throughout the Russian Federation will be able to choose Greek as their second foreign language.
“We are very happy that this has finally happened and for the first time Russian schoolchildren will have the opportunity to study Greek. Several years of preparation have preceded this, and we now have textbooks and teaching materials for the study and teaching of Greek as an optional language, which can be used by those who choose to take it in primary and secondary school. The appearance of these manuals became possible thanks to the staff of the Greek language department of Kuban State University,” said the rector of the Aristotle University, Pericles Mitkas, at a press conference. “The introduction of teaching Greek in schools was made possible thanks to the implementation of the Jason program, which for 22 years has been promoting the Greek language in universities in the countries of the Black Sea region,” he added.
The press conference was attended by the new Consul General of Russia in Thessaloniki, Alexander Shcherbakov, who noted that the introduction of teaching the Greek language in the primary and secondary education system in Russia “will help improve the image of Greece in Russia and will open up prospects for further cooperation in the field of culture and education.” He also expressed the hope that “our countries will make efforts to further spread the Russian language in Greece.” “I’ve only been in northern Greece for about two weeks, but I’ve already noticed that there is a huge demand for Russia and its culture,” he said.
“The Department of Greek at the University of Kuban appeared and grew out of the Jason program implemented by Aristotle University. All teachers of the department underwent internships at our university, where they studied the modern Greek language,” says the head of the Greek language center, honorary professor at Aristotle University, Ioannis Kazanis.
« Even the doctoral dissertations that our graduates write and defend at other universities are always based on the knowledge acquired within the walls of Aristotle University,” he assures.
Noting the successes of the Jason program, he noted that over the 22 years of its existence, 16 partner universities from the countries of the Black Sea region took part in it. The project awarded 760 scholarships from Aristotle University and awarded 77 doctoral degrees.
Speaking about the Greek language textbooks prepared at the Department of Philology of Kuban State University, Kazanis emphasized that they combined material from previous editions with an innovative approach to language learning. The financing of their publication was undertaken by the head of the Greek community of Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Territory, Aflaton Vasilievich Solakhov .
“The synthesis of old and new in teaching the Greek language is an innovative, but already proven method. A team of teachers from the Greek department of the Faculty of Philology of Kuban University worked on the creation of textbooks. In their work, they used the methods of the legendary Hellenistic teacher, the author of many textbooks, Marina Ritova, who dedicated her life to serving the Greek language, taught it in the Soviet Union and Russia, and also trained a whole galaxy of Greek teachers,” added Kazanis.
“Aristotle University is ready to accept new students and listeners”
“Relations between Greeks and Russians have a very long history,” comments Dimitris Mauroskofis, dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at Aristotle University. “The spread of language teaching is a very important tool for our cooperation and the further development of relations between our peoples,” he added.
The Faculty of Philosophy at Aristotle University also plans to launch two proprietary courses in the new year: on the study of the cultures of the Black Sea region and on the study of Russian language and culture. Both of them will be launched with financial support from the Ivan Savvidi Charitable Foundation. “Despite the bureaucratic difficulties, we will be ready to start them in the spring semester,” confirmed the head of the fund.
Applications from candidates wishing to take courses at Aristotle University will close on January 2, 2017. For two of them, the training will be paid for by the Savvidi Charitable Foundation.
The head of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Olga Vasilyeva, together with the Deputy Minister of Education of Greece, Konstantinos Fotakis, signed an agreement on bilateral cooperation in the field of education during a ceremony that took place last Friday in the building of the Greek Ministry of Education
Thus, Greek has become the second foreign language that Russian schoolchildren can choose to study. The publication “Russian Athens” writes about this.
One religion and common roots
As Vasilyeva noted, the signing of this agreement was a logical continuation of the joint work of the departments of the two countries. “I am impressed by the interest of Russians in learning the Greek language. We have an identical civilizational code, one religion and even common Christian roots,” the minister said.
Fotakis, in turn, did not fail to note that this step will become a kind of springboard for the future strengthening of cooperation in the field of education and the promotion of new opportunities. According to him, Greece is interested in working together in the energy, pharmaceutical, cultural, technological and innovation fields.
Universities do not stand aside
It should also be noted that the Department of Russian Language and Literature will soon be opened at the Kapodistrian University of Athens. According to Vasilyeva, new departments of the Greek language are also going to be opened in Russia soon. At the moment, the Greek language is studied in four universities in the country.
The Greek TV channel ΣΚΑΙ even released a story on this topic. In accordance with the statement of the rector of the University of Thessaloniki, Periklis Mitkas, this event is a joyful result of many years of joint efforts of the Russian and Greek sides, in particular the Kuban State University, with which his university has experience of a long-term fruitful partnership.
Particularly significant in this case is the fact that this promising agreement between the two countries was reached today, during the cross-year of culture between Greece and the Russian Federation.
Modern Greek will now be declared an official foreign language in Russian schools, which the country's students will be able to study at their choice. Presumably, teaching the Greek language will be introduced in the Russian educational system in the new academic year. This discipline will extend mainly to the southern regions of the country, where a fairly large number of ethnic Greeks live, as well as to those localities and regions of the Russian Federation where there is an increased interest in the Greek language and Greek culture.
It should be recalled that last year a new curriculum was introduced in schools of the Russian Federation, according to which compulsory teaching of a second foreign language was introduced in schools across the country. Then such a statement was made by Dmitry Livanov, who held the post of head of the Ministry of Education.
Vitaly Ponomarev