Not \u00a0philologists, not historians, not cultural workers, but Belarusian speaking people. On the International Mother Language Day the correspondents of \u00a0TUT.BY found people who speak Belarusian which very is uncommon. Although it seemed strange for all the respondents to be interviewed about the Belarusian language, they could not refuse and talked about their path to the native language.<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n\n“If you do not like the authority or something like that, stop to complain and start with yourself”.<\/span><\/h2>\n\nAndru\u015b Palievi\u010d began to study the Belarusian language being 33 years old. Today he is 40, he leads the furniture company “AUPI”. One of the essential aspects of corporate ethics is greeting, farewell and gratitude in Belarusian. On the walls in Andrew’s the office everyone can see \u00a0paintings with “winged” hussars, nobles in arrays, the\u00a0illustration of Battle of Kircholm. The role of dustbin carries a mortar which man bought in the market, called “the Field of Dreams.”<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:](\"http:\/\/img.tyt.by\/620x620s\/n\/obshchestvo\/02\/7\/belaruskamounyja_vas_tutby_phsl_20140219_img_7431.jpg\" "\\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:")
<\/p>\n
We are sitting at the round table, around us is the furniture, which is produced in the Andru\u015b\u2019s company. Next to us is the chief engineer Alie\u015b Pad\u017ako<\/strong>. He is also Belarusian-speaking. All peaces of furniture have titles in Belarusian: \u201cramonak\u201d, \u201cvojciech\u201d, \u201cvajavoda\u201d.<\/p>\n– But the names are written in the Latin alphabet, so if customers call, they often instead of “vayavoda” talk “vad\u017eyvuda”, – Alie\u015b is smiling<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\nThe interlocutors confirm that the furniture with belarusian names has a good effect on business. People often buy something just because it has titles in Belarusian.<\/span><\/p>\nAndru\u015b says that he started to learn the language being an adult.<\/span><\/p>\n– Children of the military could not learn the language. My kind mother said that I needn\u2019t this language, and I was taken away from Belarusian. I \u00a0began to speak Belarusian, when the wife was pregnant. As I thought, what would I tell my son? As I thought about what I would tell my son about who the Belarusians are, what history, language we have. I have purchased a lot of Belarusian music recordings and audiobooks. I have thrown out all the Russian and English disks of the car. I studied Grammar by “Primer” Catholic, all the material was in Latin. I use only Latin letters for Belarusian spelling, \u00a0– he says.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:](\"http:\/\/img.tyt.by\/620x620s\/n\/obshchestvo\/09\/a\/belaruskamounyja_vas_tutby_phsl_20140219_img_7526.jpg\" "\\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:")
<\/strong><\/div>\nToday, according to Andru\u015b words, his son at school is one of the best in Belarusian. \u00a0\u00a0Speaking about his son\u2019s \u00a0school life the interviewer recalls a\u00a0story about shooting there a film where children were asked<\/span><\/div>\n– One said that he wanted to be a designer, \u00a0the second – a farmer, my son said that, as a dad, he wanted to do furniture. Then the teacher asked about children\u2019s biggest dream. One girl said she wanted to wake up – and the school would be exploded. And she said it very sincerely. The teacher pressed the parents, saying that the child went to school with no pleasure. Well, the child said so. What’s wrong with that?<\/em> – The interviewer asked.<\/span><\/div>\nAndru\u015b and Alie\u015b say that in shops sellers worst of all react to the word “vitaiy”. They don\u2019t understand at all what it means and ask again: “Vitalik?”.<\/div>\n– We went together in Poznan and also spoke only Belarusian. The whole week a woman talked with us and then said, “How good, sirs, you know the Polish language.” I object, “This is not Polish, it is the Belarusian language.” And she replied, “It seemed to me that you speak \u00a0Polish, but with Russian accent”, – Andru\u015b remembers.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\nBut this is not the only story of Andru\u015b i Alie\u015b. Once \u00a0they travelled by train to Moscow. The Russian waitress even asked to sit near them and listen to their speech.<\/span><\/div>\nIn one of Minsk karaoke clubs Belarusian speaking company, includingAndru\u015b and Alie\u015b, somebody called diaspora.<\/span><\/div>\n\n– Diaspora in Belarus …. Then, when we were asked who we are, we answered: “Belarusian Diaspora”,<\/em> – say the interlocutors.<\/span>In \u00a0\u00a0Andru\u015b company a person can\u2019t be hired if he does not respect the native language. Once a teacher of Belarusian wanted to work in one of their shops.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:](\"http:\/\/img.tyt.by\/620x620s\/n\/obshchestvo\/10\/6\/belaruskamounyja_vas_tutby_phsl_20140219_img_7382.jpg\" "\\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:")
<\/strong><\/p>\n– She called and said in Russian, \u201cI want to sell the furniture,”- said Andru\u015b . – From the first words it seemed to me that for her Belarusian is something unattractive. But she is a teacher of Belarusian and says such words in Russian \u2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nUnfortunately, that woman hasn’t become an employee in the company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n– If I am a Belarusian, I will not get rid of the language. Language is not a policy. I’m bad for democracy, – Andru\u015b expresses his point of view (the same with homosexuality and democracy). – Totalitarianism is a standpoint. If you are stronger, you are rigt. I can’t apply democracy. Imagine, I would now go to the plant and act with workers as equal. They would not do the job, only babble. Their task is to work and earn money. And if they do not like the behavior of the director? And \u00a0go on strike?Here work only those, who respect my rules. My rules is to do their job.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:](\"http:\/\/img.tyt.by\/620x620s\/n\/obshchestvo\/05\/a\/belaruskamounyja_vas_tutby_phsl_20140219_img_7489.jpg\" "\\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:")
<\/strong><\/td>\n![\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:](\"http:\/\/img.tyt.by\/620x620s\/n\/obshchestvo\/00\/8\/belaruskamounyja_vas_tutby_phsl_20140219_img_7482.jpg\" "\\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:")
<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nAndru\u015b has a positive attitude to Belarusian nationalism. He adds that all you need is to start with yourself.<\/span><\/div>\n\n– If you do not like the authority or something like that, don\u2019t footle. Start with yourself. If you want to speak Belarusian, then talk. If you want to be conscious, get education, do your job,<\/em> – he says.<\/span><\/p>\nAlie\u015b adds that today Belarusians need to restore continuity.<\/span><\/p>\n– It would be better if our grandfathers hand over all customs and traditions. Today we are restoring all things that parents have not passed on<\/em>, – he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n“In the preparatory courses of the 9th grade we are beginning to learn the language from scratch”<\/span><\/h2>\nIhar Varaksa is a Belarusian physicist. Today he works as the deputy director on educational work of the \u00a0Belarusian State University Lyceum. The interviewer said that he started to speak Belarusian seven years ago, when the daughter was born. Today, he looks at his “experiment” with pride and narrates that the daughter is one of the best pupils who know Belarusian in class.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:](\"http:\/\/img.tyt.by\/620x620s\/n\/obshchestvo\/07\/e\/belaruskamounyja_vas_tutby_phsl_20140219_img_7675.jpg\" "\\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:")
<\/strong><\/p>\nVaraksa Ihar started his path to the language in childhood \u00a0when his parents sent him to his grandparents in the village Semezhevo of Kopyl district. Today, he is grateful to them for it, because there he was able to understand the native language.<\/span><\/p>\n– I remember when together with father we went to his friend in Minsk. While playing with other children, I realized that spoke in another way than they. Although I thought that spoke Russian. As if \u00a0we spoke the same, but in different words, –<\/em> he reports.<\/span><\/p>\nThe second step to the Belarusian language was teaching at the Physics Department of BSU.<\/span><\/p>\n– Now BSU \u00a0is considered to be Russian-speaking university, but being first years student \u00a0I was fortunate to study higher maths in Belarusian. Now I bless the teacher of mathematical analysis Viktar Karniejavi\u010d Achramienk, who showed that the Belarusian language is not only suitable for home appliances, but also for solving serious mathematical problems,<\/em> – he recalls.<\/span>
\nUntil 2006, before Ihar’s daughter birth, he was both a Russian-speaking and Belarusian-speaking. Finally, he chose the language thanks to his daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n– I noticed that \u00a0it is hard for children of the first grade to \u00a0learn the Belarusian language. They perceive it like English and do not understand. I desided to make my child\u2019s life easier. At home I began to speak only Belarusian, while wife – in Russian. In reality, if you start to speak Belarusian at home, you will speak only Belarusian<\/em>, – he says.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:](\"http:\/\/img.tyt.by\/620x620s\/n\/obshchestvo\/0f\/b\/belaruskamounyja_vas_tutby_phsl_20140219_img_7653.jpg\" "\\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:")
<\/strong><\/p>\nNow Igor talk Russian only with old friends who know him as Russian-speaking.<\/span><\/p>\n– There are already templates of communication. So it happens that you inadvertently change over languag<\/em>e, – he explains.<\/span><\/p>\nIgor does not feel himself limited and is satisfied being Belarussian-speaking.<\/p>\n
– Now daughter goes to the first class, and I can evaluate the results. Once at the parents’ meeting the class master said: “Liza Varaksa is my lifesaver. She knows all the words.” All plans are fullfilled<\/em> – he says and continues his life \u00a0story. – I remember walking out of the store and talking with my daughter. A woman caught up with and said, “Why do you spoil the child’s life? Can you imagine how difficult life she will have? “<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nBut the author is assured that only improved daughter’s life with Belarusian. Igor says that acquired all children’s books in the Belarusian language, which were published since 2006. They filled six shelves in home library.<\/span><\/p>\n– An edition is of \u00a0a one or two \u00a0thousand copies. You feel yourself “an elite” in the sense that only 1,000 people in Belarus have such a book, – he smiles.<\/em>
\n The cases, when they don\u2019t \u00a0understand Igor, are rare.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n– One day I had to buy a CD-R disk.Dropped in underground walkway shop near the GUM supermarket. I said, “Please, give me the cheapest CD-R”. When paid, I saw that I was given a thin envelope, but the price of the disc was not the cheapest. Probably the seller didn’t understand the difference between words “thin” and “cheap” in Belarusian,”<\/em> – he recalls.<\/span><\/p>\nBy Ihar’s opinion, in Belarus a few people speak Belarusian because of shyness.<\/span><\/p>\n– By occupation I have to communicate a lot by telephone. Most people are happy to hear the Belarusian language. One in two says that he would like to speak Belarusian, but many people do not remember the words, there is no practice. But if you like a language, you should at least take the first step, and vocabulary will be fullfilled over time,<\/em> – he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:](\"http:\/\/img.tyt.by\/620x620s\/n\/obshchestvo\/0f\/7\/belaruskamounyja_vas_tutby_phsl_20140219_img_7845.jpg\" "\\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:")
<\/strong><\/div>\n\nIhar is upset seeing the level of modern Belarusian language among pupils:<\/span><\/p>\n– I do not want to be a pessimist, \u00a0I am not assured about the prosperity of the language in the near future. Now the Lyceum of BSU holds the second stage of rehearsal testing, only one in four lyceum student elects Belarusian, three-quarters of high school students choose Russian. In general the lessons of language in high school should be more. For example, in high school according to the standard curriculum there is one hour of the Belarusian and Russian languages in a week in all areas of education except for philology. In basic school – two hours in a week. This, in my opinion, is not enough. The result is that pupils do not know neither one nor the second language in a perfect way,<\/em> – the interlocutor gives an example. The same situation is with graduates of the basic school.<\/span><\/p>\n– Most applicants of BSU Lyceum, who enter philology department, \u00a0do not understand literary texts. They do not have language practice, they do not know vocabulary. In recent years, we had to substantially revise the content of training courses on the Belarusian language and literature. Previously, we proceeded from the fact that the graduates of the basic school (at least, those who are going to enter the philological direction of education) know the language, can speak it, and we just have to improve their knowledge. Now we pay great attention to the study of vocabulary, word formation, syntax. In fact, at the preparatory courses in the 9th grade, we are beginning to learn the language from scratch<\/em>, – he says.<\/span><\/p>\n“When I arrived in Minsk, I thought that everyone speaks Belarusian.”<\/span><\/h2>\nJura\u015b Hiecevi\u010d\u00a0speaks Belarusian. He has taught robots to speak his native language. The young man is Ph.D in Engineering Science, the head of the speech synthesis and recognition laboratory of the Joint Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Together with the team from the laboratory, he developed a program that can voice texts. Jura\u015b enters the text “Hello, TUT.by!”, clicks the button on the site of the program and computer pronounces greeting.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0![\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:](\"http:\/\/img.tyt.by\/620x620s\/n\/obshchestvo\/04\/d\/belaruskamounyja_vas_tutby_phsl_20140219_img_7865.jpg\" "\\"\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e:")
<\/strong><\/div>\n\nJura\u015b is 29 years. He sits at a computer in the workroom and demonstrates the features of the Belarusian know-how. He says that the text-to-speech synthesizer is profitable development for people with impaired vision, for those who can not read, or for example, for those who drive an automobile. The programm can instantly process electronic text to an audio file. Such developments for other languages have \u00a0been produced, but for Belarusian just come into use. From speakers he hears phrases that a minute ago a young scientist has inputed from the keyboard.<\/span><\/p>\nThe video of the Belarusian mobile autonomous robots which talk from the exhibition “TIBO-2013”:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“If you do not like the authority or something like that, stop to complain and start with yourself”.<\/span><\/h2>\n\nAndru\u015b Palievi\u010d began to study the Belarusian language being 33 years old. Today he is 40, he leads the furniture company “AUPI”. One of the essential aspects of corporate ethics is greeting, farewell and gratitude in Belarusian. On the walls in Andrew’s the office everyone can see \u00a0paintings with “winged” hussars, nobles in arrays, the\u00a0illustration of Battle of Kircholm. The role of dustbin carries a mortar which man bought in the market, called “the Field of Dreams.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
We are sitting at the round table, around us is the furniture, which is produced in the Andru\u015b\u2019s company. Next to us is the chief engineer Alie\u015b Pad\u017ako<\/strong>. He is also Belarusian-speaking. All peaces of furniture have titles in Belarusian: \u201cramonak\u201d, \u201cvojciech\u201d, \u201cvajavoda\u201d.<\/p>\n– But the names are written in the Latin alphabet, so if customers call, they often instead of “vayavoda” talk “vad\u017eyvuda”, – Alie\u015b is smiling<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\nThe interlocutors confirm that the furniture with belarusian names has a good effect on business. People often buy something just because it has titles in Belarusian.<\/span><\/p>\nAndru\u015b says that he started to learn the language being an adult.<\/span><\/p>\n– Children of the military could not learn the language. My kind mother said that I needn\u2019t this language, and I was taken away from Belarusian. I \u00a0began to speak Belarusian, when the wife was pregnant. As I thought, what would I tell my son? As I thought about what I would tell my son about who the Belarusians are, what history, language we have. I have purchased a lot of Belarusian music recordings and audiobooks. I have thrown out all the Russian and English disks of the car. I studied Grammar by “Primer” Catholic, all the material was in Latin. I use only Latin letters for Belarusian spelling, \u00a0– he says.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/strong><\/div>\nToday, according to Andru\u015b words, his son at school is one of the best in Belarusian. \u00a0\u00a0Speaking about his son\u2019s \u00a0school life the interviewer recalls a\u00a0story about shooting there a film where children were asked<\/span><\/div>\n– One said that he wanted to be a designer, \u00a0the second – a farmer, my son said that, as a dad, he wanted to do furniture. Then the teacher asked about children\u2019s biggest dream. One girl said she wanted to wake up – and the school would be exploded. And she said it very sincerely. The teacher pressed the parents, saying that the child went to school with no pleasure. Well, the child said so. What’s wrong with that?<\/em> – The interviewer asked.<\/span><\/div>\nAndru\u015b and Alie\u015b say that in shops sellers worst of all react to the word “vitaiy”. They don\u2019t understand at all what it means and ask again: “Vitalik?”.<\/div>\n– We went together in Poznan and also spoke only Belarusian. The whole week a woman talked with us and then said, “How good, sirs, you know the Polish language.” I object, “This is not Polish, it is the Belarusian language.” And she replied, “It seemed to me that you speak \u00a0Polish, but with Russian accent”, – Andru\u015b remembers.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\nBut this is not the only story of Andru\u015b i Alie\u015b. Once \u00a0they travelled by train to Moscow. The Russian waitress even asked to sit near them and listen to their speech.<\/span><\/div>\nIn one of Minsk karaoke clubs Belarusian speaking company, includingAndru\u015b and Alie\u015b, somebody called diaspora.<\/span><\/div>\n\n– Diaspora in Belarus …. Then, when we were asked who we are, we answered: “Belarusian Diaspora”,<\/em> – say the interlocutors.<\/span>In \u00a0\u00a0Andru\u015b company a person can\u2019t be hired if he does not respect the native language. Once a teacher of Belarusian wanted to work in one of their shops.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/strong><\/p>\n– She called and said in Russian, \u201cI want to sell the furniture,”- said Andru\u015b . – From the first words it seemed to me that for her Belarusian is something unattractive. But she is a teacher of Belarusian and says such words in Russian \u2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nUnfortunately, that woman hasn’t become an employee in the company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n– If I am a Belarusian, I will not get rid of the language. Language is not a policy. I’m bad for democracy, – Andru\u015b expresses his point of view (the same with homosexuality and democracy). – Totalitarianism is a standpoint. If you are stronger, you are rigt. I can’t apply democracy. Imagine, I would now go to the plant and act with workers as equal. They would not do the job, only babble. Their task is to work and earn money. And if they do not like the behavior of the director? And \u00a0go on strike?Here work only those, who respect my rules. My rules is to do their job.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nAndru\u015b has a positive attitude to Belarusian nationalism. He adds that all you need is to start with yourself.<\/span><\/div>\n\n– If you do not like the authority or something like that, don\u2019t footle. Start with yourself. If you want to speak Belarusian, then talk. If you want to be conscious, get education, do your job,<\/em> – he says.<\/span><\/p>\nAlie\u015b adds that today Belarusians need to restore continuity.<\/span><\/p>\n– It would be better if our grandfathers hand over all customs and traditions. Today we are restoring all things that parents have not passed on<\/em>, – he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n“In the preparatory courses of the 9th grade we are beginning to learn the language from scratch”<\/span><\/h2>\nIhar Varaksa is a Belarusian physicist. Today he works as the deputy director on educational work of the \u00a0Belarusian State University Lyceum. The interviewer said that he started to speak Belarusian seven years ago, when the daughter was born. Today, he looks at his “experiment” with pride and narrates that the daughter is one of the best pupils who know Belarusian in class.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/strong><\/p>\nVaraksa Ihar started his path to the language in childhood \u00a0when his parents sent him to his grandparents in the village Semezhevo of Kopyl district. Today, he is grateful to them for it, because there he was able to understand the native language.<\/span><\/p>\n– I remember when together with father we went to his friend in Minsk. While playing with other children, I realized that spoke in another way than they. Although I thought that spoke Russian. As if \u00a0we spoke the same, but in different words, –<\/em> he reports.<\/span><\/p>\nThe second step to the Belarusian language was teaching at the Physics Department of BSU.<\/span><\/p>\n– Now BSU \u00a0is considered to be Russian-speaking university, but being first years student \u00a0I was fortunate to study higher maths in Belarusian. Now I bless the teacher of mathematical analysis Viktar Karniejavi\u010d Achramienk, who showed that the Belarusian language is not only suitable for home appliances, but also for solving serious mathematical problems,<\/em> – he recalls.<\/span>
\nUntil 2006, before Ihar’s daughter birth, he was both a Russian-speaking and Belarusian-speaking. Finally, he chose the language thanks to his daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n– I noticed that \u00a0it is hard for children of the first grade to \u00a0learn the Belarusian language. They perceive it like English and do not understand. I desided to make my child\u2019s life easier. At home I began to speak only Belarusian, while wife – in Russian. In reality, if you start to speak Belarusian at home, you will speak only Belarusian<\/em>, – he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/p>\nNow Igor talk Russian only with old friends who know him as Russian-speaking.<\/span><\/p>\n– There are already templates of communication. So it happens that you inadvertently change over languag<\/em>e, – he explains.<\/span><\/p>\nIgor does not feel himself limited and is satisfied being Belarussian-speaking.<\/p>\n
– Now daughter goes to the first class, and I can evaluate the results. Once at the parents’ meeting the class master said: “Liza Varaksa is my lifesaver. She knows all the words.” All plans are fullfilled<\/em> – he says and continues his life \u00a0story. – I remember walking out of the store and talking with my daughter. A woman caught up with and said, “Why do you spoil the child’s life? Can you imagine how difficult life she will have? “<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nBut the author is assured that only improved daughter’s life with Belarusian. Igor says that acquired all children’s books in the Belarusian language, which were published since 2006. They filled six shelves in home library.<\/span><\/p>\n– An edition is of \u00a0a one or two \u00a0thousand copies. You feel yourself “an elite” in the sense that only 1,000 people in Belarus have such a book, – he smiles.<\/em>
\n The cases, when they don\u2019t \u00a0understand Igor, are rare.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n– One day I had to buy a CD-R disk.Dropped in underground walkway shop near the GUM supermarket. I said, “Please, give me the cheapest CD-R”. When paid, I saw that I was given a thin envelope, but the price of the disc was not the cheapest. Probably the seller didn’t understand the difference between words “thin” and “cheap” in Belarusian,”<\/em> – he recalls.<\/span><\/p>\nBy Ihar’s opinion, in Belarus a few people speak Belarusian because of shyness.<\/span><\/p>\n– By occupation I have to communicate a lot by telephone. Most people are happy to hear the Belarusian language. One in two says that he would like to speak Belarusian, but many people do not remember the words, there is no practice. But if you like a language, you should at least take the first step, and vocabulary will be fullfilled over time,<\/em> – he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/strong><\/div>\n\nIhar is upset seeing the level of modern Belarusian language among pupils:<\/span><\/p>\n– I do not want to be a pessimist, \u00a0I am not assured about the prosperity of the language in the near future. Now the Lyceum of BSU holds the second stage of rehearsal testing, only one in four lyceum student elects Belarusian, three-quarters of high school students choose Russian. In general the lessons of language in high school should be more. For example, in high school according to the standard curriculum there is one hour of the Belarusian and Russian languages in a week in all areas of education except for philology. In basic school – two hours in a week. This, in my opinion, is not enough. The result is that pupils do not know neither one nor the second language in a perfect way,<\/em> – the interlocutor gives an example. The same situation is with graduates of the basic school.<\/span><\/p>\n– Most applicants of BSU Lyceum, who enter philology department, \u00a0do not understand literary texts. They do not have language practice, they do not know vocabulary. In recent years, we had to substantially revise the content of training courses on the Belarusian language and literature. Previously, we proceeded from the fact that the graduates of the basic school (at least, those who are going to enter the philological direction of education) know the language, can speak it, and we just have to improve their knowledge. Now we pay great attention to the study of vocabulary, word formation, syntax. In fact, at the preparatory courses in the 9th grade, we are beginning to learn the language from scratch<\/em>, – he says.<\/span><\/p>\n“When I arrived in Minsk, I thought that everyone speaks Belarusian.”<\/span><\/h2>\nJura\u015b Hiecevi\u010d\u00a0speaks Belarusian. He has taught robots to speak his native language. The young man is Ph.D in Engineering Science, the head of the speech synthesis and recognition laboratory of the Joint Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Together with the team from the laboratory, he developed a program that can voice texts. Jura\u015b enters the text “Hello, TUT.by!”, clicks the button on the site of the program and computer pronounces greeting.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n\nJura\u015b is 29 years. He sits at a computer in the workroom and demonstrates the features of the Belarusian know-how. He says that the text-to-speech synthesizer is profitable development for people with impaired vision, for those who can not read, or for example, for those who drive an automobile. The programm can instantly process electronic text to an audio file. Such developments for other languages have \u00a0been produced, but for Belarusian just come into use. From speakers he hears phrases that a minute ago a young scientist has inputed from the keyboard.<\/span><\/p>\nThe video of the Belarusian mobile autonomous robots which talk from the exhibition “TIBO-2013”:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Andru\u015b Palievi\u010d began to study the Belarusian language being 33 years old. Today he is 40, he leads the furniture company “AUPI”. One of the essential aspects of corporate ethics is greeting, farewell and gratitude in Belarusian. On the walls in Andrew’s the office everyone can see \u00a0paintings with “winged” hussars, nobles in arrays, the\u00a0illustration of Battle of Kircholm. The role of dustbin carries a mortar which man bought in the market, called “the Field of Dreams.”<\/strong><\/p>\n We are sitting at the round table, around us is the furniture, which is produced in the Andru\u015b\u2019s company. Next to us is the chief engineer Alie\u015b Pad\u017ako<\/strong>. He is also Belarusian-speaking. All peaces of furniture have titles in Belarusian: \u201cramonak\u201d, \u201cvojciech\u201d, \u201cvajavoda\u201d.<\/p>\n – But the names are written in the Latin alphabet, so if customers call, they often instead of “vayavoda” talk “vad\u017eyvuda”, – Alie\u015b is smiling<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n The interlocutors confirm that the furniture with belarusian names has a good effect on business. People often buy something just because it has titles in Belarusian.<\/span><\/p>\n Andru\u015b says that he started to learn the language being an adult.<\/span><\/p>\n – Children of the military could not learn the language. My kind mother said that I needn\u2019t this language, and I was taken away from Belarusian. I \u00a0began to speak Belarusian, when the wife was pregnant. As I thought, what would I tell my son? As I thought about what I would tell my son about who the Belarusians are, what history, language we have. I have purchased a lot of Belarusian music recordings and audiobooks. I have thrown out all the Russian and English disks of the car. I studied Grammar by “Primer” Catholic, all the material was in Latin. I use only Latin letters for Belarusian spelling, \u00a0– he says.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n – Diaspora in Belarus …. Then, when we were asked who we are, we answered: “Belarusian Diaspora”,<\/em> – say the interlocutors.<\/span>In \u00a0\u00a0Andru\u015b company a person can\u2019t be hired if he does not respect the native language. Once a teacher of Belarusian wanted to work in one of their shops.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n – She called and said in Russian, \u201cI want to sell the furniture,”- said Andru\u015b . – From the first words it seemed to me that for her Belarusian is something unattractive. But she is a teacher of Belarusian and says such words in Russian \u2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Unfortunately, that woman hasn’t become an employee in the company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n – If I am a Belarusian, I will not get rid of the language. Language is not a policy. I’m bad for democracy, – Andru\u015b expresses his point of view (the same with homosexuality and democracy). – Totalitarianism is a standpoint. If you are stronger, you are rigt. I can’t apply democracy. Imagine, I would now go to the plant and act with workers as equal. They would not do the job, only babble. Their task is to work and earn money. And if they do not like the behavior of the director? And \u00a0go on strike?Here work only those, who respect my rules. My rules is to do their job.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n – If you do not like the authority or something like that, don\u2019t footle. Start with yourself. If you want to speak Belarusian, then talk. If you want to be conscious, get education, do your job,<\/em> – he says.<\/span><\/p>\n Alie\u015b adds that today Belarusians need to restore continuity.<\/span><\/p>\n – It would be better if our grandfathers hand over all customs and traditions. Today we are restoring all things that parents have not passed on<\/em>, – he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ihar Varaksa is a Belarusian physicist. Today he works as the deputy director on educational work of the \u00a0Belarusian State University Lyceum. The interviewer said that he started to speak Belarusian seven years ago, when the daughter was born. Today, he looks at his “experiment” with pride and narrates that the daughter is one of the best pupils who know Belarusian in class.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Varaksa Ihar started his path to the language in childhood \u00a0when his parents sent him to his grandparents in the village Semezhevo of Kopyl district. Today, he is grateful to them for it, because there he was able to understand the native language.<\/span><\/p>\n – I remember when together with father we went to his friend in Minsk. While playing with other children, I realized that spoke in another way than they. Although I thought that spoke Russian. As if \u00a0we spoke the same, but in different words, –<\/em> he reports.<\/span><\/p>\n The second step to the Belarusian language was teaching at the Physics Department of BSU.<\/span><\/p>\n – Now BSU \u00a0is considered to be Russian-speaking university, but being first years student \u00a0I was fortunate to study higher maths in Belarusian. Now I bless the teacher of mathematical analysis Viktar Karniejavi\u010d Achramienk, who showed that the Belarusian language is not only suitable for home appliances, but also for solving serious mathematical problems,<\/em> – he recalls.<\/span> – I noticed that \u00a0it is hard for children of the first grade to \u00a0learn the Belarusian language. They perceive it like English and do not understand. I desided to make my child\u2019s life easier. At home I began to speak only Belarusian, while wife – in Russian. In reality, if you start to speak Belarusian at home, you will speak only Belarusian<\/em>, – he says.<\/span><\/p>\n Now Igor talk Russian only with old friends who know him as Russian-speaking.<\/span><\/p>\n – There are already templates of communication. So it happens that you inadvertently change over languag<\/em>e, – he explains.<\/span><\/p>\n Igor does not feel himself limited and is satisfied being Belarussian-speaking.<\/p>\n – Now daughter goes to the first class, and I can evaluate the results. Once at the parents’ meeting the class master said: “Liza Varaksa is my lifesaver. She knows all the words.” All plans are fullfilled<\/em> – he says and continues his life \u00a0story. – I remember walking out of the store and talking with my daughter. A woman caught up with and said, “Why do you spoil the child’s life? Can you imagine how difficult life she will have? “<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n But the author is assured that only improved daughter’s life with Belarusian. Igor says that acquired all children’s books in the Belarusian language, which were published since 2006. They filled six shelves in home library.<\/span><\/p>\n – An edition is of \u00a0a one or two \u00a0thousand copies. You feel yourself “an elite” in the sense that only 1,000 people in Belarus have such a book, – he smiles.<\/em> – One day I had to buy a CD-R disk.Dropped in underground walkway shop near the GUM supermarket. I said, “Please, give me the cheapest CD-R”. When paid, I saw that I was given a thin envelope, but the price of the disc was not the cheapest. Probably the seller didn’t understand the difference between words “thin” and “cheap” in Belarusian,”<\/em> – he recalls.<\/span><\/p>\n By Ihar’s opinion, in Belarus a few people speak Belarusian because of shyness.<\/span><\/p>\n – By occupation I have to communicate a lot by telephone. Most people are happy to hear the Belarusian language. One in two says that he would like to speak Belarusian, but many people do not remember the words, there is no practice. But if you like a language, you should at least take the first step, and vocabulary will be fullfilled over time,<\/em> – he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ihar is upset seeing the level of modern Belarusian language among pupils:<\/span><\/p>\n – I do not want to be a pessimist, \u00a0I am not assured about the prosperity of the language in the near future. Now the Lyceum of BSU holds the second stage of rehearsal testing, only one in four lyceum student elects Belarusian, three-quarters of high school students choose Russian. In general the lessons of language in high school should be more. For example, in high school according to the standard curriculum there is one hour of the Belarusian and Russian languages in a week in all areas of education except for philology. In basic school – two hours in a week. This, in my opinion, is not enough. The result is that pupils do not know neither one nor the second language in a perfect way,<\/em> – the interlocutor gives an example. The same situation is with graduates of the basic school.<\/span><\/p>\n – Most applicants of BSU Lyceum, who enter philology department, \u00a0do not understand literary texts. They do not have language practice, they do not know vocabulary. In recent years, we had to substantially revise the content of training courses on the Belarusian language and literature. Previously, we proceeded from the fact that the graduates of the basic school (at least, those who are going to enter the philological direction of education) know the language, can speak it, and we just have to improve their knowledge. Now we pay great attention to the study of vocabulary, word formation, syntax. In fact, at the preparatory courses in the 9th grade, we are beginning to learn the language from scratch<\/em>, – he says.<\/span><\/p>\n Jura\u015b Hiecevi\u010d\u00a0speaks Belarusian. He has taught robots to speak his native language. The young man is Ph.D in Engineering Science, the head of the speech synthesis and recognition laboratory of the Joint Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Together with the team from the laboratory, he developed a program that can voice texts. Jura\u015b enters the text “Hello, TUT.by!”, clicks the button on the site of the program and computer pronounces greeting.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Jura\u015b is 29 years. He sits at a computer in the workroom and demonstrates the features of the Belarusian know-how. He says that the text-to-speech synthesizer is profitable development for people with impaired vision, for those who can not read, or for example, for those who drive an automobile. The programm can instantly process electronic text to an audio file. Such developments for other languages have \u00a0been produced, but for Belarusian just come into use. From speakers he hears phrases that a minute ago a young scientist has inputed from the keyboard.<\/span><\/p>\n The video of the Belarusian mobile autonomous robots which talk from the exhibition “TIBO-2013”:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\n <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n“In the preparatory courses of the 9th grade we are beginning to learn the language from scratch”<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nUntil 2006, before Ihar’s daughter birth, he was both a Russian-speaking and Belarusian-speaking. Finally, he chose the language thanks to his daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n The cases, when they don\u2019t \u00a0understand Igor, are rare.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/div>\n“When I arrived in Minsk, I thought that everyone speaks Belarusian.”<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/div>\n
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