So, when we have already created the Association of Russian Literature, we understood we have to develop a very serious concept of Russian national language policy in general. All the more so, we have a Russian Language Council under the Government and Russian Language Council under The President. Vladimir Putin promised to take part in some of our meetings and he did indeed organize a joint meeting of two councils – of the Russian language and of inter-ethnic relations. We discussed the issues of language policy there, too. Russia is an exceptional country; our official language is Russian, but we also have over 150 national languages, 89 of them are studied at school and three of them are languages of tuition.
All of these issues are very difficult and are to be taken into account. We also discussed issues of studying the Russian language and national languages at national schools during that joint meeting. Our country has 40 thousand schools; 4 thousand of them have their national language as a language of tuition. It is very important to take into account the proportion of teaching Russian and national languages at school – the amount of hours spent on teaching the Russian language should not fall.
Apparently, the Russian Literature Bureau, which consists of 13 members, will gather by the end of September and we will discuss these topics, although the work on developing the language policy concept is continuing all the time and there is lot of controversy. For example, the issues of the Russian language as an official language are now seriously handled at the Saint Petersburg State University. Although its rector Nikolai Kropachev is a lawyer by his main profession, he also takes an active part in it. We have already sent the University's suggestions to the members of councils under the Government and the President and will be waiting for results.
At the Bureau meeting, we will consider the issue of creating regional departments of the Association one more time as they are to take part in the concept's development.
– The Congress's decree also says about the need to develop a programme of reading support on the state level. In this connection, can we speak about creating a "golden canon of Russian literature" - a list of books to study at school?
– In fact, there is such a list. Three years ago Vladimir Putin, who is interested in the issues of language policy very deeply, asked us to make a list of approximately a hundred books and we did. Everyone was able to make changes in it, but we do have a basis. Elena Kazakova from the Saint Petersburg University is one of those, who is engaged in these problems - she suggested a program named "Chitaygrad" - children "live" in a wonderland, where all the streets are named as the works of the best authors, for a week. We are sure that everyone, who has experienced this, will continue reading without a doubt.
We understand one cannot be considered to be an educated man without knowing the works by Aleksandr Pushkin, Dostoyevsky or Tolstoy. I would not study "War and Peace" at school, though – I keep opening it and learning something new, as it is a very deep, philosophical novel and children only remember that someone fell in love or ceased to love someone. Still, it is impossible to live without them. I am also sure we are not to take away Soviet classic literature from the list. At the same time, there is nothing at all to suggest reading from the Russian modern literature.
It depends to a large extent on how a child is educated inside the family. I keep saying that when a child is still in its mother's body, it needs reading. And also right after its birth, from the very first minute, it does not even matter, whether it understands anything or not - babies understand a lot.
I just returned from Vladimir - a very interesting conference "Education for Future Investments" was held there. It gathered nearly 450 participants. Vladimir's Governor Svetlana Orlova is a very extraordinary person - I have not met quite the same governors, although I have met many of them. She understands how important it is to give education at the earliest stages - not even when a child is three years old, but earlier. They have already opened several kindergartens for children, starting from year-old children. Not nursery schools, but kindergartens with an incorporated concept of pre-school education. I am sure that children, having gone through these kindergartens, will love reading.
– You always underline the meaning of saving the Russian language pure in your speeches; in particular, you mentioned it during a recently held World Compatriots Forum “In Unity with Russia”. What measures are to be taken for it in your opinion?
– First, there are to be remarkable and creative teachers at schools and pre-school educational institutions, their speech is to be exemplary for children, which is rare. I still remember my teachers from my first and fifth and other grades. There are not too much of them nowadays.
There are some problems connected with pedagogical higher educational institutions – the Academy of Science will take this issue thoroughly. I keep saying that there should be special requirements for prospective pedagogical students, although during the last couple of years some changes became visible, I think. Last year I presented diplomas to the Moscow Pedagogical University graduates and asked them where they were going to work – many of them were already working at schools. If it happens – if talented youth comes to schools, they will be able to wake interest for language in children.
Second – we do not have a textbook, which would be interesting for a child to open and read. As you may know, the Russian Academy of Science is licensing textbooks now. I have never seen any textbook I could be sure it was what children need. I hope that soon such a range of textbooks for all grades will emerge.
One more thing – the society should not be indifferent to what they hear. For some reason, it is considered to be awkward to correct other’s mistakes. There are people, who speak perfectly, but if they make a mistake and I correct them, they only thank me. But some people get annoyed about this. I think that in case our society will not be indifferent to culture of speech, it will help a lot, too. Indeed, we have a marvellous language – it is vivid, figurative and rich in intonations.
– One more interesting moment – creation of federal sites for professional communication for the teachers of the peoples of Russia languages and of the Russian language. Are these sites needed, why and how can they function?
– We have a lot of sites like that one. At the beginning of October, a congress of the Russian Association of the Russian Language and Literature is going to be held in Kazan; there will be many workshops and discussions there. So, we do understand that a teacher is the main figure in all our activities. The only thing we are still missing is the system of further training. We are thinking about it now.
– The new Minister of Education Olga Vasilyeva has already declared that section “Speaking” is going to be introduced into Russian language examination. In your speech during the Russian Literature Congress you mentioned that Saint Petersburg University had made suggestions of how to do this. Could you tell us about it?
– We designed the suggestions two years ago and Olga Vasilyeva knew about it – we had quite strong relationships with her while creating Association of Russian Literature. We discussed it in detail with the head of Rosobrnadzor Sergei Kravtsov and we understand that introducing “Speaking” part till 2017 is difficult. We will try doing that at 9th grade exams at first in order to prepare the students for 2018 USE. It is a very time-taking process, but it is necessary. Few people know how to talk well.
– At World Compatriots Forum you mentioned that work groups of the Russian Literature Association have already been formed. Please, tell us what activities will they perform in particular.
– Yes, we know the structure and the groups’ heads. After holding the Bureau’s meeting we will gather them all – we have some suggestions on the activities program. It is important for the organization to start living and working. We tried to gather creative, initiative leaders like Elena Kazakova, Sergei Bogdanov – prorector of the Saint Petersburg University. The group on library issues is very important; it will also be involved in school library issues.
I would also add that every person should understand that speaking Russian correctly is prestigious. Try finding a secretary today, who does not only have computer skills, but also knows Russian very well, knows how to write any document and speaks great Russian. It is very difficult. I think that if we understand that speaking Russian right is prestigious, everyone will aspire to it. I would be very glad if everyone understood that Russian is the best language in the world. Mikhail Lomonosov said it a long time ago.
