Overseas Language Training Russian C Experience Report
School of Humanities and Culture, College of Humanities
Takahashi Ren (1st year)
1. Motivation for participation in the training
I participated in this training for three reasons. First of all, I majored in Chinese history, and I was interested in Central Asia, where nomads and nomadism had been established for a long time. Therefore, my first objective is to experience the environment of Kazakhstan in Central Asia. I thought that by experiencing it for myself I would be able to get a deeper understanding of the environment in Central Asia. The second objective is to improve the proficiency of the Russian language. The third objective is to experience the bilingual society of Russian and Kazakh in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union and Russian is the official language. However, in Kazakhstan, Kazakh is an independent language and is now the national language, and both Russian and Kazakh are used in tandem. Thus, the improvement of the Kazakh environment, the language, and own language skills are the motivation for participating in the training.
2. Specific experiences and observations through language training
2.1 Considerations on the linguistic environment in the Republic of Kazakhstan
Older people in the Republic of Kazakhstan do not speak English at all. When I got into trouble in the city, I sometimes wanted to rely on English because my Russian was poor, but that was not possible. This is probably because during the Soviet era, Russian was used as the official language of the Soviet Union, so there was no need to learn English. Therefore, in order to live in the Republic of Kazakhstan, it is necessary to learn either Russian or Kazakh. This means that the influence of the Soviet era still remains in the linguistic environment of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In connection with this, the Republic of Kazakhstan is currently facing the need to teach Russian, Kazakh, and even English in schools. Of these, Russian and Kazakh must be learned as mother tongues, not foreign languages like English. However, when I actually started learning Kazakh, I realized that the grammatical structures and vocabulary of Russian and Kazakh are completely different. For example, Kazakh language has rules of vowel harmony that Russian does not have. It must be very difficult, in my humble opinion, to be asked to learn two such completely different languages. In fact, I heard from Professor Samar of Kazakh National University that there are young people who have insufficient skills in both Russian and Kazakh. Specifically, for example, many people are unable to speak Russian case declension fluently. It is likely that there are people who can memorize words in both languages, but cannot fully learn grammatical rules due to the differences in language forms. However, it is not uncommon for Central Asian countries to no longer have Russian as an official language after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Therefore, there are many disadvantages to continuing to use both Russian and Kazakh in the Republic of Kazakhstan, and it is likely that in the future, as the international status of Russian declines, the country will move to using only Kazakh. However, this would raise the question of what would become of ethnic Russian residents living in Kazakhstan. In particular, North Kazakhstan is home to a large number of ethnic Russians, and if Russian is removed from the official language, there is a risk of a separatist movement in North Kazakhstan. Probably, the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan is afraid of this situation and has made Russian the official language.
I also heard that Kazakhstan is a code-switching society in which Russian and Kazakh are used together, and Kazakh vocabulary comes out while speaking in Russian. I have experienced this too, not in Russian and Kazakh but in Russian and English. For example, when I speak to Chinese people in my class I use English, but Russian words that I’m used to using on a daily basis, such as язык, утром, да, and нет, come out naturally. From this, it can be inferred that the phenomenon of Kazakh vocabulary emerging while speaking Russian occurs when a speaker who is accustomed to using Kazakh language attempts to speak Russian. And the fact that such a phenomenon occurs on a daily basis is evidence that both the Kazakh language and the Russian language are important in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
2.2 Consideration of the natural environment and religion in the Republic of Kazakhstan
After experiencing the environment in Kazakhstan for myself, I realized that it is colder and drier than Japan. Before the progress of urbanization, I realized once again that nomadism was a rational way of living in order to survive in this cold and dry environment. And it was good to experience through living in Kazakhstan the climatic factors that have caused nomads to retreat in winter. I previously learned about the phenomenon called dzud in an overview of Chinese history. This is a phenomenon in which a large number of nomadic livestock die due to rapid cooling of the climate. It was good to actually experience the minus 20 degree temperatures of Kazakhstan and easily imagine mass deaths of livestock and people.
Also, during the field trip, I had the opportunity to visit the vast grassland area on the outskirts of Almaty and was amazed to see flocks of horses and sheep grazing on the vast grassland. There was no grass growing in the winter, but in the summer the grass would grow lushly and become a vast grassland. In a special class, Professor Samar taught us that nomadic tribes move around together in groups of around 50 families. At first, I wondered why nomads needed to move in search of grass when they saw the vast grasslands, but I was convinced that they needed a lot of grass because of the large tribal units. It can also be predicted that the search for water was also the reason for the migration.
Figure 1. Grassland on the outskirts of Almaty
Also, in arid regions such as Kazakhstan, it seems that gods dwell in places where water can be obtained, such as rivers, and in trees. In pre-Islamic Kazakhstan there was a traditional belief called Shaman, which still coexists with Islam today. For example, shamans have a habit of eating round bread. I have heard that Islam in Kazakhstan is not strict, but this may be related to the fact that Kazakhstan’s unique beliefs remain.
2.3 Considerations on Kazakhstan’s culture and intercultural understanding
On International Women’s Day, I also sent flowers to my host family. International Women’s Day is a public holiday mainly in the former Soviet Union, and March 8th is also a public holiday in Kazakhstan. On this day, my host mother, who got up early in the morning, slept until noon, and the rest of the family woke up late to join her. The purpose of this is probably to give women a break and to show gratitude to them. The culture of allowing women to rest is thought to be related to the demonstrations by female workers during the Russian Revolution, and as time went on, it likely became a day to express gratitude to women. There is no day in Japan to express gratitude to women, but I thought it would be good to have a day like this.
I also learned that Kazakhstan is a country where it is important to be aware of strangers. For example, they willingly give up their seat to an elderly person on a bus, or touch another person’s IC card when the bus is crowded. In Japan, it is not uncommon for people to not give up their seat even when there is an elderly person in front of them, and so at first I was confused by the cultural differences with Japan. However, as I learned to imitate the people around me, I began to behave in a more considerate manner. In addition, I gave them my IC card and asked them to touch my card. Through this intercultural understanding of Kazakhstan, I discovered that Japan has a culture that is not proactive in showing consideration for individuals. In other words, I realized that one of the goals of intercultural understanding is to clarify the characteristics of one’s own culture.
Throughout the training, it was difficult to have to use Russian even in emergency situations. The reason I am learning Russian in Japan is not for daily use. However, here we have to speak Russian even in an emergency, and the urgency is completely different. I had a cold and it was very difficult to describe my symptoms in Russian while feeling sick. However, thanks to this experience, I was able to use Russian even when I was not feeling well while using a translator.
I think my listening comprehension and grammar skills have improved because I have learned about sound listening skills and the sense of prepositions and declension through the class.
3. Reflecting on the Experience
The initial purpose of this language training was to improve my Russian language skills and explore the natural environment of Kazakhstan, but as mentioned in 2 above, it also went beyond that and I was able to experience a more familiar culture by interacting with the local people. I was also able to gather my thoughts about Kazakhstan’s position in international relations based on the local situation. This is an advantage that cannot be found on the Internet or in books, and I have realized the importance of cultural experiences, so I would like to emphasize this point as an advantage for those who participate in this program in the next year and beyond. However, I would like to remind participants to keep up with their Russian language studies, as memorizing Russian words will help them communicate more smoothly.
4. Summary
It can be said that by using Russian in the Kazakh environment through the training, my Russian language skills for daily life have improved significantly. In particular, I became accustomed to the handling of prepositions, so I was able to express a lot of additional information. Also, my experience in Kazakhstan has given me a deeper understanding of the environment in Central Asia. However, I was not able to learn much of the Kazakh language, so I was not able to experience switching between Russian and Kazakh.
