[lg policy] Most residents of Lithuania ’s big cities know Russian

[Harold Schiffman]

 Most residents of Lithuania’s big cities know Russian

02.12.2009, 10.50

VILNIUS, December 2 (Itar-Tass) - In Lithuania’s big cities – Vilnius,
Kaunas and Klaipeda, where one third of the country’s population
reside, a mere 5 percent have no command of the Russian language.  It
is proved by a joint survey conducted by the Vilnius University,
Vytautas Magnus University and the Institute of the Lithuanian
Language.  Senior research officer of the Institute of the Lithuanian
Language, Laima Nevinskaite, said despite the fact that ethnic
composition of Lithuania’s big cities is different – in Vilnius
representatives of the titular nation account for 50 percent, while in
Kaunas – for 93 percent – their residents know the Russian language
equally.

Around 29 percent of Lithuanians use the Russian language for
communication, another 16 percent – read books in Russian, 37 percent
– watch Russian TV, while another 12 percent can write in Russian if
necessary.  Researchers say that Lithuania’s language policy does not
correspond to the language situation in the Baltic country.  “The
Lithuanian language as the state language is supported in every
possible way and we observe the language protectionism policy,” said
Laima Kaledene, Doctor of Humanities. “Moreover, protective purism is
characteristic for Lithuania. Latvia and Estonia share similar views
in this issue.”

Meanwhile, the survey demonstrated that 8 percent of Lithuania’s
population consider two languages – Lithuanian and Russian – their
native ones.

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14594061&PageNum=0

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