job announcement

[Genevra Gerhart]

Andrew Hicks wrote:

    Far more exciting than this job posting, however "excellent" the salary
may be, is the fact that this school has chosen Russian as the language that
every student must take.  It might be interesting for ACTR or AATSEEL to
interview the relevant officials to see why they picked Russian from all the
other presumable contenders out there.

Good question: those of us spending lifetimes trying to learn find it easy
to wonder why Russian might be a good choice for an inner-city school. But
let us consider:

The language has the advantage of exotic appeal, yet its Indo-european
origins makes a transfer of abilities from Russian to English a useful tool.

The exotic appeal part has to do with its history and geography that place
it outside the realm of the languages we usually study.  Powerful
single-leader governments have produced a people with other views about
desirable civic behavior; its physical size coupled with a well-educated
populace has produced potential real wealth that is even greater than that
of the country that managed to put a man into space before we did. Orthodoxy
has similarities and differences that can be discussed partly because their
numbers in this country is relatively small; on the edges of western
society, its isolation allowed the development of some other ways of coping.

Another aspect of the exotic appeal is the very broad and rich culture of
scientists, writers, composers and dancers (not to mention computer
hackers!) that can enhance any curriculum the world over. Including our own.
We shouldn't have to wait for a chemistry class to see the table of
elements, for example. Russian participation in world culture has been such
that the good language teacher should have active contacts with other
teachers throughout the school.

And finally, the language can help us learn our own. How many times have you
heard "...between him and I"? This parallel can be supplied by many other
Indo-european languages, of course. (Pray the LA teacher knows about objects
of prepositions.)

But Russian has its marvelous alphabet! It can be used for sending private
messages. Private from the teachers, of course. Private from those studying
the usual languages.

It should be taught early on, perhaps its own set of lessons in middle
school; before fear of the rest has time to settle in.

And be very careful about two years of high school language being equivalent
to one year of college. It should be, but often isn't. Unless someone has
very solid evidence, and you have seen it.

Genevra Gerhart

http://www.GenevraGerhart.com

ggerhart at attbi.com
206-329-0053

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