Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, many Ukrainians have decided to stop speaking Russian, sometimes perceived as “the language of the invader”. In Odessa, a Russian-speaking city in the south of the country, there are now language clubs full of students who want to “convert” completely to Ukrainian and resist through language.
These courses are given for example in a basement of the city. Participation is done in the hat: the sums paid by the students are donated to the volunteers and the army. Because the goal here is to resist the Russians.
“I have been here since the creation of the clubsays Oléna, a 13-year-old girl. At first, I came spontaneously, just to get to know the Ukrainian language and culture better. And then, little by little, I realized that it could become a means of cultural resistance against Russian aggression.“The teenager, who could almost be presented as the Greta Thunberg of the Ukrainian language, assures us today:”Speaking Ukrainian properly is a good way to be a dignified citizen, and that’s why I’m trying to switch entirely to Ukrainian. And this even if someone answers me in Russian.”
Behind this choice, which she has not yet announced to her parents, there is a real trend. According to a recent survey published by Rating, an independent sociological research group, the number of Russian-speaking Ukrainians has decreased by 22% over the past ten years.
But in Odessa, the inhabitants still speak mainly Russian, deplores Ivan, 29 years old: “It’s a problem for me, but it must be said that it does not come overnight. For me, it was quite a deep conversion and I have to say that after switching to Ukrainian, Russian started to sound like a foreign language to me.”
“It was by studying history, after seeing how the Russians have always oppressed Ukraine and Ukrainian culture, that I decided to break with Russian culture.”
Ivan, 29 years oldat franceinfo
He only wants to speak in Ukrainian now: “At one point, I had the impression of being alone in a foreign country… whereas I am at home! I understand that it is impossible for the Odésites to convert at once, it must be a well-considered choice. I have studied Ukrainian culture and history a lot and it was in particular by studying history, after seeing how the Russians have always oppressed Ukraine and Ukrainian culture, that I decided to break with the russian culture“.
These students therefore learn to change their habits with Tatiana Khamraï, the founder of this Ukrainian language club, who presents the content of her lessons to us. “These are exercises to combat the mixture between Ukrainian and Russianexplains the teacher. There is a list of words that are easily repeated, words of Russian origin that you have to learn to replace with literary words of the Ukrainian language.“
And this has very concrete repercussions, she explains. “When you start speaking Ukrainian, one can change the attitude towards the simple things of everyday life. For example, and if we take the word “hospital”, “bolnitsa” in Russian it is “to be sick, pain”, so it is the place where you feel pain in Russia. In Ukrainian, hospital, “likarnya”, it is the place to heal, to heal. So for us Ukrainians, the hospital is the place where we receive medical treatment.”
Speaking this Ukrainian language, for this teacher and her students, is therefore a way of resisting but also it is a way of being, of thinking, of behaving, really different from that of the Russians. These Ukrainians want to prove that these two countries have two often radically opposed identities.
In Odessa, Ukrainian lessons to resist the Russians – Report by Valentin Dunate and Fabien Gosset
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