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As admitted by Estonians teaching at Russian schools, the level the official language is taught is largely up to headmaster and other school management. A motley scene, but not hopeless. And how could it be hopeless when over a quarter of Russian kids at basic schools takes «language immersion» or goes to an Estonian school altogether?
But this will not mean that in other Russian basic schools they only attend Estonian language classes. Rather, they take some extra subjects in Estonian as well.
Of the total of 67 Russian basic schools in Estonia, only four still limit themselves to Estonian language classes alone. At that, it is the schools themselves that have expressed desire to teach more Estonian than is required.
Russian pupils scarce
According to education ministry general education department head Irene Käosaar, we have less of the attitude now quite prevalent in previous decade of «let’s study only English as after school we’re off to the West anyway». «The overall attitude is that we live in Estonia and will have to manage,» she said.
Estonian basic schools have 29,000 of other mother tongues; of these, about 5,100 i.e. 17.5 percent take language immersion and 2,400 (over eight percent) go to Estonian schools.
Over the past decade, the ranks of those in language immersion have doubled. Language immersion means that the initial 1.5 years the kids study in Estonian only, in second half of 2nd grade Russian as mother tongue is added, and from grade 4 other subjects taught in Russian are added.
Ms Käosaar said Estonian classes are not mandatory in Russian basic schools, except for Estonian language as such.
«Estonian needs to be taught in kindergarten already,» she said. «In basic schools, it’s mandatory to teach Estonian as a language, and at gymnasium level at least 60 percent needs to be taught in Estonian.»
In reality, lion’s share of Russian basic schools have taken their own initiative to teach certain subjects in Estonian. In such cases, the state supports them, covering the extra costs financially – be it teaching aids of study trips.
Generally, Ms Käosaar is satisfied with how Estonian is doing at Russian schools. «My respect towards the school leaders, though the schools greatly vary,» she said.
These days, Estonian and Russian schools have also started to be merged, especially in the smaller areas like Loksa, Kehra and Kiviõli. «Indeed we want to support Russian and Estonian kids studying together, while Russian pupils continue to get educated in their mother tongue,» said the official.
For the Russians in many tows and parishes in Estonia, debate over the importance of Russian language based studies has essentially lost its meaning because Estonia has only one Russian gymnasium left in Tartu, the rest located in Tallinn or Ida-Virumaa.
True, Mustvee and Maardu do still run a gymnasium in Russian. In Pärnu the Russian gymnasium will cease to exist starting next academic year, said Ms Käosaar. Thus, children in Southern and Western Estonia will attend an Estonian gymnasium like it or not.
Ms Käosaar said the Russian gymnasiums are not closed because of politics, rather out of lack of students. This is because of the shrinking population, as well as some parents’ preference to have their kids in Estonian gymnasiums.
Sincere young people
Tallinn Humanitarian Gymnasium is a leading Russian gymnasium in Estonia. Pille Pipar, who teaches Estonian language and literature, works with 1st, 3rd, 6th, 11th and 12th grades.
Ms Pipar says the school employs a separate coordinator for Estonian studies, keeping an eye on lessons of Estonian language and other subjects taught in Estonian.
«She supports teachers in their work and says what could be done different at the classes,» explained Ms Pipar. «Also, I detect strong state support; we have all teaching aids. The teachers who teach in Estonian receive grants; also the state is supporting study trips related to Estonian culture for the students.»
From the very 1st grade, children are having three Estonian language lessons a week (in primary classes, two classes are mandatory – N. N.), while some subjects are taught in Estonian as well. On top of that, of the four parallel 1st grades, one is a language immersion class.
«There’s one such class not because there would be no pupils; rather, it’s that we are lacking teachers,» explained Ms Pipar.
A large part of the language immersion kids have attended Estonian kindergartens. In the 1st Russian class, nature study and music are taught in Estonian. In later years, with some subjects kids and their parents may make their choice between the languages of instruction. The decision varies with the years.
Ms Pipar said lots of 3rd graders do speak quite fluent Estonian already. Neither does she think that they have overdone it with teaching subjects in Estonian in the primary grades.
«At the beginning, these subjects are much simpler and also in the initial classes kids catch the language with much greater freedom and playfulness, not being afraid to make mistakes,» she said.
«As they enter 3rd grade with a good command of the language, it’s much easier to proceed from there. If the major work is omitted in initial grades, some kids may later be lost for the Estonian language.»
Ms Pipar, herself a coordinator for teachers of Estonian in Russian schools in Tallinn, admitted the level that Estonian is taught greatly varies with the schools.
«The difference is deepened by management,» she said. «If the management is not supportive of subjects taught in Estonian, it is also very difficult to teach the Estonian language in that school. In our school, the current management is Estonian speaking and thanks to that the attitude is different as well; where this is not the case, the situation does differ a lot.»
Having worked at an Estonian school before, Ms Pipar sees lots of good characteristics in the Russian students. «They are very open, meaning they dare tell the teacher if there is something they do not like, and even more so when they like something,» she said.
Contempt a rarity
Some schools are totally otherwise. Says a teacher of 20 years in another Russian school in Tallinn, teaching Estonian at grades 7th and 10th: «I’d not say there’s much wrong with their Estonian – they do speak it. But they live in a different world altogether.»
These kids do not know there’s such a thing as Estonian language culture and media. «In basic school, all they studied was the language. As far as the 10th graders are concerned, Estonian media is limited to Linnaleht [the freely distributed reading – edit].»
The teacher said that for years there was the talk about transferring gymnasium to 60 percent Estonian, while insufficient amount of extra classes was provided at basic schools. In her estimation, the textbooks for Russian schools are not the best at all. «They are using textbooks with Estonian kroon [not the euro – edit] still in it,» said the teacher.
All told, the teacher thinks that all kindergartens should be switched to Estonian. «The kids might get pre-school education in Estonian and that would be boost enough for school,» she said.
Though at times the Russian students tend to look down at the need for Estonian, the teacher says this does not last.
«I did have these two pupils in my class who said why study a dying language, but by the end of gymnasium the attitude changed and one of them continued in University of Tartu,» she said.
Nature is tough nut
An Estonian teacher at a Russian school in Tartu teaches Estonian to 1st, 3rd and 4th grades, and nature to 1st grade.
«The first officially Estonian language based nature class I taught in Estonian only, but after that I started to translate the slides into Russian, though I don’t speak Russian too well myself,» she said.
While having Estonian classes in Estonia only is prudent, she thinks nature in Estonian at primary level is too much. «They did not understand a thing, see. I begun to interpret everything, toiled like crazy in front of the class, and after every nature class if was totally exhausted,» she said.
Though officially a large percentage of study in that Tartu Russian school is in Estonian, reality is otherwise.
«In many a class, they start with a written problem in Estonian, as the workbook is in Estonian, but after that they switch to Russian,» said the teacher. «It can’t be that they write in Estonian and speak in Russian – in that case, better both write and speak in Russian.»
The teacher says we must honour the Right for Russians to study in Russian in the Russian schools and master their mother tongue. It’s another matter is parents opt to have the kids in language immersion.
She added that the working atmosphere is excellent at the school and politics create no friction whatsoever between colleagues of different nationalities. «I have friends among teachers and students alike and in no way do I feel excluded,» she said.
Even so, having been on the inside of a Russian school, the teacher does find fault with such Estonians who simply ignore the Russian community. «These are the people who give no time to fellow countrymen, do not say hello, never cross the threshold, never have a cup of coffee with a Russian neighbour,» said the teacher.
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