Aigul Zhumabayeva, 22, from Barnaul, a director of the Center of the Kazakh Language and Culture at Altai State Pedagogical University
Every nation has its own worldview and mentality which is as crucial as love towards parents, home, mother tongue. Kazakh culture and traditions have always been of great importance for me, I do respect them.
The better a person realizes his/her nation’s importance, the more dignified s/he is.
My family speaks Russian and Kazakh
Entering Altai State Pedagogical University, I was pleasantly surprised to find the Center of the Kazakh Language and Culture there. So I’ve been learning Kazakh for 5 years.
About 200 people have studied the Kazakh language at the center. In fact, surrounding people have different levels of Kazakh. Living in Russia, we mainly talk in Russian. Studying Kazakh, we always need a constant practice which is not enough. Therefore, we try to speak, sing songs, read poetry in Kazakh at the Center.
These days many traditions are lost, so it is important to preserve the Kazakh’s identity and culture. The language is the main thing to be preserved for the sake of future.
Ainura Sadbekova, 25, from Omsk, primary school teacher
I really like Kazakh traditions and culture. My granny and mom speak Kazakh, so I speak it too and have always been willing to properly know its grammar. I entered the pedagogical college and studied a primary school teacher major implying a deep study of the Kazakh language. That was how got to learn literary Kazakh.
I speak Russian, as I live in Russia, yet my family mainly talks in Kazakh at home.
Generally, young people in Omsk understand Kazakh, since our parents still speak it
Some of my friends understand but don’t speak Kazakh. I lived in Astana for a while and found out that few youngsters speak Kazakh there too.
I believe that we must speak and practice our mother tongue as it is the language that distinguishes us from other nations.
Nadezhda Jartanova, 18, from Gorno-Altaisk, student
Realizing the need to know my mother tongue, I’ve started attending classes of the Kazakh language in fall.
I daily practice my language by communicating in Kazakh with my friends and parents.
I think it’s crucial to know your native language, as it’s the matter of the whole nations’ history.