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MY SON WILL SPE A K U K R A IN IA N FIRST A y o u n g U k rain ian m oth er in C hicago m ade th is im p ortan t de cisio n w h en h er son s ta r te d to sp eak h is f i r s t w ords. In itia ly th e r e w a s no problem as U k rain ian is th e la n g u a g e spoken in her h ouse. T h e problem s arose w h en her-year-old son sta r te d to play w ith th e n eighb orh ood children w h o spoke only E n g lish . H er h an d lin g o f th e situ a tio n w a s reported in an a rticle in th e C hicago D aily N e w s on A u ril 2, 1970. T he ed itors w ere ob viou s ly in tere sted in th e problem s in volved w ith r a isin g b ilin gual children. L e t’s se e h ow Mrs. Irene O leksiuk described h er s itu a tio n : M y husband and I w an ted our ch ildren to learn U k rain ian f ir s t b ecau se b oth w e and our fa m ilie s sp eak it. It would be ea sier fo r th e m to learn U k rain ian now th a n a fte r th e y h ad g o n e to school. W e also f e lt th a t sp ea k in g m ore th a n one la n g u a g e would enable our children to learn oth er la n g u a g es m ore easi- th e m o st p art, th e ab ove com p rise th e su m to ta l o f U k rain ian cu ltu re fo r A m erican s o f U k rain ian d escen t. W e fo r g e t th a t a cu ltu re is n o t a cu ltu re w ith o u t a lan gu age. L et us, A m erican w om en, learn as m uch as w e can about our b e a u tifu l and fa sc in a tin g U k rain ian h erita g e , includ ing h isto r y , art, liter a tu r e, and e n cou rage th e lea rn in g o f th e U k rain ian la n g u a g e w h erev er and w h en ever fe a sib le or de sired. It w a s so ch ic in th e p a st to know French, w h y n ot U k rain ian ? T h e id ea o f U k ra in ian p re-k in d ergarten c la sse s fo r A m erican children is g ro w in g in p op u larity, you m ig h t look in to it. I f you h a v e n ’t as y e t retu rn ed th e s u rv ey sh e e t th a t I m ailed to you th is su m m er, p lea se do so as soon a s con ven ien t. W a itin g to h ear fr o m you , I rem ain Alexandra L. Riznyk V ice P re sid en t ly and help th e m to p artak e o f m ore th a n one culture. I ad m it i t w a sn ’t e a sy w h en S tep h en f ir s t v en tu red ou tsid e by h im se lf a t b arely 2 y ea r s old and tr ie d to m ake fr ie n d s w ith children on our block. H e spoke to th e m in h is b aby-U krainian . T h ey didn’t q u ite und erstan d w h a t h e said to th e m and vice versa. I f e lt sorry fo r him . I rem em bered w h en I could not con verse in E n g lish m y se lf, h ow th e children lau gh ed a t m y m ista k e s, and yelled a t m e so I could h ear b etter. B u t I had b een 10 y ea r s old w h en I arrived in th e U n ited S ta te s, an age w h en b ein g a p art o f th e group w a s v e r y im p ortan t. M y son w as ju s t a baby. I k n ew oth er children w ho spoke one la n g u a g e a t h om e and an oth er a t school. B o th o f m y b roth ers had gon e th ro u g h all th is w ith th e ir children. My n ieces and n ep h ew s w ere doing v e r y w ell w ith b oth la n g u a g es and w ere sin gled ou t in sch ool as o u tsta n d in g pupils. A nd a fte r all, th is U n ited S ta te s is a fr e e co u n tr y ; don’t w e h a v e freed om o f sp eech, u n lik e th e S o v ie t U n ion o f w h ich U k rain e is a ca p tiv e m em b er? A r en ’t m o st eth n ic grou p s con tr ib u tin g g r e a tly and colorfu lly to th e cu ltu re o f th is land? T h e se th o u g h ts raced th ro u g h m y m ind as m y little b oy stood dumb in fr o n t o f th e children w h o spoke to h im in E n g lish , u r g in g h im t o p lay and ta lk in g j u s t a little too loudly, probably th in k in g th a t i f th e y spoke loud er, S tep h en w ould und erstan d th em . I exp lained to tw o little girls w h o fr e q u e n tly cam e out to p lay w ith m y son th a t h e and I spoke to each oth er in U k rain ian and th a t S tep h en would learn E n g lish fro m th em , j u s t as I had learn ed fr o m m y fr ie n d s and in sch ool w h en I w a s a little girl. T he g ir ls accepted th a t f a c t and seem ed to be p leased to th in k th a t th e y could te a c h th is little boy so m eth in g . T im e p assed , and m y son w e n t ou t t o p la y w ith oth er ch il dren — so m e tim es in m y com pany, so m e tim es alone. H e ask ed h is fr ie n d s to com e in sid e and p lay in h is room . I n oticed th a t S tep h en w as com m u n icatin g. I sa w th a t h is fr ie n d s accepted h im in h is “d iffe r e n c e .” O ccasionally h e would a sk m e h ow to sa y th is or th a t in E n g lish , and I n oticed th a t h e w as h a v in g fu n lea rn in g n ew w ords. A s h e w atch ed te le v isio n and cam e to p lay m ore and m ore w ith one sp ecial frien d , D avid, h is m a ste r y o f E n g lish becam e ev id en t to everyon e, b u t esp e cially to him . H e g r e w m ore con fid e n t o f h im self. T o sh o w o ff, h e occasion aly spoke E n g lis h to m e or to h is fa th e r . L e t’s ta k e it one ste p fu rth e r. In allow in g th e child to u se th e E n g lish la n g u a g e a t h om e th er e is th e danger th a t h e w ill g ra d u a lly reduce h is U k rain ian v o c a bulary and rem em ber a fe w w ords only. To le sse n th is d anger p aren ts should tr y to m ak e th e ir ch il dren u n d erstan d th a t th e y should u se th e U k rain ian la n g u a g e w h en co n v er sin g w ith th e ir p aren ts. I t w ill be e a sy en ou gh to do i f th e ru le is ap plied rep eated ly. I t h a s been fou n d th a t children in m u ltili- gu al sch ools d iscern e a sily en ou gh w h ich te a c h e r is in ch arge o f w h a t la n g u a g e and a d d ress th e m accord in gly in th eir ow n lan gu age. CULINARY TERMS W e are co n tin u in g w ith our g lo ssa r y o f U k rain ian cu linary te rm s. B lueberry — черниці, афини. B lu e fish — морська риба. B lu e fin tu n a — тунець. Board — стіл, харчуватися. B oard in g h o u se — пансіон, приміщення з харчуванням. B og-b errv — журавлина. B oil -— варити, кип’ятити. B o ilin g h e a t — температура кипіння. Bonbon — цукерка. Bone — кістка; to bone m e a t — вибирати кістки з м’яса. B on eless •— без кісток. B ord eau x (w in e) •— бордо. B orsh ch — борщ. 2 6 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ — ЖОВТЕНЬ, 1971 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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