CHANGE THE SUBJECT/RUSSIAN: RUSSIAN IS PROBABLY not the first language you would think of taking for the Leaving Cert.
Even though Russia is the largest country in the world, it is still not widely visited by Irish people. Languages such as French and Spanish would appeal more in terms of their practical use.
However, apart from the 165 million native speakers in Russia itself, Russian is widely used as a second language in many countries in Europe and Central Asia.
The Post Primary Languages Initiative is now offering Russian in TY. It has already started in 14 schools around Dublin and is also available for the Leaving Cert. Charlotte Lary of TCD is teaching in three schools in the capital. "Last year we did a pilot and now it's up and running all over Dublin," she says.
"Obviously the first obstacle Irish students would have to overcome is the different alphabet," she adds. "The Cyrillic alphabet has many similarities to the Latin one we are used to, but it looks quite different. It has 33 symbols. In English we tend to save on letters whereas the Russians, for example, have a letter for the 'sh' sound."
"An ability to read the language is quite important," says Lary. "Once students see how they can understand even a small bit, it is a great confidence boost for them.
"I use a variety of resource material including audio, worksheets and puzzles. I would like to have more audio-visual material but I'm travelling to Russia soon to get other resources. I've made contact with some schools there and hope to have a lot more resources when I return."
So why might anyone be interested in taking Russian? "The influx of Russian speakers into this country has been immense in recent times," she says.
"They come from so many different states. Not so much eastern Europe, but many of the former Soviet states in the Baltic region as well as Georgia and Azerbaijan, and those within the Russian Federation.
"In those regions it is culturally dominant in the world of business and academia.
"From a linguistic perspective, it's always a good idea to learn new languages, especially those in different alphabets. It gives students a broader understanding of how languages relate to each other."
Anyone interested should contact the Post Primary Languages Initiative.
"It's important to stress that this is an option open to all schools," says Lary. "There is often an idea that programmes like this are only for private schools. But this is something that can be quite enriching for any student in any situation."
For more details contact the Post Primary Languages Initiative at www.languagesinitiative.ie
