DOUBLE EXPOSURE: The language issue (08/17/03)

DOUBLE EXPOSURE

by Khristina Lew

The language issue

Coming home from Manhattan on the train the other night, I met a recent immigrant from Belarus who complained about how difficult it is to teach children their native language once they go to school in the United States. Uh oh, I thought - if this woman who has only been in America for a few years is having a hard time teaching her children Russian, what does that mean for Ukrainians born in the United States who want to teach their children Ukrainian?

At this point in the existence of the Ukrainian community in America, the Ukrainian language is the linchpin for most Ukrainian activities for children. Children who belong to Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization are required to attend a school of Ukrainian studies. Children who belong to SUM, the Ukrainian American Youth Association, do not have to speak Ukrainian to become members, but an unwritten policy encourages attendance in Ukrainian school, and about 90 percent do attend, says Mykola Hryckowian, head of SUM in New York City.

Even the 3 1/2-year-olds attending "Tabir Ptashat," a one-week day camp run by Plast at Soyuzivka for children too young to be scouts, are required to speak and understand the Ukrainian language. "This is a camp for Ukrainian-speaking children. All activities are conducted in the Ukrainian language. If a child does not understand Ukrainian, this is not the program for them," said Motria Boyko Watters, head counselor of the 2003 Tabir Ptashat during its first week.

Sounds pretty strident, but in fact over 110 children between the ages of 4 and 6 from across the United States attended the camp, which held two one-week sessions. Mrs. Watters concedes that many of the children speak Ukrainian weakly, but the point to it all, she says, is to give those children who speak Ukrainian a venue to use the language.

"Parents have to understand that the community organizations, Plast, SUM, Ukrainian school, are not responsible for teaching their children Ukrainian. It is the parents' responsibility to do that. Tabir Ptashat provides children an opportunity to use the language, but it must be learned at home," she says. Mrs. Watters, who lives with her American husband in the Philadelphia area, taught their four children to speak Ukrainian fluently.

So, it seems that if you want your child to have a "traditional" Ukrainian experience growing up, you have to teach him the Ukrainian language from the word go. But let's face it: teaching children Ukrainian is not easy. With each generation, more Ukrainian American families have only one parent who is of Ukrainian descent. Even families where both parents are Ukrainian run into problems teaching their children the language.

Many parents tell me that they institute a Ukrainian-only policy at home, but with children heading off to preschool earlier and many kids spending time in day care, it's hard to enforce the Ukrainian-language-only rule. For those parents who live in cities with larger concentrations of Ukrainian Americans, teaching children Ukrainian is easier: you have a community safety net of Ukrainian preschools and Saturday schools, scouting and youth organizations, churches. Some are lucky enough to live close to their parents, who often chip in with Ukrainian language instruction. Some families hire nannies from Ukraine to help.

But what about those of Ukrainian descent who have moved outside Ukrainian enclaves? Cultivating the Ukrainian language with a young child is difficult if the nearest Ukrainian-language speaker is 500 miles away. Or what about those who have married non-Ukrainian speakers who want to learn the language? Certainly there are audio language tapes and Ukrainian language courses at many colleges and universities. A quick search on the Internet for Ukrainian language courses produced 15,049 links, including instruction online.

The key is making the effort to do it. Chrystia Stasiuk, a mother of two boys from Rockaway, N.J., says that if you want a Ukrainian environment for your children, you as a parent have to take on the responsibility to create it. She readily admits that sometimes her boys do not want to speak Ukrainian. She will also admit that most children at both Tabir Ptashat and Plast camp speak English among themselves. Even so, she says that "if your child doesn't speak a stitch of Ukrainian, he shouldn't go to Tabir Ptashat, because he will feel like an outsider."

Oleh Zwadiuk, a longtime news director of RFE/RL in Washington, now retired, and a former columnist for The Ukrainian Weekly, says the Ukrainian community in America has been debating the issue of Ukrainian language usage for years. He cautions against being exclusionary. "You don't want to create a situation where a child who considers herself Ukrainian feels left out," he said.

Hence the thinking behind SUM-A's policy on the Ukrainian language. "SUM does not require children to speak Ukrainian because we do not want to close ourselves off to Ukrainians whose language is weak or non-existent," said Mr. Hryckowian.

Are there alternatives to these organizations? A place where children of Ukrainian descent can get together and not have language be an issue? When I was growing up there were plenty of sports and dance camps where the Ukrainian language was not required. Do they still exist?

In the meantime, my husband and I have dusted off a copy of the ol' Ukrainian school stand-by, Ivan Franko's "Zakhar Berkut," and we're practicing our Ukrainian.

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