Russian language begins at Jamestown College in spring

The art of communication is full force on this, the last weekend before Election Day. Most of us are so weary of hearing what this candidate says and what the other candidate says in response.

Thankfully, they are speaking English and we understand most of what they say. I know first-hand the difficulties of being in a country where I could not speak the language and was not understood.

Fortunately, students in secondary schools are offered, and many are required to take, at least one foreign language class. A second language is strongly recommended once in college.

Jamestown College has always taken its role instructing foreign languages very seriously. It offers German, Spanish and French languages every year. Latin is taught on a regular basis and when visiting professors are on campus, Mandarin Chinese.

And soon, another language is coming aboard that may meet specific needs of many North Dakotans whose ancestors were Germans from Russia. The Russian mother tongue is scheduled for spring 2013.

Dr. Connie Palylyk announced recently that next semester she is on the schedule to teach Russian. The multilingual Palylyk will be teaching an introductory course, at 3-hours college credit. She said the class will be conducted during three days each week beginning Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Text books will be required and a minimum number of students must be registered in the class.

Pre-enrollment is essential for the class to become reality.

Anyone planning a trip to the Soviet Union or anyone planning to go into diplomatic service areas would benefit greatly from the study.

If anyone is interested in taking the class, please contact the Jamestown College registrar Mike Woodley at mwoodley@jc.edu.

Palylyk said there will be songs to augment the languages.

“Do be prepared to learn a few Russian ditties with which to confound clientele in local establishments and annoy all and sundry in general,” she quipped.

Palylyk’s ancestors came to North America from the Eastern European Block, where encountering the language was a regular part of life.

She is fluent in many languages and Russian is one that Jamestown College hasn’t offered, but she has been asked to teach it by faculty and students alike. She has participated in a number of special events including Korean and Chinese events.

She, like all the faculty at JC, has a wealth of information, experiences and knowledge about other traditions, cultures and languages. And also like the foreign language faculty, she has a wonderful sense of humor and her mannerisms fit the study and make the classes conversational and an enjoyable learning experience.

For anyone who plans a trip to the eastern block or to Russia, a course in the language is invaluable. Like trying to read the characters on direction signs in Asia, the Russian alphabet contains letters unfamiliar in the U.S. Trying to get around there is made far easier when there’s at least a traveler’s skill for travel.

You will learn how to read Cyrillic and put together the words. That will be the minimum expectations from the class. She will include some easy methods of learning this upper tier language. And why anyone would want to learn Russian, her answer is quite lovely:

“Language is what informs our mentality, our main manner of constant self-expression... it’s always fascinating to see why others are ‘other’ to us, to understand their similarities as well.”

If anyone has an item for this column, please send to Sharon Cox, PO Box 1559, Jamestown, ND 58402-1559.

Tags: sharon cox, diversions