R&R in Modova - Revisited!!!

I have been thinking a lot about Russian and Romanian language in Moldova, as usual. This is the main topic I find myself engaged in most of every day.

I enjoy speaking English with my Moldovan friends. I know that they want to practice speaking English as much as I want to practice speaking Romanian and a bit of Russian.

I do love the days when I do not spend time with any American English speakers. I especially like the people who just speak Romanian to me as if should understand everything. It is a bit daunting and I get tired quickly, plus I am a bit afraid of when they raise the pitch of their voice for a question I am not liable to understand right away, but it is delightful to try to take part in a conversation.

My nai teacher is the best at this. He is very intelligent and has lived for long periods of time in Romania, so his speech is a little bit more like my Romanian language recordings. Plus he takes time to explain things to me. Early in our work together he told me to ask if I do not understand something, so I do – frequently. He takes time to reword and rephrase things, and I think he really appreciates my efforts to speak good Romanian. He probably has seen more progress than I have in my development as a Romanian speaker. I seem to end every day frustrated and more aware than ever of my limitations, but I know that I am using tenses and subtleties more effectively now than last fall. I sometimes lapse into speaking Romanian with colleagues who are struggling to speak English with me, and I hardly notice.

I have many friends who only speak Russian and some English – almost no Romanian. This is extremely interesting to me. I have had many people tell me that it is easier for them to learn English than Romanian. I am surprised at this, since Romanian and Russian share many sounds as a result of their long years of cohabitation in Romania and Moldova. Many times I have had Russian speakers tell me to simply speak English with them. At first I assumed this was because my Romanian was so poor, but now I realize that it is because they have not learned to speak or understand much Romanian.

Readings from prior to my arrival in Moldova led me to assume that this is because they look down on Romanian as an inferior language and I have encountered this attitude, but I do think that there is something about English that is easier for them to learn than Romanian. As a student of Romanian and Russian I certainly sympathize with the vast number of Moldovans who speak Russian as their primary language for expression and interaction with others. Among my friends there are many great musical composers and performers, doctors, writers, artists, and philosophers.

I have noticed that among many people I meet working here in Chișinău, Russian is very common. Shop clerks, the people cleaning the parks, the city garbage collectors, and the people in charge of public buildings all seem to be Russian speakers. One day I put up a sign at the Academy of Music announcing that a colleague of mine wanted to buy a violin. I wrote it in Romanian. I was surprised when the women in charge of the music building, who I had been speaking Romanian with since October, could not read it. They puzzled and laughed over it for some time since they are Russian speakers and not accustomed to reading Romanian. 

Language carries so many things for us. I struggle with how to express subtleties concerning emotions and interests to my friends and colleagues in Romanian. How can we assume that all people in a “country” will feel the same things related to language? This is absurd in a place like Moldova where almost everyone is fluent in more than one language, and where close friends and loved ones favor either Russian, Romanian, or Gagauz (a Turkic language common in Moldova).

I have appreciated my Fulbright colleagues who have pointed out to me the situation of the many Moldovans who primarily speak Russian. I assumed that Romanian was looked upon as a lower class language, but one of my Fulbright colleagues, an excellent Russian speaker, told me that he had assumed the opposite. He feels like Russian is looked down on by Romanian speakers.

During a time of being ill in February and early March, I made CDs of my music to give to each of the members of my Romanian language class. They are all native Russian speakers. For me it is very gratifying and touching to receive their thanks and praise in Russian, even though I cannot fully understand everything they say. I do understand their love of the music, which means the most to me.