This is also a subject for another thread. I don’t think that Irish Gaelic in Ireland or Welsh in Wales has been able to make a strong comeback against the dominance of English, despite the efforts of language nationalists. Maybe that does not augur well for Belarusian.
Re Ukraine, even Donbas, according to a recent poll, language is not an important issue to most people. Russian speakers are not threatened, and what seems to me a logical and reasonable move to make Russian an official language in Ukraine, is also not on the agenda.
@ftornay Of course it is cultural and of course culture is not in the genes. You have only to look at second or third generation immigrants who adopt the culture of the country where they live. And today cultural influences overflow national borders.
Perhaps superficial is the wrong word for Canadians. However, there is a tendency not to look for complicated solutions or explanations, not to delve too deeply into problems. “Leave good enough alone” of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” are the norm. This is in contrast to the pursuit of the perfect in Japan, or the need for some ideal in Russia, or the much greater entrepreneurship and action-oriented nature of Americans. These are approaches that Canadians mostly manage to do without, preferring another meeting where little gets done. Personal relations are mostly easy and uncomplicated. People are inclined to want to be friendly and accommodating. There is a premium on just getting along, regardless of the eventual result. This is of course a gross generalization and I deserve to be criticized.
http://geert-hofstede.com/canada.html
Hofstede has a lot of data behind his model of cultural dimensions. Different national averages in moods attitudes beliefs etc seem to be well established. (Can’t judge individuals by group averages)
And here’s how language may relate to it:
This one may have to do with Hofstedes long term orientation dimension.
Did we have a thread on the language - thinking - behavior discussion? Sapphire Wolf or so
I mean the language question was not important at all. But if everything goes more or less fine, it’s no need to change anything. That happened to Belarusian. People just did not want to have new troubles with grammar or vocabulary. Everybody understands each other in Belarus, both languages are very similar. The language here is just a political question.
Лукашенко интересно высказался про белорусский и русский языки в Белоруссии:
Вынужден признать, что в данном случае он почти всё правильно сказал.
Естественно, не мог не приукрасить и не приврать. В частности, про половину абитуриентов, желающих сдавать на белорусском.
Но в целом он правильно описал текущую ситуацию с языками в БелАруСИ.
Интересно жить в стране, где большая папа решает, что правильно для всех
Нет, как раз наоборот. БольшОЙ папа решает, остальным приходится приспосабливаться. Поэтому в обществе апатия и депрессия из-за невозможности повлиять на свою жизнь.
Спасибо за исправление…БольшОЙ папа oczywiście