MoldovAnn

So, why am I learning Russian if I�ll be living in a Bulgarian community? There are many reasons. For one thing, it’s not an uncommon story to hear of the PCV who learned one language and got placed in a community speaking something entirely different. This happens all over the world, and from what I can piece together, I think PCVs learn official languages, which are not always what is spoken in every community, i.e., Spanish may be the official language of Guatemala, but an indigenous community probably doesn’t speak Spanish. I don’t know how PCVs are placed in other countries, but in PC/M, our specific assignments are not decided until after several weeks of training so that the PC staff can learn more about us, our skills, personalities, etc, and can try to make the best placements possible. We three “Russians” were identified at the beginning as obviously we would need a different language program than the rest (who are all studying Romanian), but nonetheless, Sylvia still had those weeks to decide which one of us was best for each of the three Russian-language sites. The applying organizations themselves specify which language(s) is/are needed in their community, and for most, both Romanian and Russian is spoken. In our three communities, however, the populations did not list Romanian as options (my community listed Bulgarian and Russian). And certainly one reason to teach me Russian instead of Bulgarian is the finances — it’s simply too expensive to run a language program for one PCV: materials would have to be developed, an instructor found and paid, etc. And since PC/M already has a Russian language program developed and in place, it’s easier to teach me Russian. And, of course, I’m not complaining about that since I really wanted to master Russian! At least I’ve got a leg up in that the community also speaks Russian. This is a much better situation than, for example, our Country Director who was a PCV in Africa, learned French, and was placed in a community that spoke absolutely no French but instead an indigenous African language! He had to start all over once he got to site.

All of that is just a small part of the question, though. Language is a hot topic in this country, and since I’m fascinated by language in general, this is one more plus for me about Moldova. This country has a bit of a complex about language. Language is so closely tied up with culture, politics, heritage, and self-identity, it is a complicated issue is many parts of the world. Take, for example, the European Union — every document must be translated into the language of each and every member nation as no one wants to “give up” their ethnic/cultural identity/expression in the Union.

The geographical area now called Moldova has been under the authority of other countries for pretty much all of it’s history. It has been ruled by Romania, the Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungary, and Russia, and that’s just in the past 400 years. Romanian is very common, given the close geographical and historical connections with Romania. Gagauz is spoken by a large population of people descended from Christian Turks, “left over” here from the Ottoman Empire. Russia occupied this territory off and on during the 1800’s and early 1900’s. After WWII, the Soviet Union officially occupied the territory, eventually creating a republic in the USSR called Moldavia and transferring the Romanian language into Cyrillic alphabet and calling it Moldavian. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the name of the country was “un”-Russified and has reclaimed the more Romanian-sounding name of Moldova, as opposed to the more Russian sounding name of Moldavia. The official language of the country is Moldovan, which is exactly the same as Romanian, and the alphabet is again Latin letters. Most people do refer to it as Romanian, but I find it impossible to predict who’s going to insist on calling it Moldovan.

The Soviet Union “transplanted” a lot of ethnic Russians to all its republics, and as Moldova was and is a beautiful country, and was a “land of plenty”, many Russians wanted to live here. Intermarriages occurred, people stayed, and you’ve got a bit of a melting pot that never quite “took.” My own host family is one good example. Tamara Ivanovna was born in Ukraine, and learned only Russian growing up. She came to Moldova after college, and met the man she eventually married, Fyodor Ivanovich. He was born here in Moldova, and grew up learning Romanian. He learned Russian in the army, and when he met Tamara Ivanovna, he wanted to improve his Russian as it was then the official language and very necessary for day-to-day living. Thus, she never formally studied or learned Romanian (she says she speaks it like a dog — understands a lot but can’t say a thing). They speak Russian at home, and raised a son and daughter speaking Russian, although they both studied Romanian in school. My host “mom” Alyona and her daughter Anya identify themselves as Russian, and other people consider them Russians. I can’t get a handle on who is considered Moldovan, versus some other ethnic identify. As far as I can tell, the identity of Moldovan as one’s nationality is not strong, people here identify first by their “ethnicity.” In many ways, this is similar to our confused identities in America, right? We’re obsessed with race and ethnicity, as opposed to considering ourselves Americans. Well, multiply the strong emotion and confusion by tenfold, squeeze it all into a space the size of Maryland, and you’re getting close to what a conversation about language in Moldova is like.
Language is one of the most controversial and hot topics of this country. For some people, Russian is the language of oppression, imposed by the Soviet Union. For others, it’s their cultural heritage as well as the only language they really learned to speak, read and write. Moldovan (aka Romanian) is now the official language, and for many “ethnic” Moldovans (whatever that means!), they want to communicate only in Romanian. There is a bit of a backlash against Russian, and some town names have been changed back to their Romanian names from the ‘Russified’ versions. Take, for example, the capital. In Romanian, it’s Chisinau; in Russian, Kishinyov. Now, granted, most languages have their own way of pronouncing country and city names (Moscow is Moskva in Russian, China is Kitai, etc), so theoretically both versions of the name ought to be able to exist. But Romanianists (a term I just made up for lack of a better way to express myself) are rejecting everything Russian. It reminds me of the French and their efforts to keep their language “pure” (again, whatever that means!). Of course, it’s complicated by the fact that the Romanian spoken in Moldova has not progressed with time, and there are not words for many aspects of modern life. As technology and society changed, words were developed in Russian because that was the official language. So, a Romanian “next door”, a couple hundred kilometers away in Romania, won’t necessarily understand the terms a Moldovan is using for some modern concept, and vice versa.

On the other hand, you can go absolutely anywhere in this country and communicate in Russian. While there is one official language, in practice, this is a bi-lingual country. In fact, in this one small country of 4+ million people, there are at least 3 recognized languages (not necessarily officially recognized by the government, but nonetheless by the citizens, whether they like it or not): Romanian, Russian and Gagauz (a unique language spoken only by the people descended from Turks who live in the Autonomous Region of Gagauzia, which is a whole different can of worms I won’t get into now). All people over the age of 30 speak Russian fluently, but fewer younger people are studying it as seriously as before. It is not uncommon, though, for conversations to be a complete mix between the two languages, and many a time I’ve asked a question in a store and been answered in Romanian — it’s just automatically assumed that everyone speaks both languages, and in practice, probably 90% of people do. Some people, like Tamara Ivanonva, might be more comfortable speaking in one language over the other, and it’s just fascinating to watch a conversation take place with one person speaking Russian and the other Romanian! You may get on one bus with signs all in Romanian, and the next one will be all in Russian. Same with street signs, billboards, menus, etc. Sometimes things are in both languages, sometimes not.

So, how the heck does Bulgarian fit into all of this? From what I understand, Bulgarians came here during the reign of the Ottoman Empire as apparently it was safer here than in Bulgaria. They settled primarily in the southeast part of Moldova, and their communities have maintained their cultural identities throughout the centuries. Tvarditsa seems to be one of the communities with the strongest Bulgarian identity, although everyone there also speaks Russian. They are considered a national minority, and they bring along their own set of political issues with them. I certainly am in no position at this point to make any generalizations or intelligent observations, but I can imagine being a minority in this very small and very complicated country must be challenging. I’ll have to return to this topic after I’ve had some months at my site; hopefully I’ll be able to learn more that I can share with you!