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Chapter 12: RUSSIAN

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From what I remember, it was always very important to me that I came from a

Russian‐speaking and culturally Russian background. This helped me feel “special” and

distinct from my classmates, which I appreciated, and was one reason I never went through

the “refusing‐to‐speak‐the‐native‐language” period that kids go through when they want to

fit in. I became pretty fluent in English and lost my accent by around fourth or fifth

grade. English is my stronger language now, but Russian remains a big part of my life and

identity. I learned how to read and write from my grandmother, and often did and do read in

Russian. For me the contribution of Russian movies, books, jokes, and other cultural products,

and of course socializing with actual Russian‐speaking people, is very significant. One

interesting thing was how my brother and I gradually shifted to English as the more

comfortable, friendly language to use with each other, though we always code‐switch a lot,

while continuing to speak Russian‐only to our parents.

Mariya Blokh, M.A., Speech‐Language Pathologist

REFERENCES

Gildersleeve‐Neumann, C. E., & Wright, K. L. (2010). English speech acquisition in 3‐ to 5‐
year‐old children learning Russian and English. Language, Speech, and Hearing
Services in Schools, 41, 429–444.

Grossman, J. D. (2014). Language development of bilingual Russian/English speaking
children living in the United States: A review of the literature. Honors Theses, Paper
365.

Hamilton, W. S. (1980). Introduction to Russian phonology and word structure. Columbus,
OH: Slavika Publishers.

Jarvis, S., & Odlin, T. (2000). Morphological type, spatial reference, and language transfer. 74
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 22(04), 535‐556.

Kedrova, G. E., Potapov, V. V., Egorov, A. M., & Omelyanova, E. V. (2002). Educational
materials on Russian phonology. (October 22, 2014), Retrieved from
http://www.philol.msu.ru.rus/galya‐1/index.htm

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