Re: Language/Schools. SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU, BOHDAN.

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: I know little about the Basques. I am not certain that they are so successful or more successful than Ukrainians. The Catalans may be a better example. Ukrainians have to find their own solutions. : Ultimately it depends upon the people in Ukraine. I am an American who has spent a total of ten days in Ukraine in 1971. In my view you ultimately have to stand up for what you believe in. You have what you deserve. : Another facet is genius. In England the aristocracy used to speak a primitive French until Shakespeare enriched the language. Can you name one contemporary writer who genuinely speaks towards the real needs of the educated Ukrainian? : Another is external influence. Ukrainians unlike Russians are terribly isolationist. They try to preserve the past and the past cannot compete with the present in many ways. There is an information vacuum in Ukraine. So Ukrainian culture is always second rate or at least behind the times. : I read English and Ukrainian. When I read Henry Fielding or when I read some great textbook in English I am proud of and grateful of the fact that I know English. Occasionally I read something of value in Ukrainian. But if it is not generally available and if there are no movies, no plays, and no high quality endemic television in Ukrainian one cannot be proud of it. Clearly Ukrainians seem not to mind to get their essential information in Russian. Russians gather pride from their writers. Ukrainian students all study Ukrainian writers but that does not seem to generate the equivalent pride. : Folk dances, Ukrainian cooking, soccer, or pysanky do not generate contemporary pride and are superfluous to language. I can judge the Diaspora only. They believe in the culture of the thigh. That is folk dancing, soccer, marching in Plast, zabavy, religious processions, political demonstrations and touristic walks through Ukraine. Most recently it has been rock climbing. Their Ukrainian language has declined. I do not see that they respect the Ukrainian language any more than those in Ukraine. They throw some words of praise at it. I can cite many examples. They refer to themselves as "Ukies". They do not obtain vital information in Ukrainian and so for them also it is only a symbol. Of the past I might add. : Much depends upon history and tradition. You cannot build a country upon a tradition of the bandura, sopilka, pysanka, embroidery, and the selo or even the rant against the Moskal. I can think of no worse role model for Ukraine than the Cossacks. It takes more to build a country. But that is the spadshchina of Ukraine both in Ukraine and in the Diaspora. : Ukraine became independent too soon and with too little sacrifice leaving the former leaders in power who as many have pointed out have no deep knowledge or roots in Ukraine or its culture. : Its prophets such as Shevchenko were relevant only as long as Ukraine was controlled from the outside. Now the enemy so to speak is within the heart and minds of Ukrainians and that is much more difficult to deal with. Perhaps a Roosevelt will emerge who will generate pride in the average Ukrainian. Or a Ukrainian Shakespeare who will make people read Ukrainian because it will speak to their mind and heart and there will be no Russian or world substitute. : I was conversant with the situation in Ukraine so I am not totally disappointed. I never saw independence especially under the present circumstances as a panacea. : Only time will tell. : I am providing analysis which I try to make as objective as possible. Chanting Slava Ykrainy will not solve Ukraine's problems. It is a simple waste of time. Ukrainians have to learn that simple lesson first. : Bohdan Oryshkevich : usa.usa@attglobal.net

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