17.05.2012 ✍ Beka Chedia

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The Iron Curtain between Georgia and the West officially ceased to exist after the collapse of the Soviet Union, yet in the Georgian subconsciousness another curtain – a velvet one – still separates the country from the Western world. Authorities in Tbilisi currently work on a “language revolution” – a process of replacing Russian, the common language in Georgia, with English, indicating the pro-Western direction of foreign policy.

How English squeezes out Russian

The language barriers that create obstacles within the process of bringing Georgia closer to the West are gradually disappearing. Lessons of Russian in public schools have been no longer compulsory since 2006. By 2000, 214 Russian-language schools were functioning in the country. According to data from 2004, the number of Russians studying in such schools was ca. 7,000, the rest – ca. 25,000 – being ethnic Georgians. At present, only 2 schools of this type are still open.

After regaining independence, Russian – though its popularity among young people has been constantly decreasing – remained the dominant language in many schools. Unlike in other former Soviet republics where young people still pursue higher education in Russia, in Georgia we can observe a growing trend towards studying in Europe or the US.

On 6 April 2010, President Mikheil Saakashvili commended state and private TV media to show English-language films without any translation. According to him, the countries where such practice is common have a high rate of knowing English among citizens. Georgian TV channels had already been presenting films only with subtitles for several months. The Ministry of Education together with Peace Corps launched an initiative called “Teach and Learn with Georgia”. From English-speaking countries – Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and the US – 1000 English teachers were invited to educate Georgian pupils. According to expectations of Georgian authorities, this programme is to show the pupils Western values and traditions. The connection between education and politics has been precisely described in the Charter on Strategic Partnership, a document signed by Georgia and the US, containing a clause on bilateral cooperation regarding culture and education. Tbilisi has been following policy of approaching the West while still being rather a part of the Soviet sphere in linguistic and cultural aspects.

Country’s policy and daily practice

“Russian is no longer the language of progress and the primary information medium”, announced the Georgian President on 11 April 2012. “This world [Russia – trans. note] does not point out the direction of progress any more. In this country people are also learning English. Of course we should use Russian, our children, however, should switch to a language which at present is the one signifying development and progress”, he added.

Paradoxically, AST, a Georgian consulting company, published a survey on 23 March, showing that the leading foreign language in the country is still Russian. 96.3 percent of citizens of the capital participating in the research declared knowing Russian at a certain level (36 percent – fluently, 29 percent – upper intermediate, 28 percent – intermediate, 3 percent – beginner). The results regarding English are as follows: 34 percent do not know it at all, 7 percent are fluent, 13 percent – are at an upper intermediate level and 28 percent – at an intermediate one. 17 percent declared themselves as beginners. It is also noticeable that the change of language priorities occurs alongside the change of age of responders. 19 percent in the 18 – 24 category claim they are fluent. In the category of above 45 years of age it is 3 percent. The survey took place in Tbilisi, February 2012, on a representative selection of 400 (a statistical error of data does not exceed 4.8 percent).

Higher education and job market

It is worth noticing that until lately ca. 80 percent of high school graduates were taking an exam in Russian (followed by English, German and French), yet this year figures have changed: for 77 percent the foreign language has been English and only 14 percent have been taking Russian. Practically all state institutions in Georgia offer free or partially free English courses. It must be, however, emphasized that this tendency did not occur after the Rose Revolution, for even before these events a natural process of squeezing out the Russian language by English had been already taking place. It has been unofficially confirmed that without a command of English it is hard t get a good job.

After 2003, the authorities started to stimulate the transformation process through administrative decisions, resulting in knowledge of English becoming the key factor while seeking a job. The capital initiated a programme of free courses of the language. Special English-only graduate and postgraduate study programmes launched at all major state universities are also noteworthy. In the Soviet period, the situation was similar in a way – the universities had Russian-language departments in which not only citizens of ethnic minorities were studying but also many Georgians. The number of them, however, was slowly dropping and in the end the departments were closed. By 2003, the whole process was undergoing naturally, without interference of authorities.

Not so long ago, the Dean of law department of one of the biggest universities in Georgia – Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University – issued an order limiting usage of publications in Russian by students preparing their master’s theses. But it must be mentioned that at least minimal knowledge of Russian is needed in contacts with neighbours in the South Caucasus and other post-Soviet states. In practice, however, it seems that English is gradually replacing Russian in this sphere as well.

Protecting a national identity or creating a sphere of influence?

The effort of Georgian authorities, aimed at abandoning Russian and turning towards English, is connected with their plan to make the pro-Western policy irreversible. It is no secret that after two decades Russia still regards former Soviet republics as parts of its own language and cultural space and uses it in its political rhetoric.

On 14 April, the country celebrates the Day of the Georgian Language, in commemoration of events from 1978. That year on 14 April citizens raised their objection against the official decision of Soviet authorities on making Russian the state language of the Georgian SSR. Thousands of Georgians gathered in the Rustaveli Avenue demanding Georgian kept its official status. They made it. At that time, they managed to protect the language, which contributed later to the process of regaining independence. Today, Georgia’s authorities work on the so-called “language revolution” in order to keep the political course towards the West.

Georgian Alphabet	English Sound	Pronunciation Example
ა	a	a as in apple
ბ	b	b as in boy
გ	g	g as in gold
დ	d	d as in dry
ე	e	e as in electricity
ვ	v	v as in vast
ზ	z	z as in zoo
თ	t’	t as in toll
ი	i	I as in Italy
კ	k	k as in karaoke
ლ	l	l as in lamb
მ	m	m as in man
ნ	n	n as in nice
ო	o	o as in old
პ	p	p as in piano
ჟ	zh	zh as in pleasure
რ	r	r as in rabbit
ს	s	s as in smart
ტ	t	t as in tank
უ	u	u as in ultimate
ფ	p’	p as in past
ქ	k’	k as in calm
ღ	gh	no English equivalent
ყ	q	q as in queue
შ	sh	sh as in short
ჩ	ch’	ch as in charm
ც	ts’	ts as in hats
ძ	dz	dz as in sad zebra
წ	ts	ts as in tsunami
ჭ	ch	ch as in charm
ხ	kh	kh as in the German bach
ჯ	j	j as in pleasure
ჰ	h	h as in Hawaii

Translated by KD

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Tags: cultural policy, education in former Soviet republics, Georgia-US Charter on Strategic Partnership, Georgia-US relations, national identity, Russia, Soviet Union, state language