Political situation in Moldova favors studying of Romanian

“The change of power in Moldova increased other-language speakers' interest in studying the Romanian language, though the new administration has not yet addressed the linguistic issue,” the director of the Chisinau Linguistic Center Andrei Cashenko has told Info-Prim Neo. According to him, the rise in the number of applications to Romanian language courses was determined by the political situation created after the July elections. “The number of persons doing courses is always high,”Andrei Cashenko said. “The 2009-2010 academic year is the Center's ninth working year. During these years, we had by 30-40 groups or about 500 students permanently. Twelve new groups started work by mid-September. The number of applicants is on the rise. Another 20 groups are resuming work after the summer vacation. We are close to reaching the limit of our capacity, both as regards the number of teachers and the number of classrooms, especially between 18.00 and 19.30. We started to prepare new staff and look for new classrooms. We hope the Chisinau Municipal Council will support us.” Cashenko is convinced that the social-political situation in the country influences directly the work of the linguistic centers. He said that over 100 students of the about 400 attending the Center's courses abandoned them after the April 7 events. According to Cashenko, the Linguistic Center is one of the most popular centers of the kind in Chisinau. The courses for adults titled “Romanian during 50 Lessons” center on the grammar of the Romanian language taught in Russian after an original method and include many exercises and didactic texts. The courses for newcomers last for 9 months, while for advanced students - four months. Persons of all ages take courses, including pensioners. The Center possesses a set of tests that allow assessing the knowledge of Romanian of any Russian speaker quickly and objectively. The courses for newcomers are for payment, while for advanced students – free of charge. It is an older practice aimed at stimulating the students to graduate from the courses and develop proficiency in Romanian. The Center also runs a Romanian language course for children of preschool age and first graders. Last year, there was worked out an original Romanian language course for sellers and buyers (of food products), which is regretfully not very popular.