From November 16, the service sector in Ukraine will have to speak Ukrainian. We are talking about any business that deals with customers — from shops to sports clubs.

«Strana» went to the largest Russian-speaking city of Ukraine — Kharkov — to find out people’s opinion on this matter.

«People should communicate fluently, even in Chinese.»

“Ukrainian is a business language. It should be in the field of documents, education, medicine. And people should communicate freely — even in Chinese, ”says the first woman we met.

“You know, in the context of Russian-speaking cities, this rule will be difficult to implement. You can enter it, but you cannot physically control it, «the strolling girls tell Strana. At the same time, they say that “I feel sorry for the people who will be punished. Their salaries are small, they need to feed their families. «

A woman with a child said that she had a very negative attitude to the Ukrainianization of the service sector.

“Everyone has their own native language, in which they think. The number of people who speak Russian prevails over those who speak Ukrainian. Therefore, completely removing the Russian language is a big mistake. You can even see now in schools — what kind of illiteracy children have … This can be seen from the dictations, I am a teacher, ”said the Kharkov woman.

She criticized that Western Ukrainian neologisms are implanted in schools, which no one understands. Then our interlocutor stated that she knew both languages ​​and switched to Ukrainian. “Speak Russian, I don’t understand anything,” said her little daughter, standing next to her.

“I respect that Ukrainian language, which brings neither blood, nor murder, nor strife. And not the one that is now, ”she concludes in Ukrainian.

I won’t complain about cashiers»

There were also supporters of Ukrainization in Kharkov.

The woman, who introduced herself as Russian and Russian-speaking, said she had a positive attitude towards Ukrainization. But she will not write complaints about those sellers who do not apply in Ukrainian.

She said that her daughter lives in France, where it is allegedly forbidden to use other languages ​​in public places. «He’s just going to be fired from his job.»

“I am Russian-speaking, Russian by nationality, this does not affect me at all. Neither me nor my children. But I won’t complain about the cashiers. Let them keep track of them. It is not the task of the population to walk and spy, ”said the Kharkiv woman.

In her opinion, “idlers” do not want to learn the Ukrainian language. “If you don’t want to, you’ll sit without work. And if you want, go learn the state language, ”she stated.

One of the respondents was just a worker in the service sector. Its norm for Ukrainianization is not encouraging. At the same time, she is ready to switch to Ukrainian if the client is Ukrainian speaking person.

“My opinion is that everyone is free to speak the language that suits him. Violent methods are not the best option. You can gradually move on. No hard work is needed, ”she says.

A pensioner from Kharkov told Strana that there were already attempts to switch to Ukrainian in the service sector, but failed.

“We went through this when everyone was translated into Ukrainian in state institutions. But little by little everything will calm down, ”she says, meaning that people will still use the language that is more convenient for them.

We also met a girl who said she was against such a norm. “I was born into a Russian-speaking family. I understand Ukrainian, but I can’t speak it like that. » “We’ll speak like Azarov” another woman, who was interested in the topic of the survey, intervenes with a laugh.

«I am for bilingualism»

«I’m against. Since we live in Eastern Ukraine and speak Russian, we must serve which person is beneficial. Ukrainian, of course, is a beautiful language, but it is Western ”, — two pensioners strolling around answer us without hesitation.

“Switzerland has four official languages, why can’t we do two? I am for bilingualism, ”says one of them.

Other Kharkiv residents say about the same.

“Canada lives well, although it is demarcated into French and English speaking areas,” reminds a woman who is accompanied by a man. “If in 2014 they had not started to raise the language law, then everything would have been fine,” she said.

“Let them say what they want, not how they are forced,” a man walking in the park told us. When the rule of law works, he promised that he would «swear», but exclusively in Russian.

“It seems to me that this is an infringement of human rights,” a woman who was in a hurry somewhere answered shortly.

“You need to understand the Ukrainian language, we live in Ukraine. But the language of communication can be anything ”, — said another Kharkiv woman.

A married couple of pensioners told Strana that everyone should be equal, including on the basis of language. “Otherwise, it will come to a disagreement such that mom will not grieve,” they said.

But the young man told us that he treats the innovation “only positively”.

“Because language is the fundamental thing that makes society. There is no society without language. Please, at home, you can communicate in a language that is comfortable. But in the public sphere, please be so kind as to communicate in the state language.

The same point of view was expressed by a pensioner who was walking nearby. “I have a positive attitude. We live in Ukraine. Our native language is Ukrainian. Although, in general, I don’t mind speaking Russian. But Ukrainian is our state. Although I speak Russian, ha-ha, ”the interlocutor even laughed at such a paradox.

«Why choose the language for us?»

“To oblige a person to speak a language that he does not speak is inhumane,” says the young girl. She reacted negatively to the norm of the law, which she first heard from «Strana».

Another Kharkiv woman cited the situation of national minorities in Western Ukraine as an example.

“Hungarians live in Western Ukraine, Poles live. And they speak the language they have spoken all their lives. And they serve their people in Hungarian, in Polish — on the territory of our Ukraine. Make them speak pure Ukrainian, ”she said with a laugh.

The young woman said that it was impossible to force her to switch to Ukrainian. “I speak Ukrainian fluently, no questions asked. But it is necessary not to force, but to attract to the language, ”she said.

The interlocutor says that no one will control the norms of the new law. And to file complaints against people for their native language is “ugly”. “The Russian language does not belong to Russia, it is not its property. There is no need to confuse language and political issues, ”says the woman.

“Why do they choose for us what language we want to speak?”, Another girl we interviewed is surprised.

Antonina Beloglazova, Strana

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