The CIS member countries declared 2023 the Year of the Russian Language as the Language of Interethnic Communication. An extensive program of events aimed at supporting the Russian language and improving its status is planned in the CIS within this initiative.
The Russian language is currently the fifth most spoken language in the world. Up to 260 million people know it, including about 160 million native speakers. Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. It is one of the two official languages of Belarus, has an official status in Kyrgyzstan, and stated as the language of interethnic communication in the constitutions of Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. In recent years, the popularity of Russian language among students from other countries has been on the rise. The CIS countries start to treat Russian not as the official language of the former metropolis, but as a means of communication that can have a positive effect on education, business, and career.
On October 28, 2022, the Heads of Government of the CIS countries gathered in Astana and approved an Action Plan for the Year of the Russian Language.
The action plan will encompass all areas where language plays a huge role as a means of communication and experience exchange. During the year, a number of various scientific and methodological events will take place, including the international conference “Russian as the language of interethnic communication in the context of culture”, international round table “Russian language in the CIS: prospects for development”, and scientific congress “The Russian language in the global educational space of the CIS countries”. Moreover, various venues will host competitions, concerts and performances based on the works of Russian classic literature. As part of the training, retraining and advanced training of teachers in the field of the Russian language, forums, seminars and open lessons for philologists and teachers of Russian will be organized. Young people will have a chance to participate in Russian language Olympiads, competitions and summer schools classes.
Source: mfgs-sng.org