(Through the eyes of a first-person practitioner)

N. V. SUKHOV

Rossotrudnichestvo^*

Morocco Keywords:, compatriots, Russian language. mixed family, bilingual

Long-term observations that I had the opportunity to conduct as director of the Russian Center for Science and Culture (RCSC) in Morocco have shown that out of the whole array of problems collectively defined as "the existence of the Russian community in an Arab country", it is the problem of the Russian language that is almost crucial both for successful adaptation to the host society and for to preserve the cultural parameters of the original society in the new culture.

Preserving the native language in a foreign environment, teaching Russian to migrant children and children from mixed marriages was and remains an important problem. The author learned about how it was solved among Russian emigrants in the XX century from conversations with Praskovya Petrovna Sheremeteva, a native of Rabat, and her memoirs, as well as from interviews with second^-wave emigrants who spent their youth in Morocco, but currently live in France and the United States. The author tried to analyze the current situation with the study of the Russian language in the Russian-speaking environment of Arab countries, and in particular in Morocco, being an eyewitness and an active participant in the process. It is important to note that our compatriots living in Arab countries today realize that the Russian language is a tool for preserving spiritual culture in a modern mixed family.

Among the specific features of Russian emigration as a special socio-cultural phenomenon, researchers refer to the stable continuity of the first two "waves" in the preservation and development of national culture, as well as openness to the cultures of the countries of residence and free interaction with them. Together, they determined the commitment of emigrants to their roots left in Russia, their self-perception as an organic part of the national culture and, consequently, the interaction of their settlement centers, which made it possible not to lose their spiritual and cultural integrity.¹ And such a danger existed. Here's how life went in Morocco in the description of P. P. Sheremeteva.

"With the French, we obviously lived close, went to school, then to the lyceum.

The main thing is that we were not only taught in French, but also in French...

Our friends were - of course-French, we went to the scouts, and later to parties. Rabat didn't have a Thursday school like Casablanca. So we lived - this is now clearer to me - in a kind of eternal contradiction and to some extent in a split. On the one hand, there is a distant, almost mythical Russia, which is increasingly sinking into some kind of unreality, on the other hand, there is a French pragmatic, logical world, for which, strictly speaking, nothing prepared us"².

P. P. Sheremeteva's parents, as well as other children who were taken out of Russia when they were young or were already born in exile, tried to impart to them the knowledge of their native language and the richness of Russian culture. It was the Orthodox Church, which has a rich arsenal of tools for a beneficial effect on the individual and his psyche and, accordingly, directs them, that turned out to be the most reliable support for raising young emigrants as Russians. P. P. Sheremeteva recalls how her parents forced her to learn prayers in Church Slavonic, sing in a church choir, first listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books, and then listen to Russian books. and read them yourself. "So we lived, Russians in North Africa, in an Arab country saturated with French culture, supporting a significant part of Russianness, Russian life, and spirit. 2

How can we preserve the culture of the historical homeland in the totality of its artistic, moral and aesthetic characteristics and traditions for young people who find themselves at the crossroads of civilizations? The life leitmotif of preserving Russianness in a foreign land in the totality of this concept, carried out by representatives of the first emigration wave and its contemporaries-emigrants of the second wave, is trying to formulate in relation to herself and her generation I. E. Evets, the daughter of the choir director of the church in Casablanca, now living in Paris.

"It was impossible for us to imagine that we were giving up our roots. Under this or other pretext. Russians are now used to saying that this is not the mother country, but the stepmother. But you still have your roots! And the homeland is one..."⁶¹

* Rossotrudnichestvo - Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation.

** The first wave of Russian emigration to Morocco (1922-1940) consisted of representatives of almost all classes and estates of the former Russian Empire, who arrived in this country through Tunisia, France and the Balkan countries; the second wave - people displaced outside the USSR in 1941-1944 during the Second World War, who escaped repatriation to the United States. The Soviet Union, Morocco arrived from camps for displaced persons in Germany in 1947-1951.

In addition to home education and church, the second wave of emigrants had another way of educating and shaping the personalities of children and young people - scout organizations. Training camps, hiking trips, and most importantly, summer camps organized on the most meagre means, created an environment for young people in which they maintained their friendship with each other, preserved their language and their national identity, despite the fact that they all studied in French schools and lyceums.⁵

PROBLEMS OF LEARNING AND PRESERVING THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IN A MIXED FAMILY

It is generally accepted that language is a tool that forms a person. A person is created by language and the culture embedded in it, the heritage of many generations of ancestors. A person is not allowed to choose their native language, native culture, place and time of birth. The child enters the world of people, and language immediately begins to create a picture of the world, an idea of people, a system of values, ways of life and ways of survival. A person has no choice if he was born in a family where one language is used for communication. In a mixed family, parents, grandparents, close and distant relatives speak at least two languages, which is typical for most Arab countries. In Morocco, the picture is unique: members of a mixed family can speak three, and in some cases four languages (Moroccan dialect of Arabic, Russian, French, Spanish - in the northern regions of the country).

A person from infancy falls under the influence and power of different languages and finds himself at the crossroads of cultures. He faces the most difficult task to assimilate and combine in himself, in his consciousness and subconsciousness, the different cultures that carry the languages that sound around him, to become a full member of the speech collective in which he found himself upon the fact of his birth. He solves this problem, of course, unconsciously. Unfortunately, most often this problem is not realized by his parents.

Each national language not only reflects, but also forms a national character. " A person is not born neither Russian, nor German, nor Japanese, etc., but becomes one as a result of being in the corresponding national community of people. The upbringing of a child goes through the influence of national culture, the bearers of which are the surrounding people " ⁶.

In the case of children from mixed marriages, we observe a problem that is inextricably linked with determining, under the influence of internal psychological and external social factors, the language that becomes "main" for the child. His further self-identification in adolescence depends on this. Will he feel like a "Russian", a "Moroccan", a "Frenchman", a man of the world, or will he suffer from uncertainty and duality all his life? After all, it has already been proven: "Elements of both material and sound culture can act as ethnic symbols" ⁷.

One way or another, having received this gift of multilingualism, which has absorbed the whole world - both external and internal - the child uses it for communication, communication with other people. His life largely, sometimes completely, depends on how well, effectively and correctly he has learned to communicate. In the sphere of communication that the concept of "Russian World" covers, it is introduced, first of all, by the mother, and then organizations of compatriots and Russia, represented by its representatives abroad, help to get used to it.

The following statement shows how relevant and significant this problem is for our compatriots themselves, how much they are concerned about the "Russian component" in the system of education of their children, their upbringing in a mixed family and a "crossroads of cultures".: "Teacher, Student, in Russian Africa... How far away is Africa! And we live here. We are native speakers of the Russian language and culture. We are representatives of Russian Africa, people who came here for completely different reasons... And now we have to be teachers for our own children. No matter how much we try to adapt to the country that has adopted us, our children still heard the first word in their lives from us, mothers. And the word was-in Russian. Even if our children grow up in a different language, they know that their mothers are Russian. And they try to address us in Russian. 8

The degree of Russian language acquisition by a child in a mixed family and the share of its "Russian cultural component" depend, as practice shows, on a variety of factors, often indirect and unpredictable, that affect it at different stages of life. In turn, a huge role in his fate is played by how" Russian " a teenager became, and then an adult. In the context of Morocco and the wider Arab world, the Russian language is considered as a sign of belonging to a certain society.

the choice of an individual's profession, partner for starting a family, and country of residence largely determines their social status.

Let's look at the possible options using specific examples. For the sake of objectivity, we note that even in the same family, different children perceive the Russian language and Russian culture differently, they differ in determining the role of language in their lives and, accordingly, in self-identification by nationality ("Russian", "Moroccan", "French"), and we also note that language is a factor of social belonging.

RUSSIAN IS THE FIRST AND FOREMOST NATIVE LANGUAGE IN EVERYTHING

Those for whom the Russian language is a sign of ethnicity, regardless of skin tone and anthropological characteristics, as a rule, were born and reached a certain age (5 years and older) in Russia. These can be children from mixed marriages, as well as children from the first marriage of a compatriot (most often a Russian or Ukrainian). Having moved to the homeland of their father (stepfather), they experience psychological stress from being in a different language and cultural environment. Arabic and French are clearly perceived as foreign languages by them. For Arab relatives and classmates, they will always remain "Russian".

How quickly and painlessly the adaptation of a small migrant will take place inevitably depends on the intellectual level and social status of his parents. Since the average Russian university graduate belongs to the middle class, it is usually only a matter of time. Affluent families send their children to private kindergartens and schools, where they are carefully taught by teachers. The child learns French quite quickly. The Moroccan dialect of Arabic, the so-called darija, is learned during communication with relatives, primarily with the grandmother and sisters of the father, as well as with the servants. If the family lives separately, everything is limited to French. Poorer families move from Russia or Ukraine to join the traditional "big family" - the Arab clan. Here the priority in communication is given to dariga, and French is the language of the school. One way or another, spoken Russian remains the native language.

Depending on the age of the child, there is a threat that he will not learn to write in Russian. Much depends on the mother: if she teaches her child to read and write, reads Russian books, teaches them poetry, and takes them to Russian language courses, the child's chances of maintaining and improving their native language skills increase. Of great importance is the moral and, in some cases, material support of the father. Often in such families, parents speak Russian among themselves. Regular trips to the mother's homeland and communication with relatives who come to visit also contribute to the development and maintenance of the Russian language.

In this group, I had to observe the extremes. The situation when the family lives separately in a small town - the husband is busy with his business (most often he is the owner of a pharmacy), the Russian mother is at home with the child, their communication is limited to compatriots-leads to the fact that by school age the child simply does not know the local language. Language isolation, which is caused by parents ' carelessness, leads to serious psychological problems and causes a lifelong trauma to the child: he perceives the host country as hostile and tends to leave it as an adult, most often as a student of a Russian university.

Another aspect of this problem occurs when the family is socially isolated. At the initiative of the Moroccan husband, Russian (Ukrainian) wife, or both, communication with relatives is minimized. A foreign wife does not integrate into her husband's family. The reason for this may be the origin of the husband from the "common people" (in the Soviet era, mostly people from poor families were sent to study along the party line). Then he, having become a "city" and married a foreigner, is shy of his "village" relatives. On the other hand, the new, higher social stratum of Moroccan society, which the husband entered as a certified specialist, does not accept his family into "their" environment, meaning his "low" origin.

A common reason is the rejection of a foreign wife by a "big family". It can be considered an infidel " pig-eater "(even if it later converts to Islam), whose visit to the parental home desecrates it, and it can also be considered an unprofitable party that destroyed the combination of two clans conceived many years ago. One way or another, a child in such a family finds himself in linguistic isolation. Having mastered French and Arabic at school, if necessary, he continues to consider Russian as his native language and, accordingly, to identify himself as a native speaker.-

he calls himself a "Russian". Since such situations occur, as a rule, in families with a low cultural level, systematic training in the Russian language (reading and writing) does not occur in them. There is only hope for Russian language courses at the RCSC or associations of compatriots. After finishing school, such children also tend to leave the host country and go to study abroad, most often in Russia.

THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IS LOST

It is a common enough situation to describe it and reflect on ways to influence it.

Children who cannot speak Russian by the age of 10, although almost everyone understands it, and are able to communicate using individual words or short phrases, can be considered as having lost their mother's language. The reason for this is a complex of factors. Practical observations show that the question of teaching a child the Russian language does not arise in mixed families, where for a number of reasons they do not initially speak Russian. It is characteristic that this circumstance is related to the social background and current status of both partners.

From the moment of arrival in Morocco, the nuclear family merges into the traditional family-the Arab clan, which is a large group united by family ties. At the head of it are an elderly man and his wife-parents, older relatives. The family includes married sons, their children, and married grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They live together, work together, and solve problems together.

The traditional family is based on the power of the husband-the head of the family. He is called the "master of the family". The relationship between older and younger brothers is similar to that between a father and sons. Submission and respect for the elders is one of the main advantages of a young man. A son is considered wise if he follows the advice of his elders, even if he is the only one in the family who has received a higher education. His wife - a young daughter - in-law from Russia (or Ukraine) - becomes the youngest in such a family, and therefore the most disenfranchised. She needs a strong character, patience and years to assert herself and make herself respected. It's not up to the Russian language.

It would seem that this type of family persists in rural areas, gradually collapsing in cities. But the vast majority of graduates of Soviet and Russian universities in Arab countries, according to statistics, came to study from large and medium-sized cities. The problem is that the data is based on surveys of graduates themselves. A Russian citizen usually associates the category" city " with a large or medium-sized cultural, administrative, or industrial multi - populated center with a certain infrastructure, architecture, communications, cultural and educational institutions, and social services-in short, a modern city of the European type.

In Arab countries, including Morocco, " city "can refer to a locality that, according to our criteria, falls under the concept of" settlement "or"village". At the same time, the Arab city - regardless of its size - is distinguished by its social and cultural diversity, the multiplicity of samples and models present in it, among which the predominant influence of traditional culture on the urban way of life is obvious (it is family life that most consistently preserves the features of traditional relations in the city) and the dominant role of Islam.

In addition, residents of such localities have almost no access to the centers of Russian culture and organizations of compatriots located in the capitals and major administrative centers. With all the desire, a Russian-speaking woman does not have the opportunity to take her children to Russian language courses, she often does not even have someone to talk to in Russian.

Another common reason for the appearance in Arab countries of "Russian" children who do not speak Russian is, according to our observations, the mother's indifference to this issue due to her low educational and cultural level. Studies conducted by Russian scientists, primarily N. L. Krylova, in the 90s of the XX century showed that about 70% of the wives of students from the Maghreb countries come from the Russian province: small industrial towns, urban-type settlements, villages, villages, while about 20% of the total number do not have higher education ⁹.

Most of them, once in the environment described above, let the upbringing and education of children take their course. In a large family, a child will always be looked after by one of the relatives. Then, like local children, he is sent to a municipal kindergarten, and then to a school where the language forms a full-fledged Arab (Moroccan). A happy person grows up to some extent, who is in harmony with the surrounding world. At the same time, the mother herself usually assimilates into the host society, perfectly masters the dialects and dialects of the area, converts to Islam, and puts on a hijab. Her worldview and system of values are changing, and the Russian language does not find a place in them.

The consequences of such a life situation affect the contact of a teenager or an adult who already has Russian citizenship with his already nominal compatriots. For example, such a person presents a Russian passport, says without an accent "hello", " how are you?", "good" and ... everything. That's all he can say in Russian, and his nonverbal language gives him away as an outsider.

A CHILD IN MOROCCO IS MORE THAN BILINGUAL!

The majority of children in mixed families speak spoken Russian along with Arabic (Dariga), French and Spanish (in northern Morocco). And their Russian is not the first, not the main one - a natural situation that follows from the social conditions in which these families are located. The majority of Moroccan graduates of Russian universities occupy a decent position in their country. Engineers, doctors, and pharmacists with Soviet or Russian degrees have always found and are finding good jobs, despite the 20% unemployment rate among Moroccan university graduates. Along with the authority of Russian education, their successful career is also promoted by the social status of a "big" family, its social structure and social status.

extensive family ties. The family maintains a positive attitude towards Russia as a country that gave education to his son, a country of world culture, a mighty power, and a "friend of all Arabs". In this social environment, unlike those described above, they know quite a lot about the daughter-in-law's homeland, and have a certain idea of her compatriots. As a rule, a young wife from Russia (Ukraine) gets into a "decent" society, where the predominant language of communication is French. This environment also determines the fate of her child: a private kindergarten, a private school, or a French mission.

In a nuclear family, which in most cases lives in a separate apartment or in a city villa, they watch Russian-language TV channels, show cartoons in Russian to the child, and read Russian fairy tales. Thus, it exists in a multilingual cultural environment, simultaneously absorbing various cultural values - in vocabulary, in proverbs, sayings, in folklore, in fiction, in forms of oral speech.

In 2007-2011, the author conducted a survey in Morocco of female compatriots whose families belong to the last two categories. 55% of them confirmed that they communicate in two languages at home, and 45% - only in Russian. However, the main language for the child in this situation is French - the language of communication with the father, his family, the language of education and games with peers. When telling his mother about what happened at school today, the child translates in his mind into Russian from French and gradually switches to it, because he simply does not know the Russian equivalents of many words, especially those used in children's games. With age, such a child perfectly masters darizh, literary Arabic, English, and Spanish. This is already a "standard" set of languages for a high school graduate from a good Moroccan family. Russian remains the language of the mother, her relatives, the language of childhood, and Russia. But such a child most often does not know how to read and write on it. This is confirmed in an interview by our compatriot, talking about his children.

"From the very beginning, we had a contract with my wife, and we continue to adhere to it: at home we speak Russian, at school the children speak French, because they are in a French school, and with their peers on the street they speak Arabic. In other words, we give them the opportunity to communicate in all three languages. My son speaks Russian like a well-spoken foreigner. Not as a Russian person. At the age of about 12-13 years, he began to distinguish, understand: this is in Russian, this is in French, and this is in Arabic. He used to talk very funny: all three languages together, and it seemed to him that everyone should understand him. Now he understands when it is necessary to speak one of the languages. And my daughter, in my opinion, goes the same way. Now she tries to speak as much Russian as possible (she likes to speak Russian, feel Russian).

My daughter speaks Russian... My mother speaks Russian to her, and she answers me and my mother in French. Well, you can understand her: she spends all her time at school, where she speaks only French, her friends-they dance together-are both French, so there are not many opportunities to use the Russian language " ¹⁰.

SOME PEOPLE DON'T NEED RUSSIAN...

I have encountered cases where a Russian-speaking mother deliberately restricts the influence of the Russian language and Russian culture on the child. As noted above, the real conditions of life in a foreign-language, foreign-cultural environment change her mentality, her vision of the world. And in this Francophone world of hers, she prefers to orient her children to study and continue their life not in Morocco or Russia, but in France, Canada or the United States. Other important reasons why a mother stops teaching her child Russian intensively include racism in Russia and family problems. Most often, this decision is made if the child has pronounced Semitic features and dark skin color. The mother is afraid that, carried away by Russia, her grown-up child will want to move there to live. The negative experience of others does not stop young maximalists who consider themselves "Russian" and idealize Russia.

Another reason for abandoning the Russian language may be the desire of a widowed or divorced mother to facilitate the child's adaptation and assimilation into the host society. In a situation where the" Russian " Moroccan is backed by his father with all the power of the family clan, his future is assured. The situation with the loss of social support is much different, when the "Russian" becomes the brand of an outsider. The idea of moving home in such cases does not even arise. The mother understands that when she returns, she will not be able to provide her children with the same standard of living as in Morocco. As a result, the child learns Russian in the family and/or in courses only up to a certain age (usually up to 10-13 years).

An additional illustration of the above can serve as an excerpt from the already mentioned interview of our compatriot, who has lived in Morocco for more than 20 years and observes the situation from within the Russian-speaking community in this country.

"As for the Russian language, or rather, the Russian language proficiency of children in mixed marriages. In my opinion, the role of women in the educational and linguistic processes is certainly greater than the role of men, at least in the sense that a man is less likely to be at home with children... I've noticed that non-working mothers have children who speak Russian much better than working mothers. Because it is working - it is, of course, absent. And who is the child with? Either he's in a Moroccan school, a French school, a Spanish school, an American school - it doesn't matter if it's a local school. Or with a maid... " ¹¹

LANGUAGE TRAINING BASED ON ENTHUSIASTS

Among mixed families, where Russian has equal rights with other languages, enthusiasts of learning it stand out. With all the same living conditions, they pay special attention to teaching children the Russian language-first at home, and then at courses. Parents - both the Moroccan father and the Russian mother - are educated, successful people with a high level of culture, with a secular, Europeanized view of the world around them. They plan to-

You can give your children a higher education in Russia with a possible continuation in France or Canada. Such a family is ready to spend time and money on teaching their children Russian language courses at the RCSC or organizations of compatriots. They are often activists of such organizations, creating favorable conditions for children's perception of Russian culture. Their children adequately identify themselves as "Russian Moroccans", and they are also perceived by the surrounding society, and with a plus sign. Thanks to the Internet, they correspond with friends and relatives living in Russia, which in itself motivates the improvement of the Russian language. As an example, here is a girl who is equally fluent in five languages, who has the opportunity to study in England, received a state scholarship for a certificate competition in France, but, in the end, chose the MSU biofactory faculty.

And one last comment on this topic. Above, we have already mentioned the trend of recent years, when widowed mothers of our compatriots move to live with their families. It is impossible to overestimate the role of a grandmother in learning Russian!

Those compatriots who really want to teach their children the Russian language and introduce them to Russian culture have already come to the conclusion that it is necessary to combine their efforts. The organization of Russian language courses for children was one of the incentives for the creation of associations of compatriots in the 2000s. Judging by an interview with E. F. Yusufin, the chairman of the "Compatriots" organization registered in Morocco in 2007, this was a deliberate ^step12. " Fortunately, in recent years the Russian government has been actively supporting Russian-speaking organizations abroad. That is why the women's initiative group (in Casablanca. - N. S.) decided to re-create the association of Russian-speaking women, which would include women from Russia and former Soviet republics who married Moroccan students and came here for permanent residence. Russian is the main unifying element. Our priorities are working with children and young people to preserve and develop the Russian language, traditions and culture."

In addition to the ideological motives expressed in the phrase: "Our children should feel like a part of a huge country - Russia, do not forget about their roots," compatriots are also driven by quite practical considerations. Parents clearly understand the benefits of learning Russian for their children. Knowledge of the Russian language, which is classified as difficult and even exotic, can significantly increase the final score at the end of school, significantly increases the chances of competitive admission to a prestigious educational institution, including in Europe.

It is obvious that knowledge of the Russian language is almost a profession or a significant plus to it. This knowledge also makes it possible to get an additional (or basic) education in Russia. According to the results of the above-mentioned survey, at least a quarter of our compatriots living in Morocco plan to give their children a higher education in Russia and, accordingly, orient them in life. Finally, maintaining a personal language of communication with children for life, consciously or unconsciously, is perceived as a way to preserve internal family understanding, mutual respect and affection.

Moving from good wishes to practical activities to teach their children the Russian language, our compatriots, of course, faced and face a certain set of problems. This was succinctly stated by one of the activists of the Russian-speaking community of Syria: "It only seems that there is nothing easier than to sit together in a bright room with these two people: the one who can teach and the one who wants to learn; it only seems that there is nothing easier for the teacher to start teaching, because he, the teacher, speaks-reads-writes so easily and fluently in this native Russian language. It just seems simple, but you can try to make this meeting of a teacher and a student take place in real conditions of foreign countries, so that this meeting is not a one - time meeting, but results in a long and fruitful educational process, try it... and you will understand that organizing such a meeting is quite difficult..."¹³

The first and most pressing problem is to find a qualified teacher in an Arab country. Russian women, even with a philological education, do not have the necessary training and skills to teach Russian, much less teach bilingual children. In most cases, Russian language courses for children are taught by enthusiasts, activists of women's associations, often free of charge or for a nominal fee. Learning the language is combined with lessons in the history of Russia, drawing-

art projects, crafts, festive concerts with the participation of children and their mothers, dedicated to Russian holidays. Unfortunately, in such cases, it is impossible to talk about a high level of teaching.

In the best position are the Russian language courses for children of compatriots at the Russian Center for Science and Culture, where a professional Russian scholar works, and which play a crucial role in the process of teaching children from mixed marriages. In recent years, the methodological and organizational assistance provided by the RCSC to organizations of compatriots has become more active.

For example, in Morocco, the well-deserved, long-time association "Compatriots" with branches in Casablanca, Tangier and Fez, and the very young, but very promising organization "Russian House in Morocco" in Rabat teach their children the Russian language with the help of manuals received as a gift from the RCSC. The head of the Russian Language Courses of the RCSC regularly conducts meetings with them to exchange experience and methodological seminars. Over the past five years, the Federal Target Program "Russian Language" has managed to send three Russian teachers from Morocco to Russia for advanced training seminars.

The problem of teaching Russian to bilingual children remains relevant for Morocco, as well as for all Arab countries. Currently, textbooks for the youngest Mestizo children "Russian language with mother"are used. For teenagers - only personal developments of local teachers. Textbooks on regional studies for children of our compatriots are currently being developed.

If the problem of teaching Russian and teaching aids for children from mixed marriages is solved based on the local capabilities of the organizations of compatriots themselves, then they have to solve the problem of placing courses and clubs in those cities where there are no RCSCS, interacting with local authorities and public organizations. In Casablanca, for example, the association "Compatriots" does not have its own premises for classes with children, but Moroccan public organizations and district municipalities with which it cooperates have provided their halls free of charge every Saturday for the past few years. This situation makes learning Russian dependent on any changes in the social and political life of the host country.

Here is an excerpt from the letter of the chairman of the association "Compatriots", received by the author on September 23, 2012. " I am afraid that this academic year there will be difficulties with accommodation. Various meetings and conferences are constantly held in the Zef-Zaf center, and preparations are underway for municipal elections, which may be held in January next year. In the meantime, we will gather in the shopping center "Turia Sekkat" (where we spend New Year's holidays)... ". Also, on an honest word and good relations, in the Cultural Center of one of the districts of Casablanca "Maarif" there is a Russian library, which today has about 1000 books in Russian.

"Compatriots" do not back down before problems. In Casablanca, for example, new Russian language courses for children have been launched under the auspices of the Association since January 2012. Classes are conducted using the latest game techniques. The program includes teaching children to write and read, developing speech, enriching vocabulary, setting the correct pronunciation, and increasing motivation to learn the Russian language and culture. The emphasis is placed on the development of phonetics, which is closely related to the child's further learning to read and write. In a playful way, children learn to correctly express their thoughts, retell texts, pronounce words correctly, and distinguish such concepts as sound, syllable, word, and sentence. It is from the correct understanding of these words that they later move on to the conscious compilation of coherent statements of various types: narration, description, reasoning. It is very important to teach the child the correct pronunciation of sounds, to develop his articulatory apparatus, to fix the pronunciation of hard and soft sounds. To achieve these goals, the new course teacher, Maria Auad, uses interesting speech games ¹⁴.

Activities aimed at popularizing the Russian language among Mestizo children and teaching them require a certain material base. The Government Commission on the Affairs of Compatriots Abroad (PKDSR) is called upon to help organizations of compatriots in this noble cause. Unfortunately, the most pressing items of expenditure - paying for teachers, renting premises, and replicating locally developed textbooks-are not included in the permitted list of expenses. Therefore, organizations of compatriots try to find internal sources of funding: their own business, membership fees.

When discussing the material-

In this regard, it is important to listen to the words of Irina von Schlippe, who spent her youth in Morocco, who spoke at the Diocesan Conference of the Diocese of Sourozh in 2003: "If the community is large enough, it can overcome a significant number of such changes: it can create its own schools, publish its own periodicals and entertainment literature; set up theaters, music and entertainment centers. social centers. In any case, if a community does not maintain a constant and lively connection with the homeland, then most of its youth will gradually join the dominant local community. 15

The Russian-speaking community in Morocco is much smaller than, for example, in the United Arab Emirates or Lebanon, but its active members, numbering more than 100 people, make every effort to give their children the opportunity to learn Russian. In some ways, our compatriots in this country have become pioneers: since 2009, they have regularly held international round tables devoted to topical issues for our compatriots.

The first round table of leaders of international non - governmental organizations that unite Russian - speaking women - "Russian women in mixed Marriages" - was held in Marrakech in June 2009. The forum "The Russian language as a tool for preserving spiritual culture in a modern "mixed" family" was held for the second time in Rabat in September 2010. The issues that were raised at these meetings were and remain relevant for our compatriots, as they directly relate to the civil and professional destinies of themselves and their descendants.

For the third time in June 2011, the Kingdom of Morocco hosted not only compatriots from Africa and the Middle East, but also distinguished scientists and teachers from Russia and the CIS countries. The topic of this round table - "Teacher and Student in "Russian" Africa " - can be safely called innovative, since this problem, which arises in the places of residence of Russian compatriots in the context of a huge variety of forms of mutual influence and interaction of all participants in the educational process, has never been raised before.

* * *

Long-term experience of working with children from mixed marriages proves that a child whose parents belong to different cultures comes into contact with different norms and values in the person of the mother and father, forming as an independent cultural entity that really exists, requiring teachers and mentors to be attentive and careful about themselves. Much here depends on the child's blood-related environment, the very atmosphere of the home, as well as on the norms and ideals instilled by his teachers, the media, and peer groups.

Children who grew up in mixed families tend to inherit the traditions and traits of both peoples represented by their father's and mother's families. They often find it difficult to clearly define their national identity, since they have to look for a" dividing line "within their own "I". This is a socially and psychologically difficult process. Not only the family, but also experienced teachers and mentors, as well as public organizations of compatriots and Russian institutions abroad, can facilitate, in our opinion, the search for self-identification of such a teenager.

¹ For more information, see: Novikov A.M. Metodologicheskie problemy izucheniya kul'tury Russkogo Zarubezhya [Methodological problems of studying the culture of the Russian Diaspora]. St. Petersburg, 1997, pp. 6-7; Zimina V. D. Deti russkoy emigratsii: szhivanie radi samosokhraneniya Rossii [Children of Russian Emigration: survival for the sake of self-preservation of Russia]. Moscow, 2004, N 2 (11).

² From a conversation between N. V. Sukhov and P. P. Sheremeteva. Not published.

³ Ibid.

^{Krylova N. L., Evets I.} 4 We slipped through Africa. Tender Measurement, Moscow, 2010, p. 173.

⁵ Destinies of the 1920s-1930s generation in Emigration: Essays and Memories / Ed. - Comp. L. S. Flam / / Moscow, Russian way, 2006.

^{Vereshchagin M., Kostomarov V. G.} 6 Yazyk i kul'tura [Language and Culture], Moscow, 1990, p. 25.

^{Bromley Yu. V.} 7 Etnos i etnografiya [Ethnos and Ethnography], Moscow, 1973, p. 66.

⁸ Tatiana Najah (from a speech at the round table "Teacher and Student in "Russian " Africa", June 2011, Casablanca, Morocco), see: Teach and learn to be Russian / / Asia and Africa Today, 2012, N 3.

^{Krylova N. L.} 9 Russian women in Africa. Problemy adaptatsii [Problems of adaptation], ROSSPEN Publ., 1996, pp. 27-31.

¹⁰ From the personal archive of N. L. Krylova. Not published. We should add that, despite the uniqueness of the family, where the husband is Russian and the wife is Moroccan, the situation is typical.

¹¹ Ibid.

^{Jorge Costas.} 12 Interview with E. Yusufin for the website "Russian Spain" - http://www.russianspain.com/news/article4302.html

¹³ Nina Sergeeva, Latakia (Syria) (from the speech at the round table "Teacher...", see: Teach and learn to be Russian...

^{Jorge Costas.} 14 Interviews...

^{Von Schlippe I.} 15 Crisis of Exile: the Search for social and Spiritual solutions in Emigration. Report - http://www.religare.ru/ article29963.htm

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