Exam candidates about the final exam Russian
Aymon Cutileiro (18) found the Russian final exam quite tough. ‘In such a reading test there are many words that I do not know. I did have a dictionary with me, but searching for meanings in a different alphabet takes more time than you are used to.’ Fortunately, he put the last answer on paper just in time, with a good feeling.
When Aymon chose Russian as his final exam subject in the third year of grammar school, he was mainly concerned with the language. ‘I like languages and Russian sounds exotic; it’s a bit like Latin and Greek.’ The longer he had lessons, the more he became captivated by the culture. ‘In Russia, for example, family occupies a very important place. This is reflected in the language: Russian has many more words to indicate relationships between friends and family than Dutch.’
Thanks to the knowledge of Russian culture, Aymon now understands better how the war in Ukraine started. Has he changed his mind about Russian because of the war? No, Aymon says. Not about the language and not about the people. Nor about Putin: ‘I never liked that one.’
Dasha Romanovna Makar (17) is half Russian and half Ukrainian. Her mother came to the Netherlands for love six years ago, and she has lived here ever since. Dasha chose her mother tongue as a school subject because her package still lacked a modern foreign language. German was not possible, because she was given a 1.
Although she already has a perfect command of Russian, she discovered something new during the lessons: Anton Chekhov. ‘I really like his books. He grabs events from life, making it seem like you’re there.’