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Russian Class Bridges Language Gap

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Matt Benedetti
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, KYRGYZSTAN --  Coh-fey," said Capt. Russell Gronsky with an emphasis on the middle syllable. "Coh-fey," he repeated patiently as he surveyed his class.

The 24 service members in attendance echoed his pronunciation in unison until they mirrored the instructor's inflection. Gronsky has just taught his pupils the proper way to articulate the word "coffee," in Russian, his native tongue, on the first night of class.

Gronsky, who was born in Ukraine and moved to San Francisco, Calif., at age 7, hosts a basic Russian linguistics course twice a week at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan. The primary objective of the familiarization course is to provide service members with a foundation in conversational Russian and to ensure that military personnel deployed to the Transit Center can better communicate with their Kyrgyz Republic hosts. The captain, who deployed from Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., serves here as the host nation liaison officer with the Transit Center's Theater Security Cooperation division.

"Employing the language in daily interaction with local residents can act as a force multiplier," he said. "Knowing a few words can be viewed as a sign of respect; many people here don't know Americans and will base their opinion on a first impression."

"Learning the language local people speak and understanding the culture establishes a connection and levels the playing field. Not expecting people to know English brings everyone together and puts people at ease," Gronsky said. "Understanding that we are working together and cooperating with one another rather than holding the perception that Americans are here to supervise and critique only strengthens our partnership."

The first phase of the course is focused on the recognition and pronunciation of the Russian alphabet. Comprised of 33 letters, the Russian alphabet includes some letters, which are similar to English, but the pronunciation is different.

Tech. Sgt. Susanna Gyger found the initial class challenging but educational. She hopes to be comfortable making conversation with locals while performing her duties as a chaplain's assistant. "I hope to be able to communicate with the Kyrgyz people even on a basic level. Being able to reach out to people is important. It is going to take a lot of studying, preparation and repetition but I think it will be worth it," said Gyger, a native of Hummelstown, Pa., who is deployed from the 111th Fighter Wing located at Willow Grove Air Reserve Station, Pa.

Gronsky recognizes the challenges but sees the value in learning the Russian language for personnel at the Transit Center.

"The most effective advertising is through word of mouth. To have people tell their friends that they have had a positive interaction with us is important. We want to spread a positive impression and hope they will base their future interactions on their experiences with us," said Gronsky, who was taught Russian by his grandmother, a teacher.

"Russian is a difficult language to learn; to become proficient it requires substantial time and commitment," Gronsky said. "However, basic conversational skills, like sharing family stories and casual greetings, can be taught fairly quickly."

"If Airmen can communicate comfortably in Russian, it makes an impact. The more people get the impression that our Airmen are trying to understand them and the Kyrgyz culture, the better," he said.