From January 16, 2021, the mandatory use of the Ukrainian language in the service sphere will be introduced in our country. Now it will be possible to serve the client in another language only at his request. According to the Ukrainian language ombudsman Taras Kreminy, everyone who provides services, regardless of the form of ownership, must provide information about goods and services in Ukrainian according to Art. 30 "Law on the State Language". In his opinion, there are no countries where language norms are not regulated, and these innovations are "absolutely tolerant and adequate".
"We all work today in state structures, study, interact with organizations and institutions, so one way or another, the level of language training of the population cannot be lower than average, - he noted. — We were able to translate the training into the Ukrainian language, and we will prepare for this step as well - unfortunately, there are no state free language courses, but separate municipal support programs exist. As we will relate to the language law, so our children will relate to other laws as well. The state language is one, and it must be popularized. This is a question of educational trajectory, this is a question of service quality, the foundation of the state, enshrined in the Constitution. I am for peaceful Ukrainization, for which the conditions are created."
According to a survey by our editors, which was conducted among Odessa residents in different areas of the city, more than 85% of people speak Russian, the rest use either Surzhik (which is the most common) or Ukrainian.
According to the respondents, we are returning to the era when talking about what you want and how you want was possible only in the kitchen.
— I am not against the Ukrainian language. I am against overreach - for example, why should a Georgian restaurant be served in Ukrainian? And so advertising in Ukrainian, public events, songs and books are almost there - well, let's be honest, we were all growing up at the same time. It is not necessary to force people, this always leads to a negative reaction, - says Elena Petrova, a philologist.
Also, according to some experts, such measures can negatively affect the quality of service as a whole, and, consequently, the level of tourist attraction. This can especially affect the indicators of the southern regions, says political scientist, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics Ruslan Bortnyk.
"This issue, of course, will not lead to any radical change or change in the situation. The decision of the authorities will be sabotaged at the local level. And it worked as it did before, so it will work in the future - people will communicate in the language they want and in which they are used to speaking. I think this innovation will have a bad effect on tourism and will lead to a huge number of conflicts", - believes Bortnyk.
Of course, any reform is introduced gradually. And this story is no exception.
"For my part, I am ready to inform, communicate and educate. And I am appealing to local politicians and authorities to help and support this law.", - in turn, stressed Taras Kremin, the Commissioner for Language Rights.
