Dear Fr. Hermogen,

Would it not be feasible to ask all the Slavonic readers to attend an evening
workshop? You could explain the importance of being able to read the Slavonic
text in the original alphabet (especially the historical continuity), and lead
them through a hands-on type of class that allows everyone to learn how to read
the "kirilitsa" text.

I have conducted two of these evening workshops, which I call "Slavonic for
Beginners" (although I was tempted to call it "Slavonic for Dummies" - haha!).
Both of these workshops were intended for people who could already read modern
orthography Russian, but had difficulties with the old orthography and the
shapes of the Slavonic letters. Both times it was a very successful endeavor,
and people who were too intimidated to learn the Slavonic script on their own
felt that it was much easier to learn it in a classroom situation where they
could learn from both the instructor and from everyone elses' questions and
answers. In addition, I lead them through a graded set of basic texts to allow
them to build up their speed of character recognition. (They also took home some
handouts, so that they could continue to practice.) This can all be accomplished
in one evening, but a follow-up class a week later is extremely helpful for
answering questions and group practice (i.e. people taking turns reading while
the instructor prompts and corrects).

Moreover, if you know your Slavonic well, there should not be much trouble
preparing some class notes and handouts. I teach Slavonic three nights a weeks
to school children (ages 8 to 18), and occasionally coach adults when they want
a "refresher" session to clean up bad practices, so I found it easy to conduct a
"Slavonic for Beginners" class with little preparation.

Some pointers: make photocopies (enlarged if possible) of some pages from Vl.
Alipii's Slavonic grammar book (published by Jordanville), including the listing
of the names of the letters and their pronunciation, the list of numbers and
their names, the list of titly, and anything else that might be useful. Don't
forget to coach them on using Slavonic pronunciation and NOT modern Russian
pronunciation (okan'e versus akan'e, not "yo" when it says "ye", etc).

Also prepare a few photocopies of some of the most basic prayers, such as the
Lord's Prayer, "It is truly meet", "Svete tikhi" (O joyous light), etc., and
some more advanced (moderate level of challenge) prayers such as "Spodobi
Gospodi", "Nyne otpushchaeshi", and the prayer from the Hours: "Izh na vsyako
vreme i na vsyak chas", etc. If they start out with familiar texts, the learning
process will go much easier and faster.

Another useful tool is a handout sheet which they should take home for later,
listing the common Slavonic words which are not found in Russian.
Short dictionary:
http://www.molitvoslov.info/slovar.html
or: http://www.wco.ru/biblio/books/diclit1/Main.htm?mos

A much longer (and more useful) version:
http://www.pagez.ru/lsn/0012.php

And if you don't want to prepare all your own materials, try these sites (or
recommend that folks work through them on their own at home):

http://www.wco.ru/biblio/books/slovar_k/Main.htm (VERY HELPFUL!)
http://kuz1.pstbi.ccas.ru/institut/book/1997/kra.htm

Nikita

--- In ustav@yahoogroups.com, William Holste <wholste@...> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> --- On Sat, 7/11/09, Jopi Harri <jopi.harri@...> wrote:
>
> > Dear Father,
> >
> > What I have seen is books that either omit the stresses or
> > have
> > them inconsistently, so that they are left out in every
> > third
> > word or so, or in more extended passages. For instance for
> > one
> > book that I have been using I have had to take the missing
> > stresses from a classic orthography Sluzhebnik and other
> > proper
> > service books, or sometimes just to guess them.
>
> Most prayer books I have seen only mark the stresses when the stress in
Slavonic differs from that in modern Russian.
>
> > Very few. Many of my parishioners have a mental block
> > about
> > > Slavonic, and assume that *they* could never possibly
> > read
> > > *that*.
> >
> > Well, that being the case, why not use Russian?
>
> Well, that's a different issue altogether! But with most of my parishioners
the issue is specifically with the Slavonic script -- not so much with the text.
>
> > The actual case for Bulgarians and Serbs is that virtually
> > whatever they sing, they sing it in Slavonic.
>
> I am aware of that; I was talking primarily about prayer books and collections
of services for the use of the faithful, and perhaps as an introductory aid to
readers who are learning Church Slavonic.
>
> My point was not to argue for the extensive use of civil script instead of
Slavonic script, but instead to point out that those who print prayer books in
civil script actually have valid pastoral reasons for doing so. To deride them
as lazy or slovenly is unfair and unChristian.
>
> I serve almost entirely in Slavonic. I love Slavonic, and I personally find
the use of civil script to write it quite annoying (though less so than when I
first began). I even agree with Stephen about his preference for old orthography
civil script over new orthography - though I prefer Slavonic script to both. I
encourage my parishioners, especially those on the kliros, to learn to read
Slavonic script, since we only have most of the service books in that script -
including some pre-revolutionary books that are falling apart, new editions from
Russia, and a couple of post-war Serbian books (which are nice for beginners
because they spell out most of the abbreviations).
>
> But I am also realistic. My parishioners are 90%+ 1st generation immigrants,
some from after WWII, but mostly from the new wave. I have prayer books
available in both Slavonic script and new orthography (you can get them in old
orthography, but Jordanville editions are at American prices, and are thus too
expensive to hand out.) I can't keep the new orthography books in stock. I still
have plenty of the Slavonic-script books.
>
> As far as reaidng for services, I typically only use the new orthography
editions of the Hours, etc. when my readers are absent and I have to draft
someone unexperienced. I also have one man who used to read the Hours on Sunday
using such a book, but he has since progressed to a standard chasoslov. In his
case, the training wheels worked.
>
> No, Slavonic script is not that hard. Any educated Russian could pick it up
easily with just a little effort. The sad truth, however, is that most of them
are not going to make the effort until they are more churched. And they are not
going to become more churched until they learn to pray. Slavonic script and, to
a lesser extent, old orthography civil script, are, in my humble opinion,
unnecessary obstacles on the way to that goal. Some might argue that Slavonic
itself is an obstacle, but I have found that a good civil script prayer book
with a glossary goes a long way towards making Slavonic accessible to an
average, marginally churched, Russian speaker.
>
> In Christ,
>
> Fr. Hermogen
>