"When the invasion began, we did not support it. Many of us realized that everything was over. I thought it would be easy to come to Argentina because I knew a little of the language, but it was not easy," says Tatiana.
Her maternal accent colors the way she expresses herself.
Although she, unlike many of her fellow citizens, she can communicate fluently because she learned Spanish in Moscow.
She and her husband Dmitri decided to emigrate when Artion, her eldest son, was called to mobilize.
They have lived in Buenos Aires for five months, marched for peace and are part of the more than
22,000 Russians
who have entered the country since the start of the war with Ukraine.
The marriage is unemployed.
The savings paid for the trip and the stay, but they are running out.
Despite the fact that he does not speak the language, Artion enrolled in Physics at the UBA.
"He was always a scientist, since he was little, luckily he doesn't need to know Spanish perfectly to learn, because the numbers never change," says Tatiana.
His youngest child is eight years old and is called Ian.
He is also going to start the school year soon.
It will be at the same institution where, in the afternoon, she will attend Primary for adults.
The three bet on public education
, one of the reasons why they chose to come to Argentina.
According to the City Government, at press time, there were
327 Russian minors enrolled in state-run schools.
71 of them, at the initial level;
194, in primary;
and another 62, in secondary.
Since the beginning of 2022, the educational authorities noticed a growing presence of the community in the classrooms and articulated policies to facilitate their insertion.
The "Spanish Second Language for Inclusion"
(ELSI) team
, for example, advises management teams and teachers.
The objectives are to improve the comprehension and cognitive development of all children, as well as to bring the school closer to the families.
Throughout eight years, the initiative involved students from countries such as China, Senegal, Haiti, Armenia, Syria, Ukraine, Nigeria.
Tatiana and her children trust in Argentine public education and classes will soon begin.
Photo: Maxi Failla.
The
"Juan Ramón Fernández" Institute of Higher Education Lenguas Vivas
is highly chosen by Russian parents.
Spanish workshops were opened in contraturn, with teachers who handle both languages: both with different graphemes, phonemes and morphosyntactic constructions.
The challenge is to achieve adaptation to academic spaces and integration into courses.
Officials note that each proposal is being "shared with all schools."
With overalls or uniform
"Argentina seemed like a great choice to me. It went through its own dictatorship and now it is a
free and democratic country
, where you can have a voice. Also, Russians do not need a visa and it is not as expensive as Europe. The climate is excellent, the food is delicious and we were drinking mate in Russia for many years before. It was meant to be", summarizes Polina Pitolina.
He defines Russia as an insecure place, with a
collapsing economy,
where "the government forces men to serve the Army and you go to jail for a post on social media."
She knows the importance of a language: she is an English teacher;
her husband, a university professor and Linguistics researcher — "reconverted" to an English teacher.
Although she still doesn't know the ins and outs of the Spanish language, she is progressing rapidly.
"She is beautiful and easy to learn," she tells
Clarín.
Polina moved with her entire family, dog included.
She gave birth to her baby Felix in the country.
Her daughter Zoya is a fan of croissants and, in two months of summer camp, she began to communicate.
Her parents put "kindergarten" in
Google Maps
to school her.
"Only three nearby schools answered: one had no seats, the other was very expensive and the third called us so we could meet him, so we went and we liked everything," says Polina.
Next week, the girl will be one of the many migrants of Russian nationality who will enter the
Argentine
private education system .
Desks for adults: professionals return to school for the language
Anastasia and her family are part of the large Russian immigration in Argentina.
Photo: Mario Quinteros
"The question is twofold. First, why did we leave Russia? And only then, why did we come to Argentina?" retorts Anastasia Breiner, a 44-year-old Russian journalist.
The lack of democratic guarantees led her, along with her husband Andrey, to leave her homeland.
She was pregnant. "
Russia is fast becoming a dictatorship.
The number of political prisoners grows like an avalanche. We don't see a future," she sums up.
She is open about it: when choosing a destination, she looked for one where she could get a residence for the birth of a child.
"We watched hundreds of hours of YouTube videos about life in different countries, read
megabytes
of articles, joined dozens of online chats."
Freedom of expression, quality healthcare and educational reputation tipped the scales towards Argentina.
His son Demid was born at the Fernández Hospital.
Now, he is treated in a private clinic, Trinidad de Palermo.
Together with her husband, a video game developer, Anastasia learned Spanish for the first time through the Duolingo application.
Although they do not speak the language perfectly, they assure that they love the country and that they do not need interpreters.
They even do their own paperwork and say that "the bureaucracy in Russia is more complicated."
His compatriots add more reasons to move: to maintain their sources of income, to escape international sanctions, to have greater possibilities of mobility with the Argentine passport.
There are those who were able to continue their careers and those who must reinvent themselves.
At the
Lifelong Learning Agency
, the City Government's vocational training program for people over 18, there are 105 Russians enrolled.
To overcome language barriers, even after finishing university degrees in their country, many —like Tatiana— go back to school.
This is the case of Marina and Sergio, who enrolled in a
public primary for adults
where there are so many compatriots who do not know if they will enter the quota.
The place is in the northern part of the City and almost one hundred Russian adults applied for a vacancy, two weeks before the start of classes:
they are more than the Argentines
.
If the couple can't get in, the alternative is a language course taught at the Teatro Colón.
Sergio, a programmer, comments that for several years he wanted to settle on the River Plate soil.
He does it through the Google translator, an essential support for communication.
He confesses that he believed that the Anglo-Saxon language was more widespread.
His children, ages 4, 6 and 11, have been going to public school since his arrival in the country
, in September.
Parents consider transferring them to a private school when they understand the language better.
Marina tries to hold all the talk in Spanish and despairs when she chokes on the words.
She reflects:
"She misses herself, but Russia has changed, it's not the same country anymore."
She regrets the constant surveillance, the patrolling in the streets and the persecution of the Putin regime.
She rescues the kindness of Argentines: from the person who helped her enroll her daughter in her garden, from the neighbors who gave her candles during a power outage, when they guessed that she couldn't buy them because she didn't know her word.
An English word escapes them:
"Heartwarming"
.
Or "comforting."
The teachers' dilemma and school coexistence
The teachers and professors who receive these new students have
new challenges and demands.
Especially, those who deal with adults and have to reconfigure their teaching methods, without the necessary infrastructure, training or resources.
The biggest challenge?
Complete the contents of the program, within the framework of multilingual and divided classrooms.
"In general, we teach simple people, low-income people or who for various reasons could not finish their training. They have little time, they come after work and some want to continue with secondary school," says an adult primary school teacher
.
I used to receive foreigners: mainly people from neighboring countries, who spoke Caste
flat.
The growing influx of highly educated Russian students, but devoid of other language supports, strains
teaching strategies,
as does the
continuity of old students.
It is not just about different levels of learning, but about almost opposite demands.
"We don't know why Russian adults choose certain primary schools. Perhaps the data is passed on through networks
," the teacher transmits.
He says many drop in and out when they thrive on literacy skills.
Pre-registrations predict classes at the limit of their capacity.
"We do not know how the organization will be, they did not officially communicate anything to the teachers. We love to teach and receive everyone, but we are a Primary School, we do not certify languages, like the UBA".
In previous years he had Senegalese, Chinese and Russian students, but never in this number.
He concludes: "The school unifies and includes, that is what we are looking for. I wake up thinking that other teachers before me taught my grandparents. That is why I get stressed when someone leaves and I do the impossible to keep those who come for so long
. the title, like those who can't even say 'Hello'.
Even if it's difficult".
"For us, for our posterity and for all men in the world who want to live on Argentine soil."
The preamble to the Constitution —written in 1853 and amended three times— heralded the project of what would later become the Argentine nation-state, with immigration and education as protagonists.
The enactment of Law 1,420, in 1884, represented the triumph of a new pedagogical conception.
Although it is not in force, its imprint continues in Argentine classrooms by establishing compulsory, gradual and free schooling, conceived as a right capable of equalizing citizens —rich, poor, native or foreign—, and creating a sense of of belonging, a common identity.
In a world convulsed by war, Argentina reopens its doors and its classrooms.
Collaborators: Malena Martos and Candela Toledo (Master's UdeSA-Clarín)
PS
look also
Ukrainians: new life in Argentina after fleeing the war and why they don't want to stay
Civilians are the great victims of the conflict in Ukraine: death, exodus and war crimes