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"According to the statement, the BLS has been carrying out a lot of research, educational, and human rights programs since 1989 and remains a staunch defender and promoter of all Belarusian."
"The authors stress that the lack of government support makes donations of organizations and private citizens the main source of finance for the BLS. Donations allow the non-political and non-profit organization to support Belarusian-language schools and educational and cultural programs for youths, prepare for establishing a National University, and keep issuing its newspaper, Nasha Slova."
"Donations will be accepted at the Minsk branch of Belbusinessbank (Account 3015212330014, Code 764). Individuals can donate money through any outlet of Belarusbank, marking it as 'donation for the Belarusian Language Society.' "
Source: BelaPAN, No. 84; Thursday, May 20, 1999; 6:40 p.m.
"Oleg Trusov, BLS chairman, has told BelaPAN that the large- scale Russification of the Belarusian language began in 1933 after spelling reform. According to him, the Russification process went on as follows: a Russian synonym was entered in a dictionary as a secondary meaning of a Belarusian word, and afterwards the synonym was placed in front of the original word. Later, the Belarusian original word was declared archaic."
" Mr. Trusov said that it will take decades to bring the lost Belarusian words back into the active vocabulary. According to him, even outstanding Belarusian writers and cultural figures sometimes use Russified versions. Mr. Trusov said that writers, journalists, linguists, and publishers should actively use original Belarusian words to save the language from further Russification."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 67 Monday, May 17, 1999 5:30 p.m.
"According to BLS Chairman Oleg Trusov, the demonstrations are to take place in a park at the intersection of Leningradskaya Street and Kirova Street and on Jakub Kolas Square, to which the Minsk City Executive Committee has already given its consent."
"According to Mr. Trusov, Aleksandr Voitovich, president of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences, has banned Belarusian language training in graduate schools. At the same time, Mr. Trusov continued, Anatoly Shestakovich, assistant professor at the Belarusian State Polytechnic Academy, has worked out a Belarusian course for graduate students, which is highly commended by a number of distinguished Belarusian linguists. The BLS plans to submit Mr. Shestakovich's project for consideration to Minister of Education Vasily Strazhev, as well as to Mr. Voitovich. On June 27 [1999], according to Mr. Trusov, the BLS plans to broadly celebrate its 10th anniversary with the participation of well-known Belarusian researchers, writers, and poets."
"Commenting on the recent incident at the BLS office, which was searched by police for bombs, Mr. Trusov said, 'We have no bombs at the BLS. The Belarusian language in itself is the worst bomb for the president, who fears it may explode any time.' "
Source: BelaPAN, No. 61; Saturday, May 15, 1999; 4:30 p.m.
"In its statement, the BLS accuses the president of 'attempting to eclipse the cherished memory of the Belarusian educator and printing pioneer.' The authors of the statement recall that the avenue was named after Francisak Skaryna in 1990, when his 500th anniversary was commemorated."
"'We believe that any attempts to delete the name of the first translator of the Bible into Belarusian from the map of the capital represent another attack against the remnants of Belarusian heritage,' reads the statement. In the opinion of the BLS, the current name of the avenue improve Belarus' international reputation."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 27; Friday, May 7, 1999; 4:00 p.m.
"According to him, BLS branches are more active in the countries having large Belarusian communities, in particular Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia. The BLS branch in Vilnius represents more than 200 people, mostly youngsters, and it seeks to draw Belarusian-speaking parents into its activities. The Vilnius branch uses Belarusian-language programs broadcast by Lithuanian radio and television and the newspaper Run in its work."
"BLS branches in Poland also work to promote the Belarusian language, history, and culture. They base their activities on Belarusian-language broadcasts of radio stations in Bialystok and Warsaw, the weekly Niva, schools teaching in Belarusian, and 6 Belarusology Departments at higher educational institutions in 5 Polish cities."
"Mr. Trusov said that the BLS was also rather active in Australia, Britain, France, and the United States. The BLS uses the experience of the Irish and Ukrainian language societies based in Dublin and Kyiv in reviving the national language and culture."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 21; Thursday, May 6, 1999; 5:00 p.m.
"According to BLS Secretary Lyudmila Ditsevich, the program provides for organizing meetings of Belarusian poets, writers, and historians with students; publishing books in Belarusian; and increasing the circulation of the BLS newspapers in Lida, Postavy, Minsk, and Klimovichi. 'All this will make it possible to spread the ideas of Belarusianization across the country and change people's outlook in the long run,' Ms. Ditsevich said."
"The BLS is making an effort to open a Belarusian-language club at the BLS office in Minsk to host meetings of historical and cultural youth associations and performers and offer consultations to parents who want their children to be taught in Belarusian."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 21; Thursday, May 6, 1999; 5:00 p.m.
"According to him, 134,000 of 246,000 pupils are taught in Belarusian in the Minsk region and only 29,000 of 257,000 pupils in Minsk."
"The largest number of pupils taught in Belarusian is in the Zavodsky and Frunzensky districts of Minsk inhabited mostly by employees of industrial enterprises. Only a few dozens of pupils study all subjects in Belarusian in the Sovetsky district mostly inhabited by intellectuals, which has no special Belarusian-language schools."
"There has been a decline in the numbers of pupils taught in Belarusian in the Gomel and Mogilyov regions. Of 245,000 pupils in the Gomel region, only 50,000 study all subjects in the Belarusian language and 41,000 of 187,000 pupils are taught in Belarusian in the Mogilyov region."
"The newly elected BLS leaders intend to accelerate efforts to attract more pupils to Belarusian-language classes."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 21; Thursday, May 6, 1999; 5:00 p.m.
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