The transition to the Latin alphabet is not just a change of letters, but a serious reform of the state language, said Adilbek Kabayev, Chairperson of the Language Policy Committee of the Kazakh Ministry of Education and Science. According to him, presently the opinions of Kazakhs on this matter differ. Many have unfounded misconceptions and fears. Kabayev recalled that Kazakhstan had already used the Latin-based alphabet in the last century, and to be more precise, the country is not switching, but returning to it.
“Many people confuse things, saying that with the transition to Latin script, we seem to be switching to the Latin language. According to history, the Latin alphabet was already in the annals of our country. For 10 years, the Kazakh alphabet was based on the Latin alphabet. You don't have to be afraid about that, the Latin alphabet already exists everywhere. For example, you just take a look at the license plates, now everything is in Latin. Whether it's a plane ticket or a train ticket, it’s all in Latin-based style,” said Adilbek Kabayev, Chairperson of Language Policy Committee, Kazakh Ministry of Education and Science.
According to experts, during the transition of Kazakhstan to Latin script, individual specialists will be trained to teach citizens a new alphabet.
“First of all, in the first year after the adoption of the new alphabet, it is necessary to release updated orthographic and spelling dictionaries. In addition, we have gathered special tutors from all over the country, they have undergone special training, and we have already prepared their lists. They will be teaching our citizens. They come in groups and receive training, and then they will train local residents,” said Kabayev.
In the entire history of humankind, not only Kazakhstan has undergone language reforms, where the alphabet is going to be updated for the fourth time. In the U.S. it was changed five times, in France twice and in Russia four times. At present, only four percent of people in the world use the Cyrillic alphabet, while more than 70 percent use the Latin-based alphabet.
Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova
Edited by Saule Mukhamejanova
