LANGUAGE SKILLS OF IMMIGRANTS FROM RUSSIA (USSR) IN GERMANY
Background. On the basis of a qualitative case study the article compares the language skills and attitudes to the language of a country of origin of migrants of the first and second waves, and of the modern period. The organizational and financial resources layed out by the Russian government on the work with «compatriots abroad» will not be used effectively unless one takes into account the existence of compatriot group differences in the communication attitudes. Materials and methods. Based on the analysis of 70 thematically structured interviews and participant observation the study compares the features of the resettlement of two groups, their contemplation, the attitude to the media, Russian language schools. Results. The migration process initially flowed in conditions of information closeness of the country of origin. The return prospects and the roles of the country of origin and the host country were also different. Both study groups in spite of the motivation differences pay attention to the preservation of the Russian language. The belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church played the important role in preserving the language in this group. The migrants of the later period are often characterized by seeking the common European identity with the representatives of the host country. The mass cha­racter of the migration has led to the possibility of creating groups, where Russian is the only language of communication. Language of the country of origin is consi­dered by the representatives of the second group as an advantage in the job market. Migrants of the Soviet period did not have access to the mass media of the country of origin, and therefore, the new generations of migrants prefer the host country media, while the older generation is interested in the mass media of the country of origin. Conclusions. This description confirms the thesis about the existence of the two cultural groups within the Russian-speaking space. The selection of specific cultural groups can increase the efficiency of the work with compatriots abroad.