Posted by Hans-Werner Hatting on 15:08 4/22/02
In reply to: Questions re: Historical Atlas and others posted by Glenn Kempf on 19:30 4/21/02
Salem Mark & Glenn,
this is really getting off-topic...
I've been working in Kazakhstan for four years, and my wife is Kazakh. I would subscribe to everything Glenn has said. E.g., language skills - most Kazakhs in Almaty (the former capital and the major center) know their own language only very rudimentary. I remember that we had to hand some forms to the National Bank, and they demanded that we fill them in Kazakh. We went through the pains, paying a translator for it, and then they came back and asked whether we could also provide them a Russian translation - the Kazakh version was just to fulfill the official language requirements, but they were only able actually to work with the Russian form.
It's great to see that someone is interested in Kazakhstan - normally people always think it's just a part of Russia!
Sau bol,
Hans-Werner Hatting