Good afternoon, Bibarys! Thank you for agreeing to the interview. Could you tell us more about the Kazak Babyl project?

 «Kazak Babyl» is a scientific and educational project, that is, we promote science. We offer scientific content to the public through creative, beautifully designed, literate, simple language and concise posts, as well as high-quality videos shot with interesting professional editing.

What prompted you to open the Kazak Babyl project?

I studied at Nazarbayev University. I wanted to share my knowledge about languages and their nature, so I assembled a team and opened a page in 2020. I would like to develop a healthy attitude towards languages, language policy, including, of course, the state language in the first place. There are many misconceptions about the language, a lot of speculation. It is often seen that someone who has neither professional nor scientific training, nor a diploma in linguistics, has «made a discovery» about languages, words, ignoring the humanities as unscientific. Someone reproaches the word «woman», someone is lost in the fact that «the Kazakh language is not suitable for science», someone says that «The noble name of Almaty is Alma-Ata», which causes a lot of questions. Such a rumor requires a scientific, reasoned fact-check whichcan be done by linguists. And now we are expanding our scope and covering various sciences in general.

Tell us about your colleagues, how many people are in the project and what activities do they do?

There are three people in our group: I am Bibarys Seytak, Gulnur Sultan and Aruzhan. I have a Master of Arts and work as a researcher at Nazarbayev University. I am the author, designer, and installer of the project. Gulnur is a chemical engineer, now a fourth-year student at Nazarbayev University. Aruzhan graduated from Vistula University with a degree in political science and now works in a pharmaceutical company. Gulnur is involved in logistics work in the project, that is, when organizing an event, she organizes the venue, works with handouts, guests, Aruzhan is a copywriter, communicator, SMM.

What is the current level of interest in science among Kazakhstani youth?

Passion for science is high. We recently started making videos in a new format, so I personally, to be honest, predicted that even if there was scientific information, only content related to nationalism, that is, with the Kazakhs and Kazakhstan, would be widely disseminated. But unexpectedly, our video on whale evolution, released on the occasion of International Whale Day, went viral on both Instagram and TikTok, received over half a million views and is still falling back into the "recommendations" category on TikTok from time to time maybe , million.

How do you think passion for science can be enhanced?

We believe that it could be done through content written in simple language like ours. Now is the age of the Internet. It looks like it's time for us to get used to the new reality.

You pay a lot of attention to promoting your native language, at what level is the Kazakh language in society today? Can you say that you speak our native language in everyday life?

There are no obstacles on the way to the absolute priority of the Kazakh language. However, if we continue to work with them regularly, we can look at the future of the language with general optimism. The Kazakh language is one of the largest, that is, widely used, languages in the world. Is it not in vain that such giant corporations as Apple, Google, Microsoft and universities such as Oxford, UCSB, Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University pay attention to the Kazakh language? Both provocateurs and those who despise language may say different things, but if you continue to lean on every thorn stuck in your child, you will not achieve your goal, right? They are so used to having the privilege of just speaking only Russian, and now they console themselves with this, because they understand and feel that they will soon lose it all. Such people need to be shown the right path, the right side of history.

What is the level of development of the Kazakh language in the scientific field?

There are no problems with the Kazakh language in the scientific field. There is no language that is suitable or unsuitable for science, it is simply used in one area. We also have positive phenomena from this point of view. But we still have a lot of work to do.

Do you have any suggestions to improve the status of our mother language?

The slogan “start with yourself” is often said, but if many problems are solved by the government and the people together, systematically and legally, then everything will be solved much faster. It is obvious that there is a need to improve legislation affecting the services and dubbing sector.

What do you need to do to become a participant in the project? What are the requirements?

 At the moment we are not accepting new participants in the project, the three of us are managing it.

At the end of the interview, in honor of the upcoming Science Day on April 12, please express your warm wishes to your colleagues working in this field.

I bow my head to everyone involved in science. Science is truly a path of development. I would like to be faithful to science, that is, to be able to always look at my thoughts critically, to be able to doubt where necessary, to speak firmly where necessary, and be on the lookout for new discoveries.. Let your scientific exploits serve only for the benefit of humanity. Let the quality of justice and conditions for specialists in the field of science improve.