Talk:Russian language in Israel/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Tea with toast (talk · contribs) 01:18, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

Issues needing to be addressed

I have finished my preliminary review of the article and am pleased to find that most things are in order in terms of the formatting and references and such. However, I have a few concerns and questions about the topic that I would like to see addressed before I pass this article:

• I find the introductory sentence of the "History" section to be misleading. As another editor had commented on the talk page, I too was of the understanding that there were a number of Russian Jews who immigrated to Israel during the times before the state was founded and in the years following (although I admit I don't have a source to back that up). Thus, it seems a mistake to claim that the first Russian Jews did not arrive until the 1970s.
• The tone of the "Today" section seems too negative and biased, and the bulk of the text relies on only one source. This section will need to be rewritten in a more neutral tone before I can pass this article. While it may be a fact that many Russian Jews do not to learn Hebrew for one reason or another, I'm sure there are also a great number who do learn the language, and this is not mentioned in the article. There may also be concern among such Russian-speakers about wanting to maintain their language heritage such that they may wish to ensure that their children and grandchildren learn to speak Russian. I doubt all of the Russian-only speakers don't speak Hebrew because they simply refuse to (which is what the tone of the section suggests), there may be certain barriers to learning Hebrew that may make it more difficult for some, such as lack of education or access to resources. I would like to see some of this discussed in the article.
  • If there is information and resources available, I would like to see some mention about the second generation speakers in terms of how many of them are bilingual.
• The article mentions Russian-speaking neighborhoods. Is it known where these neighborhoods are? I think it would be helpful to include a sentence or two that lists some of the cities or areas with high concentrations of Russian speakers. It would be especially important to include those areas where the Russian language is semi-official.

I'll return in about a week to check on the progress of the article and the changes being made. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I will place the article review "on hold" until then. Happy editing! --Tea with toast (話) 02:18, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

I hope you don't mind, but I went ahead and tried to address the issues raised (correcting the 1970s statement, making the "Today" section less negative, adding information on the Russian neighborhoods and second generation Russian Jews, etc). --1ST7 (talk) 19:54, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

Excellent job! I'm very pleased with the results! I can now give this article a pass! --Tea with toast (話) 00:24, 9 July 2013 (UTC)