ALTHOUGH THE ENROLLMENT IN COURSES IN UKRANIAN IN WESTERN CANADA'S SECONDARY SCHOOLS CONTINUES TO INCREASE NORMALLY, THE DEMAND FOR RUSSIAN DECLINES PROGRESSIVELY. FACTORS AFFECTING THE ENROLLMENT TRENDS ARE (1) THE UNDERSTANDABLE PREFERENCE OF THE PREDOMINANTLY UKRANIAN POPULATION OF THE PRAIRIE STATES TO STUDY THEIR PARENT TONGUE, (2) THE LOCAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS' JUSTIFIED RELUCTANCE TO IMPLEMENT AS AN ELECTIVE A SUBJECT THAT HAS SUCH A MARKED INADEQUACY OF QUALIFIED TEACHERS, AND (3) THE PRIORITY GIVEN TO THE STUDY OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF CANADA. NEVERTHELESS, RUSSIA, BECAUSE OF ITS GEOGRAPHIC PROXIMITY, IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO CANADA. BECOMING INCREASINGLY MORE SIGNIFICANT ARE (1) FISHING, TRADING, AND TRAVEL CONTACTS, (2) THE VOLUME OF RUSSIAN RESEARCH, (3) THE NEED FOR EXCHANGE OF KNOWLEDGE AND PERSONS, AND (4) THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG CANADIANS TO COMBINE A KNOWLEDGE OF RUSSIAN WITH OTHER FIELDS OF ENDEAVOR. IF THE STUDY OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IS TO BECOME REALISTICALLY MORE ATTRACTIVE AT THE SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL, THERE MUST BE A COMPLETE REVISION OF THE PROGRAM, APPROACH, AND RELATED MATERIALS AS WELL AS AN IMMEDIATE ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY AND INCREASE THE NUMBER OF ADEQUATELY TRAINED TEACHERS. (AB)