Стаття : English unites Ukrainians in the world

English unites Ukrainians in the world

Plan

1. Number of Ukrainians in the world.
2. Reasons of Ukrainians to go abroad.
3. Problems of Ukrainians coming to other countries to live and to work.
4. How to help Ukrainians in learning English. Traditional and fast learning.
5.  The main tasks for the teachers of English in Ukraine.
6. English for the Ukrainian soldiers.
7. Main steps of the Ukrainian government to make English the second state language.

According to different sources, around 20 million people outside Ukraine live abroad. Ukrainians have one of the largest diasporas in the world.

Which foreign country has the most Ukrainians?

    USA – more than 1,5 million

    Canada – 1 209 085 

What foreign cities have the most Ukrainians?

The New York is home to many Ukrainians and has the largest Ukrainian population in the United States.

Toronto, Canada, has about 3 million Ukrainians.

Most Ukrainian-Canadians live in Ontario.

Ukrainian Canadian Congress is situated in Canada.

   How many Ukrainians live Great in Britain?

  Around 200,000 people have moved to the UK.

Today over 9 million Ukrainians work and live abroad Almost half (45%) of all Ukrainians leave their country for economic reasons. But today they leave Ukraine because of war with Russia. Their houses are in ruins. Their relatives were killed. So many Ukrainians decide to go abroad to save their lives, to improve their living conditions, to help their families in Ukraine and because of many other reasons. They have no time waiting for the war to end. Besides the level of life in many countries is higher. In English these people are called Ukrainian refugees.

  Ukrainians who went abroad meet many difficulties coming to another country. They start looking for jobs and places for living. But most of them stay unemployed.   The main reason for this unemployment includes language barriers (61.4%). When they went to school in their childhood, they didn’t want to study English and said: “Why do I have to study English if I’ll never go abroad, Great Britain or USA?” It was a typical statement of many schoolchildren in Ukraine. But now when they start looking for a job abroad, they first must pass an interview with the employee. This interview is not in Ukrainian but in English. They must answer a lot of questions about their families, date of birth, previous work experience. If they speak correct and fluent English, they may be qualified for a higher paid position in the company. If they have basic knowledge of English, they can do any kind of service work including cleaning of houses and flats, delivery service, at construction and other lower paid jobs. If your English is poor, you have little perspectives for living and work abroad. English is the most-spoken language in the world including native and non-native speakers. English has become the world's common language. It is the main  language in international business, tourism, technology, and much more.  If you go to any country of the world English will help you to find the way to any place, to go shopping, to communicate with people and in any other situation. And this language will help you even if you are in the country where people speak German, French, Polish or any other. English unites all people in the world. So that’s why English is very important to learn. A good example of the importance of knowing English is our President Zelensky. He makes speeches at the US Congress, European Parliament, European Union, while talking with the  leaders of the countries in English without looking to any paper printed document. His knowledge of English is a good example for Ukrainians how English is important.

But what are the ways  to learn English fast if you came to another country without deep knowledge of English. There are several recommendations. Many countries propose free courses of learning English. In Canada there is a Center for Professional Learning. It can provide support for use of English including how  to understand the material, speaking practice and to  give support in teaching and learning.

In Great Britain the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants, welcome people, talk with them, listen to what they need, and respond to that. They get advice on housing, accessing healthcare, applying to college and many others.

In the USA the Immigrant Learning Center offers free English classes to immigrants and refugees ages 16 and older. All classes are taught in English with instruction in speaking, reading, writing, listening, grammar, computer skills, and college and career preparation. They have English classes in reading and writing.

But any courses in any country need time to master English. Ukrainians without basic knowledge of English can learn English fast. The main thing is to find out what words, expressions, names of the products, equipment, professional vocabulary for certain branch of industry are needed. A good example is a city of Toronto where about 190 nationalities live. Many of them came to Canada without knowing English. Using simple words, phrases, questions without auxiliary verbs  help them to live in this country. “Hi” or “How are you” instead of “Good morning or Good afternoon”. They simply may call you by your name. Forget about calling you by your father’s name like Mykhaylo Petrovich. You will be called Mike. It’s very important for them. They are called only by the first name from the childhood to old age. So, they feel themselves always young. Don’t forget about your mobile phone which will help you with translation.

Here are some examples of people who started to work in Toronto without knowing good English. Ukrainians are known in the world as hard -working people. One woman from Ukraine, former teacher of Ukrainian, got her job at grocery store in Toronto. It was very difficult for her to work the first half year. But she started learning the names of the products, managers commands and tasks. The coworkers helped her with basic words and rules of behavior in the store. She started attending courses of English after work. But she said that spoken English at work gives her much more experience than attending courses. The other woman from Ukraine started work as a cashier at the same store. But she had high level of English and after a short period of time she was asked to work at Canadian Bank. One man from Kyiv has basic level of English. In Ukraine he was a leading manager at auto service. He applied to many automobile companies and wrote a great number of resumes to these companies. But unfortunately, he was not hired by any of these companies. Why? His basic English is not enough for such kind of job, he needs to know professional English, a great number of words and expressions for this field of industry. So, every profession needs certain basic number of words and expressions. There is one more very important thing. Native Englishmen, Canadians and Americans determine your nationality or country of origin by your pronunciation. But this is not so important when your spoken English has a good vocabulary.

 The government of our country together with educational institutions made a proposition to make English a second state language in Ukraine. Such countries as Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and many other have English as their second language.  Netherlands is the best non-native English-speaking country. Dutch society strongly emphasizes learning English from an early age, making it easy for international students to communicate both inside and outside the classroom.

Oral speaking, enlarging word stock, using English for everyday situations are the main priorities. The old system of teaching English doesn’t respond the present-day situation. From beginning to the end the lessons must be in English, the more the pupils talk the more they know how to use it. There must be no difference between classes with profound learning of English and the classes without it. Different kinds of dialogues between students, discussions on any topics must be only in English. Ukrainian language must be excluded at the lessons of English. That’s why the professional level of teachers must be very high.

  Now during war, the Ukrainian soldiers take lessons of English under the slogan “Armed with English”. Many Ukrainian teachers of English stay at a front-line military base. But that has become a new reality as Ukrainian soldiers need to learn English – military terms especially when they get weapons and different kinds of military equipment from USA, Great Britain and many other countries where instructions of how to use all this are in English. We may even say that today English helps to save lives of Ukrainians. Besides Ukrainian soldiers have found that they need English for communication with foreign volunteer fighters at the battle fields. Nearly all Ukrainian soldiers had at least some English learning in school, but it was not always useful. "When I went to school, English I learned,  was like nothing”, said Igor Soldatenko, one of Ukrainian soldiers. He also said: "The whole system is old as I see now. We were just learning texts without understanding how we can use them in real life”. According to a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in December 2022-January 2023, only half of Ukrainian citizens have some knowledge of English, and only 23% of them can use it practically (in reading, writing, at the household or professional level). Recently, the number of people interested in learning English has increased. A draft law on the "Use of English in Ukraine" was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada on June 28. 

What will change?

It is important to understand that knowledge of English by Ukrainians will accelerate European integration and strengthen cooperation with the international community in the future. English language skills will now be required for certain positions. Firstly, these are civil servants, heads and deputy heads of state administrations, police officers, prosecutors, customs officers, and contract officers.

   Studying of English is being introduced in all educational institutions, starting with kindergartens.

There will be English exams for different categories of the population (schoolchildren, government officials, and the military).

Ukraine will provide financial support for learning English and will improve working conditions for teachers.

  New standards are being introduced for the use of English in the transportation and healthcare sectors.

Some Ukrainians disagree with the need for an English language because they fear that English is influencing our native language. Most Europeans are fluent in two languages: their mother tongue and English, and neither language displaces the other. This makes their countries more attractive to tourism and active in the international arena. It is expected that by 2027, 100% of films in English will be broadcast only in English. This is done in developed countries and is a good practice.

Why should Ukrainians learn English now?

Ukrainians need to know English, at least at a basic level. This factor should attract foreign investors to rebuild Ukraine. In addition, Ukraine will have a chance to develop its tourism industry. Foreigners will have more opportunities and feel more comfortable if the population of Ukraine understands English. If Ukraine becomes bilingual in the future, it will contribute to its development as a country. The Ukrainian government is already launching an anglicization policy. Ukrainians need to start improving their English language skills - in the next few decades, almost every job will require at least a basic level of English. In the future, English will be used in a wider range of fields. Now is the time to start learning it.