ESL in Ukraine: my experiences

It’s a hot afternoon in Lviv, Western Ukraine, as I make my way into an old soviet tower block on the outskirts of the city. “English class first floor,” the building’s porter tells me – he’s a boy of around ten years old. 

The previously abandoned tower block provides accommodation for war-displaced Ukrainian families from the east of the country, around 600 of them in total [1]. As I make my way up, the temporary housing paints a grim picture for those who can’t afford flats in the centre of the city; loose tiles litter the floor as I walk down long, disheartening corridors. Mothers and elderly people sit silently in a communal area; a small TV at the far end of the room. The atmosphere seems stagnant and lifeless and yet, despite this, singing can be heard from the English class on the first floor.

I immediately notice the classroom’s colourful murals clearly painted by children. The space feels improvised, comprised of donated furniture that’s far more colourful than the rest of the building. A volunteer helps two girls record a patriotic song at the back of the room. He’s brought the equipment from Germany, and the girls giggle uncontrollably as they listen back to their singing, covering their ears to avoid cringing. As I sit to observe, children begin entering for the first English class of the day, racing in from the outside play area as the lesson is announced.

For the children of the families occupying the old student accommodation, choosing to learn English in a makeshift classroom during their holidays comes as a choice; they can come and go as they please but, despite this, the room begins to fill. The 1pm class is for ‘very young children’ and it’s chaotic. Twenty eager kids shout over each other, fighting for the attention of the three English volunteers dispersed around the room. Some have brought toys crammed into their bumbags and are keen to show them off; others are here for the snacks on the table; others are simply intrigued by the noise and came to investigate.

“Your Ukrainian is very bad,” eight-year-old Dimitri tells me as I try my best to greet the four boys in my group.

“Your English is very good,” I tell him.

“I know.”

The levels of English are, as you would expect, varied. Some have had previous lessons in English, others have learnt it from their favourite YouTubers, the youngest boy in my group doesn’t know what language I’m speaking. Regardless of level, the confidence in the room is not in short supply. Today it’s vocab: animals. They compete to answer the first couple of questions, balancing on tiptoes with their hands stretched in an effort to get chosen. At moments it’s a free-for-all, children desperate to be heard, shouting their guesses as a photo of a lion appears on the slide. A few shy away from such competitiveness and are encouraged by volunteers to answer. They are almost always correct.

Witnessing the enthusiasm and accuracy of the room, you would be surprised to learn the level of English in Ukraine has been historically very low, and as of 2022 it ranked well below the proficiency of any other European country [2]. This classroom, however, presented a different story.

Unlike my interactions in this class, my attempts to speak English with older generations had proven challenging. An eighteen-hour coach journey across the border had relied exclusively on Google Translate to facilitate small talk with the mother I sat next to:

“My son is the one who speaks English, sorry” the woman typed into Translate, proudly showing me her phone’s screensaver. Her son, my age, stood wearing his military uniform in the photo. A sober reminder.

The generational shift towards adopting English as a second language in Ukraine is evident in the disparity between the younger and older generations. This, in part, is a state-driven incentive. In 2018, Ukraine’s rapprochement to Europe saw it for the first time systematically implement English language between the ages of six and sixteen, making it a mandatory element of the school curriculum [3]. Until then, as a bilingual country, the educational system was based exclusively on Russian and Ukrainian, with the learning of foreign languages only permitted after its independence in 1991. The increased English literacy I was witnessing reflects the modernisation and Europeanization of Ukraine and its educational system that followed [4] [5].

The next afternoon class that day was comprised of older students – teenagers – who demonstrated an even higher level of English. Whilst state-driven incentives to promote English within education were partly responsible for their increased literacy, speaking to the teens suggested other motivations for learning. They were able to express their incentives for wanting to learn and spoke about their desires to move elsewhere, to travel, to work.

“I would like to travel to the UK one day, maybe live there. I’ve been teaching myself.”

“I’ve learnt mainly from playing videogames and watching anime.”

“I want to be a journalist abroad.”

Amongst these reasons, the reality of needing to immigrate elsewhere in Europe also placed emphasis on English as a lingua franca:

“You can speak English anywhere,” was repeatedly mentioned.

Clearly, the ongoing war had provided more reasons to learn English than before. Young people suddenly see Europe and UK as potential travel destinations, either temporarily or permanently, with 174,000 people having moved to the UK as part of the Ukraine Family Scheme already [6]. My experiences assisting Ukrainians travel to the UK on the Polish-Ukrainian border in mid-2022 highlighted the anxiety many Ukrainians harboured in not knowing English. Many UK hosts are simply not prepared to welcome Ukrainians into their homes without a certain level of English, and many refugees do not feel equipped to travel and work without it.

It comes as no surprise that now, more than ever, the state is investing in ESL and English as a lingua franca. On 2 November 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Mykhalio Fedorov announced that English would become the language of international communication in Ukraine [7]. Three days later, Cambridge University partnered with Amazon Web Services to offer a free English language platform specifically for Ukrainian citizens [8]. War has served as a catalyst for English proficiency in Ukraine, driven by a state incentive to become politically closer to Europe, but also welcomed by a population seeking to gain from increased English proficiency.

Towards the end of my trip, whilst walking towards a viewing spot that overlooks the north of the city (High Castle Park) I was approached by the father of a family walking in the opposite direction. He asked me something in Ukrainian, and I responded with one of the few phrases I knew:

“англійська, вибачте [English, sorry].”

On hearing English, the father eagerly beaconed his son over, gesturing for me to wait.  

‘We want to know where the Castle is. Is it up this hill?’ the son asked, in English. The father proud, gripped his son by the shoulder, demonstrating the importance he placed on his son’s English ability.

‘It’s just up the hill,’ I responded.

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On my final night in Lviv, a Russian missile hit the city at 4am. More than 100 residential apartments were damaged in the attack, including a nursery that was destroyed [9]. Anti-air defence successfully shot down five other missiles over the city [10].

Whilst Lviv is relatively safe, please consider donating to MIPU to help ease the experience of displacement and to support their efforts during the war. You can find more information here:

https://makeitpossibleua.org/

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/makeitpossibleua

Thank you.

Photos taken by Ian Williams.
https://www.instagram.com/iwilliamsss/

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[1] The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the Lviv Regional State Administration solidify ongoing collaboration in support of people impacted by the war to recover and rebuild their homes and lives. (28 Mar 2023) <https://www.unhcr.org/ua/en/55549-mou-with-lviv.html> [accessed 7 November 2023].

[2] Ana Lúcia Luís, Tetiana Kornieieva, Rui Manuel Braz, The Importance of English Proficiency: The Particular Case of Ukraine (Portugal: Instituto Superior de Gestão, Instituto Português de Administração de Marketing: Proceedings of INTED2023 Conference 6th-8th March, 2023). p. 3592.

[3] The Importance of English Proficiency, p. 3589.

[4] Olena Lokshyna, The European Dimension of The Competence-Based School Education in Ukraine (Dimensiunea Europeană A Unei Abordări Centrate Pe Competențe În Școala Ucraineană : Journal of Pedagogy, 2018), p. 49.

[5] The Importance of English Proficiency, p. 3589.

[6] Peter William Walsh, Madeleine Sumption, Ukrainian migration to the UK (08 AUG 2023) <https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/ukrainian-migration-to-the-uk/> [accessed 7 November 2023].

[7] Visit Ukraine, Promoting English in Ukraine: what is known about the new national program Future Perfect? (02 Nov. 2023) <https://visitukraine.today/blog/2843/promoting-english-in-ukraine-what-is-known-about-the-new-national-program-future-perfect> [accessed 6 November 2023].

[8] University of Cambridge, Cambridge provides English learning platform for Ukraine (03 Nov. 2023) <https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-provides-english-learning-platform-for-ukraine> [accessed 6 November 2023].

[9] Al Jazeera, Ukraine’s western region hit by large-scale Russian air attack (15 Aug 2023) <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/15/ukraines-western-region-of-lviv-comes-under-russian-air-raid-attack> [accessed 6 November 2023].

[10] https://crisis24.garda.com/alerts/2023/08/ukraine-russian-missiles-strike-civilian-and-industrial-buildings-in-lviv-and-lutsk-early-aug-15

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Bibliography

Al Jazeera, Ukraine’s western region hit by large-scale Russian air attack (15 Aug 2023) <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/15/ukraines-western-region-of-lviv-comes-under-russian-air-raid-attack> [accessed 6 November 2023].

Ana Lúcia Luís, Tetiana Kornieieva, Rui Manuel Braz, The Importance of English Proficiency: The Particular Case of Ukraine (Portugal: Instituto Superior de Gestão, Instituto Português de Administração de Marketing: Proceedings of INTED2023 Conference 6th-8th March, 2023). pp. 3587 – 3595.

Crisis24, Ukraine: Russian missiles strike civilian and industrial buildings in Lviv and Lutsk early Aug. 15 (15 AUG 2023 | 09:07 AM UTC) <https://crisis24.garda.com/alerts/2023/08/ukraine-russian-missiles-strike-civilian-and-industrial-buildings-in-lviv-and-lutsk-early-aug-15> [accessed 6 November 2023].

Olena Lokshyna, The European Dimension of The Competence-Based School Education in Ukraine (Dimensiunea Europeană A Unei Abordări Centrate Pe Competențe În Școala Ucraineană : Journal of Pedagogy, 2018), pp. 47-64.

Peter William Walsh, Madeleine Sumption, Ukrainian migration to the UK (08 AUG 2023) <https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/ukrainian-migration-to-the-uk/> [accessed 7 November 2023].

The UN Refugee Agency , UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the Lviv Regional State Administration solidify ongoing collaboration in support of people impacted by the war to recover and rebuild their homes and lives. (28 Mar 2023) <https://www.unhcr.org/ua/en/55549-mou-with-lviv.html> [accessed 7 November 2023].

University of Cambridge, Cambridge provides English learning platform for Ukraine (03 Nov. 2023) <https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-provides-english-learning-platform-for-ukraine> [accessed 6 November 2023].

Visit Ukraine, Promoting English in Ukraine: what is known about the new national program Future Perfect? (02 Nov. 2023) <https://visitukraine.today/blog/2843/promoting-english-in-ukraine-what-is-known-about-the-new-national-program-future-perfect> [accessed 6 November 2023].