The International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations, Lviv Polytechnic National University, is launching a speaking club «Let’s speak Ukrainian!». Here, in the form of casual communication on topics of interest to participants, we will try to help IDPs to overcome the language barrier and switch to the Ukrainian language. Meetings will take place on the Zoom platform twice a week.
Iryna Kliuchkovska, director of the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations, told about the future work of the Discussion Club to Zahid. Espresso.
«Language is a weapon, and we all must be armed today»
The Institute has been teaching people the Ukrainian language for 15 years, says Mz. Kliuchkovska. However, they have been working with representatives of the diaspora and foreigners who want to learn Ukrainian.
Now they have decided to use their experience and their manuals to help the citizens of Ukraine.
«Realizing that in Lviv there are more than 200,000 internally displaced people, communicating with them on the streets, in shops and supermarkets, we have realized that these people need help here. Many of them experience language discomfort. So, it was decided to create discussion and conversation clubs – something they don’t have right now. This is the first step that will help them overcome language discomfort, help them learn the Ukrainian language more deeply, better and more fully», explains Mz. Kliuchkovska.
However, the program offered to IDPs differs from the one taught to foreigners.
«Teaching Ukrainian as a foreign language, we started from scratch. At that time, there was nothing in Ukraine at all – no textbooks, no manuals, no methodologies. But now we have learned a lot and this toolkit, developed by us, is now very useful to us.
But, of course, there are specifics. We start from the needs of IDPs. We look at people and see how they behave in stores, how they ask when they want to get somewhere, how they arrange children at school. This will be, first of all, everyday vocabulary, which will give them the opportunity to feel comfortable in a Ukrainian-speaking environment.
But we also do not overlook the cultural aspect. It is very important for us that people gain knowledge about the history of Ukraine, the culture of Ukraine, about our artistic achievements. We want people to feel pride – it is important for us.
Of course, we will not teach them grammar, because that is not our task. After all, this is not about passing the external evaluation. We just want to help people be confident in themselves and in their Ukrainianness.
I believe that language is a weapon, and today, in such a time, everyone must be armed. That’s why we want to help people learn the language and to overcome the psychological barrier. In other words, we want to give people weapon which is language», said Kliuchkovska.
The full text of is on the website of Zahid. Espresso.