You're reading: Kyiv’s language schools aim to please with mix of American, British English

Teaching foreign languages is a popular business in Ukraine. These businesses face not only questions of prices, methodology, timetables and classroom management, but also which dialects to offer.

About two dozen foreign language schools operate in Kyiv and most have branches in other major cities. On any given schoolday, tens of thousands of students of all ages, driven either by their willingness to enroll in a Western university or to communicate with foreign partners, can be found in these private classrooms, twisting their tongues in conversation groups or discussing the finer points of grammar. Prices start at Hr 1,000 for a 6-8 week semester.

English is by far the most popular choice, according to schools the Kyiv Post canvassed, which is no surprise, since it is the main global language for culture and business. Only the Chinese family of languages and Spanish are spoken by more people, according to ethnologue.com.

With 58 nation-states and 21 non-sovereign entities having English as an official language, regional dialects abound. Fortunately for Ukrainians, they must choose between just two – American and British.

Private language schools provided a wide range of reasoning for how the approached the dialect issue. For some, the nature of the school’s ownership made the decision easy. “We teach British English because the school is British-owned,” says Elena Loza of the London School of English. Founded in 1996 and boasting more than 1,000 students, the school prepares students and English-language teachers for the Cambridge University range of language proficiency exams.

The type of program or teaching methodology is the strongest determining factor, however. Most leading language schools use some version of the “communicative method,” developed over 50 years ago in Spain and widely used around the world, which emphasizes a broad approach to teaching and is less concerned with grammar or narrow understanding of language. “Because of the nature of the program, we teach all dialects of English,” explains International House language school director Tetyana Oratovska. “We want to expose our students to as much of English as possible.”

The school also prepares foreign language teachers using the CELTA, the most widely taken English language teaching certification, so they must be well-versed in several English dialects.

International House is the oldest private language school on the market, tracing its origins to billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundation back in 1992.

The American English Center, another language school that bets on American English, partly derives its methodology from TOEFL, or Test of English as a Foreign Language, which is a standardized exam for non-native speakers wishing to enroll in US universities.

But still individual variations abound. The textbooks at the Green Forest English language school are British Yet, as spokeswoman Julia Kravchenko explains, the school allows teachers to occasionally work freely with other dialects.

The curriculum of Speakwell is also based on British English, but with a mixture of Americanisms. “This is an efficient mix, which provides the best communication opportunities for learners,” argues Speakwell’s head teacher and administrator Olga Pishko. “This type of English is widely spoken in Europe and is easily understood by Americans as well.”

Both Green Forest and Speakwell claim to have around 3,000 students enrolled and offer a wide range of courses for children, adults and corporate clients.

“We try to expose our students to as many accents as possible,” says International House’s Oratovska.

This is particularly important for schools that use the communicative method because of its strong emphasis on practical conversation rather that rote learning. Others schools mentioned that they accept native-English speakers from many countries other than the U.S. or UK, including Canada, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

Kyiv Post staff writer Evan Ostryzniuk can be reached at [email protected].