You're reading: Free online courses of Ukrainian language offered for foreigners

Activists from Kyiv-based Borys Grinchenko University launched free online courses of Ukrainian language for foreigners.

The courses are aimed at non-Ukrainians who speak English, French or Chinese and want to learn Ukrainian. The classes will be held individually or in groups twice a week using Skype.

A basic course of Ukrainian will include lectures and assignments, reading texts, and discussing various topics during the online panels. Students are going to start with learning the simple expressions to be used in everyday life.

The courses are expected to start on Dec. 5 and will last four months. The classes will be held by professors and students of Grinchenko University, but volunteers are welcome to join.

Organizers say that while learning Ukrainian students get knowledge of country’s history and culture. Those who will pass an exam at the end of the course will get a certificate.

More than 100 foreigners have applied for the courses so far, according to the coordinator Ruslana Kostur. Most of them are Americans, but there are also natives of Canada, United Kindom, Poland and Belarus.

At the same time, many people from eastern Ukraine and Crimea, who mainly speak Russian, are also interested in the online courses that would help them improve their Ukrainian.

Kostur says that people have different motivations for taking the course. One foreign journalist who works in eastern Ukraine applied because “he is tired of hearing Russian language” and he believes that “everybody should know the language of the country they live in.”

“Many people write that they want to learn the language because members of their family are from Ukraine or they themselves were born in Ukraine, moved to another country, but want their children to speak Ukrainian,” Kostur says.

The statement by Grinchenko University professor Olena Bondareva on the course’s website reads that “this project will be a simple and effective way to integrate Ukraine into the European community through direct communication and cooperation of students and teachers of different educational centers.”

To take the course, one should fill the form at the project’s website www.slovopys.kubg.edu.ua or send an email to [email protected].

Kyiv Post writer Anna Yakutenko can be reached at [email protected]