When Yuri Shevchuk, 50, started teaching Harvard students Ukrainian language 22 years ago, he had no good textbook to use.
For years he struggled with old books, only to realize that writing his own would be the best option.
It was a publisher from Hippocrene Books who suggested the idea to him, and so the “Beginner’s Ukrainian,” a textbook containing 15 lessons, came out last August.
“It is a commercial publishing house, specializing in languages, which means that there is a need and interest for Ukrainian language and demand for Ukrainian textbooks,” says Shevchuk.
Every lesson in “Beginner’s Ukrainian” is based on a real-life situation. The book is based on the communicative method of language learning, a dominant modern technique centered on interaction. It also has an interactive workbook available online. It’s very different from older textbooks, in both the teaching method, and presentation.
“Most of old textbooks are unpleasant to work with. They are not handy and barely have any pictures,” says Shevchuk.
The book comes on time for Euro-2012 championship. Unfortunately, no one from Euro organization committee expressed interest for it. Nor did anyone from the education ministry.
– Yuri Shevchuk, Ukrainian language teacher and the author of the book “Beginner’s Ukrainian”
A total of 2,000 copies were printed originally, and now the publisher is printing more. The book sells at $35 through the publisher’s website, $23 on Amazon and Shevchuk thinks the price is affordable since some language books can cost up to $200 in Columbia.
Most of the students using the book have a connection to Ukraine. “It is often that a student attends my course because of his Ukrainian grandmother who wants him to know his ancestors’ language,” Shevchuk says. “Also there are some Jewish students, whose ancestors come from Ukraine, and they are interested in the country.”
But what Shevchuk really wants is to publish his book in Ukraine. He says negotiations are under way with a local publisher, who is in search of a sponsor for the project. A new layout was produced. Copyright from Hippocrene Books will cost $5,000 – the same as printing the first run of new textbooks.
The author thinks that “Beginner’s Ukrainian” could come in handy for thousands of foreign students coming to Ukraine for higher education. Most of them come from South Korea, China or Arabic countries, and have a choice of the language of tuition.
Professor Anatoly Hulyak from Bohomolets National Medical University says that those who choose to study in Ukrainian face a challenge. “Those who chose Ukrainian study it mostly with the help of the books that we compile ourselves,” he says. “We could use a new Ukrainian textbook, but only if it was authorized as an official textbook.”
An authorization is granted by the Education Ministry, and takes around four months, the ministry officials said.
But Kateryna Fedorenko, director of Knyharnya Ye bookstore chain, says even without the official stamp for approval, a book like that would sell well. She was excited to learn from the Kyiv Post that such a book exists, and asked anxiously if it’s available in Ukraine yet.
“There is definitely a demand for such a textbook,” she explained. “Tourists and expats often ask for something like this. Of course, it wouldn’t be sold as well as a fiction book by a popular author, but still it is something we would really like to have in our stores.”
The customers who had bought the book through Amazon, have left five reviews, most of them positive. They noted good illustrations and other features, giving it an average score of four of five stars.
“Even the most casual page-flipper could spend hours enjoying the images, learning about the lives of modern and past Ukrainians and being nudged into reading and speaking the words in nearby text”, commented Daniel Bavolack from New York.
Shevchuk hopes to present his book in Kyiv in early May. “The book comes on time for Euro-2012 championship. Unfortunately, no one from Euro organization committee expressed interest for it. Nor did anyone from the education ministry.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at [email protected].
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