REPORT AND REMINISCENCE: Teaching English in Mykolaiv (04/04/99)

REPORT AND REMINISCENCE: Teaching English in Mykolaiv

by Roman and Stephanie Karpishka

CONCLUSION

Our 1998 summer field trips provided both the ESL students and us, their North American teachers, a chance to better learn the history and geography of the Halychyna region of Ukraine. One successful day's travel brought us to the lovely Prosvita building in Stryi, and we took photos on the stage where opera star Solomiia Krushelnytska sang arias, and where famed writer Ivan Franko first recited his epic poem "Moisei" (Moses).

The same day we visited Truskavets to drink "naftusia" (sulphur spring water) and saw the homestead of Ivan Franko with a historical museum nearby. The entry stubs still bore the acronym of the Cultural Ministry of the Ukrainian SSR, which prompted a letter to the editor in Mykolaiv ridiculing this anomaly. The students at first were reluctant to comment, but were soon persuaded to "assert themselves." They eagerly typed out the letter to the editor, which was printed in full.

Another successful two-day trip took in the towns of Rohatyn and Ternopil, the Pochayiv Monastery, the Olesky Castle and the Markian Shashkevych hill and homestead sites. Near dramatic statues of Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Franko in Ternopil was a statue of Russia's Pushkin.

A significant highlight of this past summer's teaching experiences was the idea to bring along a laptop computer with ESL CD-ROM programs. A select group of the advanced class was then invited to participate in this new learning/teaching experiment, and such was conducted with great success. At first the students doubted that two CD-ROMs could contain the 32-volume Encyclopedia Britannica, but soon their curiosity led to elated smiles as they discovered educational techniques and learning beyond books. At one of the two small computer stores we visited in Lviv, the students chose an American English CD-ROM (over British) - another indicative of their dreams to visit America after perfecting their English language skills.

Sadly, neither computer store had any Ukrainian-language software, being flush with mainly Russian software and computer books - mostly probably pirated. Perhaps someday soon a "complete Shevchenko" (Franko, etc.) will be burned onto CD-ROMs and become available in consumer stores in Ukraine, preserving and promoting Ukrainian literature in a modern way - and even with English translations!

The method of learning English by computer technology was reinforced by the visual presentation of short video clips about American cities and was worked into typical conversation situations: e.g., hotel check-in - "Welcome to: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Miami ..."

In another program, Ukrainian locations were visited. Explanations were in English, and it was a pleasure to see the pride in the faces of our students as the Ukrainian blue- and-yellow flag scrolled up, while the national anthem music played on the Encarta Encyclopedia CD-ROM.

It was also ironic to experience the multinational input our Ukrainian students experienced via our computerized ESL; for example, an Encyclopedia Britannica source provided a biography in English of Sholokov (1960s Nobel literature laureate, author of "Quiet Don"). That book was required reading next term for our advanced students, who were elated to have an edge on their peers, thanks to their summer reading of English as provided by the available computer software.

The summer days also provided several occasions to make better friends with our students, as we went for swims and built a brick barbecue oven atop a hill in Mykolaiv. Our students demonstrated their culinary skills in preparing, marinating and cooking delicious "shashlyky" ("shish-kebabs").

In addition we had a number of pleasant day trips to Lviv, enjoying the architectural treasures of the "Slavic Vienna," experiencing Verdi's "Aida" (in Italian) at the ornate Lviv Opera House, as well as hiking up to the "Vysokyi Zamok" (the highest point in Lviv). We also visited St. George Cathedral and other historic churches. One afternoon, after seeing the city's Philharmonic Hall, we dropped in at Lviv's Internet Cafe to send e-mail to the U.S. One week later, back at work at the office in Montreal, we received birthday greetings from Lviv from those students by e-mail.

A memorable day in our Lviv excursions was the seventh anniversary of Ukrainian independence, when our group went to the "Shevchenkivskyi Hay" park to take photos of various Ukrainian wooden churches. Having borrowed some "zhupany" from the Mykolaiv Prosvita, we were mistaken for a performing group and ushered gratis through the entrance gates. The giggles of the girls soon gave way to an unexpected and pleasant surprise when a couple of Lviv's leading performers asked our students to join them in a sound check on stage.

Having performed just a few days earlier at the ESL graduation evening, four young ladies - now dubbed the "Mykolaivski Metelytsi" - were spontaneously added to the anniversary program, singing at microphones and reciting personally written poetry before a crowd of several thousand. Needless to say, the seventh anniversary of Ukraine's independence will be memorable for us all, including their teacher, who also was invited to address the gathered Lviviany in Ukrainian to explain how and why we were there in 1998, teaching English to our youth in Ukraine ...

In conclusion, this past summer once again proved to be a golden opportunity to inculcate "ukrainoznavstvo," in English, in the academic curriculum of our young charges. Pysanka-making activities (with books from America, in English), entertaining videos, interesting field trips - and especially the introduction to computers, software and CD-ROMs - opened our eyes to the fantastic potential of helping to modernize Ukraine through ESL courses.

This can be done while developing one's personal appreciation of the riches of Ukraine's history, geography and culture. To teach our students better we, the teachers, had to seriously attempt to perfect our own Ukrainian linguistic skills so as to function credibly in a society that daily revealed to us its proud identity and beautiful traditions.

There can he no better way to rediscover your roots and heritage, and even to try to foresee one's destiny. It is a path we heartily recommend to venturesome teachers and dedicated students, here and there.

Hopefully, in future years the UNA/Prosvita English Teachers for Ukraine Program will expand to include formal teacher exchanges and/or summer scholarships for deserving students on both sides of the Atlantic. Also, it is our recommendation that students' course enrollment costs in Ukraine be eliminated entirely, given the contemporary difficult economic conditions there (subject to review as the economy improves).

Volunteer teachers enrich their knowledge while opening many English-based doors for their students, e.g., keys to the modern world such as computers, e-mail, the Internet. Future participants in teaching ESL undoubtedly will find fulfillment and a greater love of Ukraine - and their encouragement will provide positive examples for today's generation of Ukrainian youth.

PART I

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