REPORT AND REMINISCENCE: Teaching English in Mykolaiv
by Roman and Stephanie Karpishka
PART I
July 1998 marked our third tour of teaching English as a second language (ESL) in Ukraine under the Ukrainian National Association-sponsored program, working in collaboration with the local Prosvita Society in the town of Mykolayiv in the Lviv Oblast.
Our summer experiences in Zalischyky (1995) and Mykolayiv (1997) were helpful in preparing us to organize the courses and related field trips, as was the fact of having some of the same students, whose interests and linguistic potential were already known to us.
This way, like other ESL summer teachers - some of whom have had up to six tours of duty - we are being drawn ever more closely to our distant motherland. Even though our passports are "inozemni," the magnetic attraction to Ukraine and its deserving youth becomes stronger after every trip, and soon after returning to North America plans begin to form about what we will do the next time.
Despite the local economic hardships, the parents of our students were generally supportive of our efforts, and rules were bent to waive the 10-hrv "registration fee," with Mrs. Skolozdra (head of the local Prosvita) asking for young volunteers to instead do clean-up chores about the premises where our classes were to be held.
We were also fortunate to receive a $500 donation from the Lachine (Montreal) Prosvita Society, which was applied to the purchase of dictionaries and various video cassettes used in the ESL courses. About 30 videos were transcribed to the European PAL system in anticipation of our 1998 duties, and it was a pleasure to watch our eager students recognize geographic places in English-language travelogues about Ukraine, or recall known eras of Ukrainian history shown to them in English (from "Kniazha Doba," or the Princely Era, to the 20th century).
This use of today's video technology was also sweetened by evening presentations of various Hollywood classics ("The King and I," "Taras Bulba," "Snow White," and for a good laugh - "Home Alone" and "Mrs. Doubtfire").
Book lessons were supplemented by games, and Monopoly required the students to read their chance cards in English, as well as learn the economic principles of "capitalism." We found that a traveler's set of Scrabble was particularly useful for competitive point scoring of words, and dictionaries had to be put to intensive use by the group of advanced students.
Students in this select group were also given greater responsibilities and creative time to develop their English linguistic and literary skills. For example: each had to write a four-page autobiography in English, which was useful for their teacher to identify interests and to better choose which subject matter to focus on during the 80 hours of formal lessons. Also, these older participants (generally age 16-17) had to keep a daily diary, to be submitted after a few days for English grammar and syntax corrections.
In keeping with the spirit of facilitating the teaching of English by relating lesson contents to Ukrainian themes, we selected Ivan Franko's "Lys Mykyta" for our students to express their poetic talents in blank verse in English. This was rather more challenging in class than they had expected, especially since they had to capture the essence of that famous author's classic - without producing a rendition of the same, which would merely be a dictionary exercise.
One artistically inclined pupil proposed a compromise on her assignment, and instead of her stanzas created a small oil painting of four rams charging the wolf, at Lys Mykyta's suggestion, in measuring their inherited fields. The art work was a welcome addition to the Ukrainian cultural identity we were trying to instill in the youth, while expanding their horizons in the use of the English language.
Another series of pleasant classroom exercises was the oral reading of translated short stories by the emigre Ukrainian humorist and author Mykola Ponedilok. His satire and vignettes about the condition of immigrants in North America brought smiles and welcome realism about the trials and tribulations of recent arrivals to the New World. Despite their own desires to project a greater sophistication, some students empathized with the plight of their older "uncles" in the diaspora, and seriously wondered if they themselves would ever encounter similar situations.
It was truly a "virtual" trip, in English, down a nostalgic road that still wanders in the psyche of many displaced persons who remember their own immigration experiences in North America. Despite the hardships of an earlier generation, none of our students were discouraged from someday at least visiting that great country called America, confirming the rationale for their serious study of the English language.
We took several field trips to the nearby historic city of Lviv this past summer, during which we got to visit the Ukrainian National Art Museum (near the main Post Office on Copernicus Street). There we were fortunate to have as an art guide our Canadian friend and neighbor, Lesia Hawryluk, who also interviewed several students for later broadcast on Radio Canada International.
Unfortunately not all art museums were accessible or open every day - truly a loss of potential tourist revenues in the summer for the people of Lviv. Hopefully this policy will soon change, but even more necessary is a change in attitude by the doorkeepers and "dyzhurni" at those little publicized cultural spots.
Although we did enjoy organ recitals and trumpet music (Shubert's Serenade) at the former Dominican Church, the reception given to our advanced students at the Stefanyk Library was at first less than warm. A bored magazine-reading receptionist (refusing to accept 6 hrv, under $3 U.S.) would not allow the purchase of an English Shakespeare book "because the 'closed' library was being cleaned that day." Saying saracastically that we could phone the director "if we had any complaints," she provided us the phone number of the library director, Larissa Ivanivna Krushelnytska.
Ms. Krushelnytska did meet us in her office and devoted over an hour of her time to our group, explaining how the Stefanyk Library (the second largest in Ukraine) is the 10th largest in the world, with over 7 million volumes. She also spoke about various new publications and related some of the bureaucratic difficulties she and her staff - unpaid for three months - were encountering in contemporary Ukraine. Thus, from an initial brush-off, the library visit in fact concluded as an enriching and educating experience for all concerned. We left with the knowledge that determined people, despite their dire economic circumstances, still are dedicated to the preservation of culture in Ukraine.
The experience of negative gatekeeping was manifested also at three other museum sites in Lviv, but fortunately the words that we were "uchyteli z Kanady" (teachers from Canada) opened doors to us.
The "Rusalka Dnistrova" museum was officially closed "na remont" (for renovation), but after entry was gained the students eagerly transcribed (oh, for a hand-held scanner) excerpts from original handwritten manuscripts of Markian Shashkevych (1811-1843), who led the literary revival in western Ukraine based on use of the vernacular.
Similarly, at the Novakivsky and Kulchytsky art galleries, we were let in after some begging at the door, but then treated with great courtesy and offered detailed explanations by the director of the former gallery. She recounted how Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky himself, seeing the artist's talent in Krakow, Poland, invited Oleksii Novakivsky to Lviv, providing him a residence near St. George Cathedral, thus recognizing a major 20th century artist.
Pondering these circumstances it was sad to realize that for Ukraine's own youth today the doors to such cultural treasures are virtually closed, unless they are lucky enough to be accompanied by an insistent teacher from overseas. Surely, this policy must change, and it is hoped that maybe in some small way these humble comments will open the eyes of officials responsible for the promotion of culture and education.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 28, 1999, No. 13, Vol. LXVII
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