Is there life after Ridna Shkola? Yes, says summer institute at Harvard (05/05/02)

A Ukrainian Summer: where to go, what to do...

Is there life after Ridna Shkola? Yes, says summer institute at Harvard

by Yuri Shevchuk

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Last June, when Lesia Kindrat-Pratt was traveling to Cambridge, Mass., as a newly enrolled student at Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute, she was not exactly thrilled. Off the top of her head she could think of at least half a dozen more interesting ways to spend a summer. Why should she be wasting time for more of the same: Harvard Ukrainian Summer School (HUSI) would surely be another version of her Saturday Ridna Shkola back in Rochester, N.Y., with "mova-kultura-istoria" stuff that seemed to have precious little to do with real life. At best, she, thought, HUSI would be similar to the "OK" Spanish course she had taken in college.

Yet, Lesia had little choice - her beloved didus (grandfather), the late Dr. Ivan Kindrat, stipulated in his will that she would be able to collect her inheritance (Dr. Kindrat had a very successful practice as a dentist in Rochster) under one condition: she was either to spend one school year in Ukraine or take the full course of Ukrainian language studies, including the advanced level, at the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute.

After a placement test, Lesia was assigned to Intermediate Ukrainian-2. What she discovered at Harvard could not have been more different from what she had expected to see. Saturday school it was not. Unlike at the Ridna Shkola, where (hardly for the fault of its dedicated teachers) the Ukrainian language textbooks were outdated and often difficult to understand, at Harvard Summer School the language program was structured and taught in a very clear way, relying on up-to-date materials that include texts, audiotapes, videos and one-on-one communication with native speakers. The language lab also was really helpful.

Lesia was plunged into the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the university that attracts the best and brightest from all over the world. In addition to students from the United States and Canada, there also were Ukrainians, winners of the annual competition for the International Renaissance Foundation scholarships to study at HUSI. They hailed from all the major regions of Ukraine, from Lviv in the west to Kharkiv in the east, from Chernihiv in the north to Sevastopol in the south.

They spoke a Ukrainian markedly different from what Lesia had gotten accustomed to hearing at home, but it was the living Ukrainian language brought from its actual setting, and in no time she was overtaken by the desire to learn more of it. For that, as she soon realized, she could not have found a better place than the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute.

The language course offerings at HUSI are specifically tailored to accommodate students of practically any level of familiarity with the language. To Lesia's pleasant surprise and relief, the emphasis on dreary grammar and endless memorizing of case endings was replaced by the goal of developing communications skills in real-life situations. The intensity and tempo of the language classes was at first overwhelming - three hours a day, five days a week for eight weeks - yet initial frustration was soon replaced by a sense of accomplishment and progress.

"One of the things that I liked most, was the students from Ukraine and how helpful they were in honing our communication skills," Lesia noted.

"Didus passed away when I was in high school" said Lesia, "and at the time going to study at HUSI did not seem like a great idea. I don't think I would have gone without the pushing. Looking back at my summer at Harvard, I think it was a fabulous experience, and, in retrospect, I am grateful to didus" for that clause in his will."

Ms. Kindrat-Pratt, 22, plans to return to HUSI in the summer of 2003 to complete the Advanced Ukrainian language course. But now she will be enrolling not only out of respect for her late grandfather's wishes, but also out of her own desire to relive a wonderful surprise of discovering life after Ridna Shkola.

Says Lesia, "When my grandfather first came to the U.S. the Ukrainian Summer Institute at Harvard was a big thing. He really wanted for his grandchildren to continue the Ukrainian traditions, so that they would not forget the language and the culture."

"Lesia, did you say grandchildren?" - I asked.

"Yes. Oh, didn't I tell you? I have a younger brother, Mykhas."

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