6 YEARS OF SPEAK UKRAINIAN: THE STORY BEHIND THE SCHOOL
Speak Ukrainian School is turning 6! To celebrate, we are running a BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY. From humble beginnings to where we stand today, the journey has been anything but simple. This is the story of how it all started. Read on to the end of the article to find out details about the prizes you can win on the Birthday Giveaway.
HOW IT STARTED
Not all visions begin with fanfare. Some begin in silence, with one person, one student, and one language the world had barely paused to notice. In 2016, Inna Sopronchuk, a linguist with a Bachelor's and Master's degree and a belief that Ukrainian deserved a far wider audience than it was getting, started teaching one student at a time. There was no school yet, no team, no platform. Just a language worth fighting for, and the quiet determination to build something worthy of it.
HOW A FOLLOWING BECAME A SCHOOL
In 2018, Inna launched a teaching blog on Instagram, a low-risk experiment that turned out to be anything but small. The response from students and language enthusiasts was immediate and, frankly, unexpected in its scale. People were hungry for accessible, authentic Ukrainian instruction, and they had not been finding it.
The YouTube channel followed in 2019, growing past ten thousand subscribers, past fifty thousand, eventually past sixty thousand. By May 2020, it was clear that one person could no longer serve the community that had formed around the work. Speak Ukrainian School was founded, not as a pivot or a rebrand, but as the natural next step of something that had been building for four years.
Then 2022 arrived, and changed everything.
TEACHING THROUGH OCCUPATION
When russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of that year, Inna was in Kherson, one of the first cities to fall under occupation. She stayed, kept teaching, and did something that took a particular kind of nerve: she kept documenting.
Stories posted from inside an occupied city.
Interviews with foreign media.
Messages to students around the world showing, plainly and without theatre, what was happening.
A friend, a lawyer in America, warned her she was putting herself at risk. He was right, and she kept going anyway.
Later, watching a video of Stephen King wearing a Ukraine T-shirt, an idea crystallised. A charity merchandise store called “Buy a t-shirt, save Ukrainian life” was launched from inside the occupation, selling hoodies and T-shirts with one hundred percent of profits going directly to volunteers on the ground in Kherson: medicine, humanitarian supplies, equipment for soldiers, food for animals left behind. Over three years, the project raised over $300,000
THE SCHOOL TODAY
Today, Speak Ukrainian School has a team of 22 teachers and a further 10 people supporting the school across administration, IT, and design, serving students from dozens of countries at every level of ability.
The curriculum includes individual one-on-one lessons, express speaking sessions for those who want fast conversational practice, and structured group courses running from absolute beginner to intermediate level. There are textbooks and flashcard sets developed in-house, a regular speaking club where students practise in real conversation rather than controlled exercises, and a growing library of free content across YouTube, Instagram, and Telegram.
BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY
To celebrate our birthday, every $50+ purchase made between May 11–24 automatically earns you giveaway tickets. Shop, enter, and let the celebration begin:
- 50$ = 1 ticket
- 100$ = 2 tickets
- 150$ = 3 tickets...
The more you invest in yourself, the higher your chances of winning. Prizes are:
- 1 to 1 lesson with Inna Sopronchuk
- 200$ Gift card
- 100$ gift card
- 50$ gift card
- A secret gift from Inna
Winner Announcement: 24 May 6 PM Kyiv time (Live on our YouTube channel).
All products participate (click to find them):
Our school is growing and we couldn't be more excited about it! We recently launched children's classes, and we are absolutely thrilled to see this dream become a reality. The best part? This is just the beginning — so much more is coming your way!