How To Organize Your Self-Learning Process Of Ukrainian Language

“Learning another language is like becoming another person” – Haruki Murakami

This is one of the most favorite quotes because I believe when you start learning a new language = you start exploring the new sounds, culture, mindset, etc. Every person gets a completely different experience of learning the same language. For instance, when I have decided to learn English, I listened to a lot of Old School rock music, watched American TV shows and movies, read English magazines. So, in my head, I formed another personality who speaks another language and has a different mindset and interests.

I can say the same about my students who learn Ukrainian. I see how they go very deep in my culture, traditions, music, cuisine, history, etc. I believe the most important thing that can be a very powerful motivation for regular self-learning is the goal + interest. For example, you have a Ukrainian family and your goal is to be able to communicate with them. At the same time, you are a musician and love music so much, so Ukrainian music is a great resource for you to learn the language faster and with pleasure.

Or you are a student who wants to study at Ukrainian Medical university and that`s your goal. Reading the medical literature in Ukrainian is the best way for you to achieve your goal in no time. I gave you the idea that focusing on your goal is very important and powerful, now I would like to share with you some practical tips on how to organize the whole learning process of Ukrainian by yourself. You can learn the language with a professional teacher that is the way easier and efficient for you or you can do this by yourself. Actually it doesn’t matter, because learning a language doesn’t happen only during the lessons. 65-70% of the time you will have to learn by yourself.

Now let me share with your amazing tips for organizing the whole studying process:

Tip #1 Consistency

Taking some breaks after the holidays or the weekend is ok. But don’t take it as a norm or “the habit of not learning”. Learning language is a constant process. Remember about it. I advise you to make learning the language an everyday commitment or at least 5 days a week. I believe you can find even 10-15 minutes during breaks at work to practice some vocabulary.

Tip #2 Patience

You shouldn’t have to force yourself to learn the Ukrainian language in a month, 3 months, and so on. Don’t put any time frames, instead of it you should have patience! If you learn a language in 6 months, and then don’t practice or review it at all – you will start forgetting it. So, if you want to get really good results in the language, you must have patience! Just keep practicing, don’t rush yourself. The most important is to make a little progress every day to get results in the long term. My advice is to put consistency and patience together

Tip #3 Time management

Learning the language should be a fun and exciting journey for you and Not something that causes you stress and anxiety. You have to keep your goal in mind when preparing your study schedule and determining what topics you need to focus on within the time period. An effective time management technique is to divide the whole learning process into short intervals. For example, 25 minutes of practicing divide with the breaks of 3-5 minutes each.

Tip #4 Review

It is very important to review the materials from time to time. Here are 3 ways how you can do that:

1. Create handwritten word lists. It’s a very old, but effective practice. I prefer handwritten word lists based on the topics and dialogues.
2. Reading review. While reading, circle-in words you don’t know, pull a line to the side of the page, and write the translation over there.
3. Listen to audio files/dialogues. Try to listen more in Ukrainian, pause yourself through the entire recording, and then play it again.

Tip #5 Motivating environment

At the beginning of your journey to the beautiful Ukrainian language surround yourself with things that motivate you a lot. For example, it can be a photo of your Ukrainian family or friends, a Ukrainian flag, your favorite Ukrainian city or view, etc. Imagine how very soon you will be able to impress your significant one by making an order in the Ukrainian language in a cozy Lviv café, or give people compliments in Kyiv, or get acquainted with friendly citizens of Odesa.

I hope these tips gave you more motivation and inspiration in organizing the whole studying routine. Plan everything in advance, practice regularly and you will get the desired results very soon. Щасливого навчання! – Happy studying!

How do you study the Ukrainian language right now? How much time will it take? What are your obstacles?

I will be happy to help you personally in organizing your process of learning my beautiful native language.