Background
There are only 2 (if not 1) online resources available for studying Ukrainian language. Let’s face it… Duolingo has an overwhelming amount of flaws, confusing structure of the sentences and poor-quality of recordings. (Yes, I contacted Ukrainian development team about 3 times and they never got back to me). Moreover, the app does not take into account that first-time users do not know Ukrainian alphabet or Cyrillic whatsoever, which discourages people’s interest in the first place. Hence, I decided to compile a book, to design and to develop a webapp, as well as to record videos that demonstrate UA spelling and pronunciation.
Target audience
- Individuals who possess a strong desire to learn Ukrainian language, but for some reasons are not able to join a study group and or attend classes and utilize services of teachers.
- Individuals who prefer studying on their own.
- Individuals interested in exploring Ukrainian culture, traditions and language aspects.
- Individuals who identify as LGBTQI and seek help understanding how to make Ukrainian language work with gender-neutral and non-binary prefered pronouns.
- Individuals who already know Ukrainian and need to advance only some areas.
Scope
Our final product will be an online platform with a broad range of functionality (exercises, books, music). Users will be able to discover Ukrainian language and culture through music, literature, and relevant exercises. It’s going to be a tandem of a book and a web application. Our ultimate ambitious goal is to create the most innovative, effective and up-to-date tool for learning Ukrainian and its culture. The book will educate students about existing issues with feminitives, LGBTQIA-related terminology, etc. reflecting on social challenges we are facing due to the grammatical gender, conservative and, frankly, careless language approach in the past. It will elaborate Ukrainian (its language in particular) sociohistorical circumstances and provide a brief historical summary to deepen students’ understanding, ease difficulties and obstacles. The book should be based on modern research and utilize techniques that proved to be the most productive in learning Ukrainian as a Foreign Language locally in Ukraine as well as abroad. It will mainly serve as a manual, breaking down Ukrainian grammar and resolving fallacies. On the other hand, the desktop/mobile application will be an effective supplement to keep students interested by maintaining a very close connection to the theoretical material covered in the book. It will contain lots of visual aids, audio recordings, quizzes and games to keep students involved.
