The phrase books were created by IU's Language Training Center.
(Wendi Chitwood, Indiana University)
An Indiana University project gives American soldiers a tool to communicate with Ukrainian allies and Ukrainian linguists a chance to support their home country after the Russian invasion.
IU’s Language Training Center produced a 32-page translation phrase book, small enough to fit into the pocket of a soldier. The phrase books include “the bare necessities” for experiences in the field, such as phrases relating to the directions, medicine, food and conversational basics. The books have already been shipped and received.
“When we got the call from our partners that they wanted a means of communicating with our Ukrainian allies, my goal was to give them the best possible product,” program director Nathaniel Lanaghan said.
Phrase books are a ‘huge contribution’ for the people of Ukraine
Lanaghan said the IU Language Training Center produced similar projects for military use in the past, so the team was able to respond quickly when their partners asked for the phrase books. The center is an initiative of the U.S. Defense Language and National Security Education Office.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and the U.S. has invested more than $43 billion in aid to Ukraine since.
The phrase books inlcude information U.S. soldiers need to communicate with Ukrainians. (Wendi Chitwood, Indiana University)
Yuliia Dybka, a Ukrainian linguist, moved to Columbus, Ind., last year after the Russian invasion. She was brought onto the project this spring after being introduced to Lanaghan by senior lecturer in IU’s Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures Svitlana Melnyk.
This was her first job in America.
“I was so excited about this,” Dybka said. “It just meant a lot for me, first of all as a Ukrainian, that people care and people want to do a project like this.”
Lanaghan said the team worked on the phrase books for two months while Dybka translated English phrases into Ukrainian. Lanaghan said he, Melnyk and Kathleen Evans, director of the IU Language Workshop, edited and reviewed the phrase books.
Dybka said the books include a phrase with three columns to aid with translation: English, Cyrilic (a Slavic alphabet used in Ukrainian) and Latin.
“We were trying to make it easy to use, but for me, for a linguist and knowing the Ukrainian language, I just wanted to include more and more,” Dybka said. “The Ukrainian language is so different and rich in its own way. So, sometimes it’s difficult to choose certain phrases and some things to leave out.”
Yuliia Dybka, a Ukrainian linguist, translated the phrase books. (Aubrey Wright)
Dybka said language has a significant role in creating relationships. She said the phrase books can be a valuable tool in building mutual understanding and cooperation.
She said a project like this is a “huge contribution” for the people of Ukraine, and shows Ukrainians people care about them.
“Of course, I hope this encourages learners to make this effort toward learning Ukrainian language, Ukrainian culture, understanding people and building this trust,” Dybka said.
Teaching Ukrainian as a ‘moral obligation’
The Ukrainian community in Bloomington isn't big, but it’s vibrant, Melnyk said. At IU, students with the Ukrainian Studies Organization are the core of the university’s community.
The organization created and co-sponsored events to expose the people of Bloomington to Ukrainian scholarship, culture and history. Melnyk said that has become more important since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
“This is a horrifying tragedy for all of us, for our people,” Melnyk said. “We are devastated but at the same time, we are united in our desire to support Ukraine.”
In addition to the phrase books, Melnyk said IU has supported Ukraine in many ways. She said her students have worked in Ukraine, Poland and Bloomington as volunteers to support refugees. The community has hosted multiple fundraisers for Ukrainians, including Salvador Dali Academy of Contemporary Arts students who lost their fathers in the war.
“The program was very successful, and we received great feedback from the visiting Ukrainian scholars so the program will continue for the 2023-24 academic year,” Melnyk said.
Melnyk’s students participated in a research project with students from Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, worked with a real diary of a young woman who escaped from Mariupol, Ukraine, and translated biographies of Ukrainian artists for the Viridian Moon Gallery in Bloomington.
“It’s a great pleasure for me to teach my native language,” Melnyk said. “At the same time, I feel like now it’s my moral obligation as well.”
Overcoming language barriers is so important in the modern world, Dybka said, especially as more Ukrainians come to the U.S. to escape the Russian invasion.
“I wish there were more people who would learn Ukrainian language, who would be more interested in Ukrainian culture,” Dybka said. “Because here in the United States now, a lot of refugees are struggling with the language barrier, and they make efforts to learn English.”
Melnyk said using correct terminology when talking about Ukraine is important, and she hopes her colleagues at IU show support for Ukrainian people in Bloomington.
“It’s not ‘the Ukraine,’ it’s ‘Ukraine,'" she said. "It’s not just ‘the Ukraine conflict,’ or ‘Ukraine war,’ or ‘war in Ukraine;’ It’s 'the Russo-Ukrainian War'. It’s 'Russia’s war against Ukraine'. Don't be indifferent.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @aubreymwright.
