It all started in the autumn of 2018, during my second visit to Ukraine. I loved it there, but the language barrier held me back
It all started in the autumn of 2018, during my second visit to Ukraine. I loved it there, but the language barrier held me back
It all started in the autumn of 2018, during my second visit to Ukraine. I loved it there, but the language barrier held me back—I could only talk to people who spoke English, Norwegian, or German. Knowing I'd be returning each year, I thought, why not learn some Russian to handle simple conversations with the locals?
Already on my way home, I started learning. The Cyrillic alphabet seemed intimidating at first, but it's only about 30 characters—not too hard to pick up. Polish is also quite similar to Russian, so understanding wasn't as tough as I expected. Despite learning "just for fun" and only in my spare time, by autumn 2019, I was at a strong A2 level.
In addition to that, when I didn’t know a word, I could often use a Polish word with a Russian twist, which worked about 40% of the time. The grammar also felt familiar, so I was ready to "go out and talk to everyone."!
During my third visit, I spent every free moment talking with my Ukrainian friends and getting to know their friends. I still remember the exhaustion—my tongue hurt, and my head was overloaded every evening. Then it hit me: I loved the country, had friends there, and could speak the language. So why not move there?
In June 2020, during the pandemic, I finally moved to Ukraine. A lot has changed since then: I got engaged in February 2022, and just a few days later, the war began. Some friends left, but we stayed. I got married in 2023 and now have a wonderful family.
It's fascinating how small decisions and actions can completely change the course of our lives.
