When Olena Chekryzhova followed in her grandmother’s footsteps and started teaching English, she had no idea that she would end up on a military base on the battlefront against Russian troops in Ukraine.
But this is their new reality in the face of the many soldiers who want to learn English, particularly military vocabulary, to make the most of the help of the United States and other allies in the war against Moscow.
Deliveries of HIMARS missile systems have already made a difference in combat. Now, the troops await the arrival of Patriot air defense systems, promised to President Volodymir Zelensky during a visit to Washington.
But when the equipment arrives in Ukraine, soldiers find that the instruction guides are mostly in English, a language also often needed to communicate with foreign fighters who have traveled to the country.
To help overcome the barrier, Chekryzhova, 35, left her relatively quiet life in the classroom and moved to the front, where she teaches members of the Armed Forces.
She spent five months in the Donetsk region (east of the country), where she lived with soldiers and participated in training sessions.
“Some people think I’m crazy,” she told AFP from the Kiev base where she is currently working.
“Teaching English in this case is a small contribution I can make for my country, for the people of my country and for the army, which protects us from this terrorist attack”, he adds.
– Military vocabulary –
Almost all soldiers took English lessons, but not always with good results, especially among the older ones.
“It was in the Soviet period and the English I learned at school is basically nothing,” explains Igor Soldatenko, 50, one of Olena’s students in Kiev.
“The whole system was inadequate, as I see it now. We were just learning texts without understanding them… Nobody could use this in real life”.
Classes now, however, are more practical. Soldiers learn words like “wounded,” “semi-automatic,” or phrases like “killed in action.”
Learning goes both ways as Chekryzhova is discovering a new world of military tactics and strategy, as well as observing the difficulties of life in the military.
In Donetsk, she wept alongside soldiers who lost comrades, including some students who died in fighting in Bakhmut, the teacher’s hometown and the target of relentless Russian attacks in recent months.
“It’s a double pain. Because it is my hometown, and now it has become my students’ grave,” she said.
During a recent conversation class in Kiev, the only time students spoke in Ukrainian was when they remembered their dead classmates.
And even as he tried to hold back his tears, Private Yuri Kalmutski, 36, struggled to complete his idea in English, despite the difficulties.
“I lose a lot of friends… It was my circle of close people and I lose… them. I miss them,” he said. “Is very difficult”.
– “Armed with English” –
In their effort to master the English language, Olena’s students told AFP that they are inspired by President Zelensky’s evolution in the language.
“A few years ago, he had horrible English. Everyone knows,” says Kalmutski. “But he learned.”
The progress was proven on Wednesday, when Zelensky addressed the US Congress in English to reaffirm that his country is “alive” while also calling for more help.
Chekryzhova wants to expand the program to teach more soldiers, but the international organizations she looks to for funding say they don’t want to allocate money to the military.
“They say they would like to help children, animals, the elderly, maybe internally displaced people or exiles,” he says.
But she says she has little interest in “dogs and kittens or nice old ladies,” and that she wants to help soldiers win the war through language as well.
Class is nearing its end and Olena asks, “Are you armed with English?” “Yes,” replies Soldatenko.
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