The powerful weapon a group is using to arm Ukraine: English lessons
As Katerina Manoff considered on a recent morning how the effort she started three years ago has swelled in size and importance since the conflict in Ukraine began, she talked about the students in that country who don’t run when the air raid sirens scream.They stay in front of their screens, insisting on continuing the online language sessions that connect them to an English-speaker in another nation.
The idea for ENGin came to her then. Manoff, who had worked in schools, decided she wanted to create a program that would allow any Ukrainian student who wanted to improve their English to connect free with a real person who could help them.“I’m not inventing teaching English,” she said. “If people have money, they can hire a private tutor. The problem is most people in Ukraine do not have money, and that was true even before the war.
When the conflict started, Manoff considered shutting down the effort. The question that nagged at her: “Is English still important now when all these horrible things are happening?” But ENGin staff members, most of whom live in Ukraine, and students convinced her the effort was more important than ever. They reminded her that it’s not just language that is being exchanged.That’s the thing about talking with someone regularly — connections form.
“She said, ‘I don’t know what’s worse — not knowing where I’m going to live in two weeks or having bombs fall around me,’” Silverstein recalled.
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