Learning Ukrainian, make a difference - Timothy Douglas

As the Hyperpolyglot Activist Dr. Carlos Yebra Lopez says “Learn Languages, make a difference!” and he’s right! Due to the recent tragic events in Ukraine, there is a pressing need for people with knowledge of Ukrainian to help those displaced from Ukraine, including the translation of medical and other documents, support in matters connected with everyday life, and simply by showing appreciation for their language and culture. As polyglots, we love learning languages and can learn more quickly than the average person; maybe we should use our skill to learn the languages of those who need support?

This talk is a personal story about how the invasion of Ukraine led me to start learning the language, become a volunteer translator for an organization which provides linguistic help to refugees, made friends with displaced Ukrainians and organized a conference on how to learn Ukrainian to help people – and how the whole process helped me to learn Ukrainian!