At the same time, these are locations, a comfortable space where regular visitors, readers of the library can freely communicate in Ukrainian without fear of making mistakes, think and dream in Ukrainian.
"We have created quite a large number of conversational clubs. Today, 23 of them operate in our network. Of these 23 groups, eight work specifically on the basis of the Central Library. The age of our users who come to improve their Ukrainian , to communicate fluently in Ukrainian, ranges from 38 to 77 years old. And we are very glad that the number of people who want to do this is growing," says the director of the Central City Library named after M.L. Kropyvnytskyi Inha Khorzhevska.
Although the Ukrainian language courses at the Central City Library named after M.L. Kropyvnytskyi began to function long before February 24, 2022. Svitlana Bozhko worked with visitors on volunteer basis. Librarian Dmytro Semchyshyn also joined her. Classes were held free of charge. But such crazy popularity, the need to speak Ukrainian was not felt then.
The situation changed fundamentally with the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the occupiers. In the summer of 2022, the library joined and became part of the all-Ukrainian project "Edyni".
At the end of 2023, the movement team thanked the language ambassadors. The forum on the occasion of the Day of the Ukrainian Language and Writing took place in Kyiv on October 27, 2023. Its organizers thanked the Ukrainians who became Ukrainian ambassadors. The director of the Central City Library named after M.L. Kropyvnytskyi, honored journalist of Ukraine Inha Khorzhevska is among them.
Among the moderators of conversation clubs is a teacher with 30 years of experience, Larysa Sychenko, who cooperates on a volunteer basis with the Central City Library named after M.L. Kropyvnytskyi for a long time.
Before this, she had no experience working with adults. However, she willingly agreed to the proposal of the library team.
"And here people are adults. They go at their own wish. And speaking club is not about rules, it's not about spelling. Speaking club is for developing speaking skills. Because people are adults. They want to speak correctly. But they feel that some kind of base is missing a little. Therefore, the conversational club is an attempt to learn to speak," emphasizes Larysa Sychenko.
While working with listeners, Larisa Sychenko offers them to read aloud as much as possible. Also, during the classes, the participants watch Ukrainian films and discuss them. They read a lot of modern authors. She does not make a certain program of classes. Topics emerge spontaneously. According to one or another need of listeners. Groups consist of up to 10 people, which provides an opportunity to freely communicate and learn the material.
"Here, no one condemns anyone for mistakes. No one laughs at anyone. People learn from their mistakes. People help each other. This is a community of motivated people," says the conversation club's moderator.
However, the direction, intonation, desire to communicate in the Ukrainian language begins with the family. The teacher, of course, will help and guide. But he will definitely not be the first, he will not be the most important person in this process. With your own child and family members, you should speak your native language, read Ukrainian books, watch Ukrainian movies, and visit the theater. After all, language is more relevant today than ever.
