Other Considerations
Author
Tetyana Hrynovetska, Kate Ohbaidze, Yuliya Ivanytska,
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- Do not refer to Ukraine as “the Ukraine”. Using ‘t’ in this context is reminiscent of the Soviet era and implies that the country is a region within the since-dissolved USSR.
- It is important to pronounce “Ukrainian” correctly, with stress on the second syllable (yoo-kray-nee-uhn).
- The capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, is pronounced “k”, not “k/-”.
- Ukrainians will often be happy to know that you have heard of some of the biggest cities in their country, e.g. Kyiv (the capital), Lviv (in the west), Kharkiv (in the east) and Odessa (in the south).
- Ukrainians tend to be incredibly proud of their famous sportsmen and sportswomen. Showing knowledge of famous Ukrainians is likely to please your counterpart. Examples include Vitaliy and Volodymyr Klychkos, Vasyl Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk (boxers), Andriy Shevchenko (football player), Vasyl Virastiuk (strongman) and Elina Svitalina (tennis player).
- Many Ukrainians speak Russian as a first language. For some, this is the language they speak at home and their preferred language in informal situations. Others choose not to use this language out of principle and will respond to a Russian speaker in Ukrainian.
- There are few conversation topics that Ukrainians regard as ‘too sensitive’ for discussion. For example, religion is not a culturally taboo subject, and religious viewpoints may be freely discussed with co-workers or acquaintances. Money and health-related issues are usually discussed with close friends. However, Ukrainians are quite comfortable discussing personal problems and offering moral support to those they do not know well or have a professional relationship with.