Ukrainian language is written in Cyrillic alphabet and emerged as a distinct language from Russian in the 13th century. It uses no articles and has three verb tenses - present, past, future. English uses the Latin alphabet, has articles, and up to six verb tenses. Learning English poses challenges for Ukrainian students due to differences in phonology, grammar structures like auxiliaries, and article usage. Teachers should be aware of these differences and allow more time for Ukrainian students to develop English fluency.

1. Ukrainian Language Vs. English
Language
By Eric Hoopengardner

2. History
• Ukrainian language is written in a form of Cyrillic
alphabet and is closely related to Russian and
Belorussian, from which it was indistinguishable
until the 12th or 13th century. (Ukrainetrek.com)
• After the fall of Kievan Rus in the 13th century,
the dialectal characteristics that distinguished
Ukrainian language from its sister languages
emerged, but for many centuries there after the
language had almost no literary expression owing
to Ukraine’s long political subordination.
(Ukrainetrek.com)

3. History
• It was not until the end of the 18th century that moden
literary Ukrainian language emerged out of the
colloquial Ukrainian tongue. . (Ukrainetrek.com)
• The modern Ukrainian literary language is the mixture
of the elements of the three main dialects, with the
domination of Poltava dialects. The basis of the
vocabulary is formed with the words of the general
Slavonic origin, but there are also many words, which
emerged in Ukrainian in the period of its independent
historical development. . (Ukrainetrek.com)

4. Main Features of Ukrainian
• The Ukrainian language is printed and written in the Cyrillic
alphabet.
• Ukrainian grammar does not use articles in sentences.
• In Ukrainian language there are three tenses: Present, Past,
and Future which indicate the action, which coincides with
the moment of speaking, precedes or follows it. (Lingua
Sourcs, 1)
• The present day Ukrainian tense category is expressed by
three tense forms for the imperfective verbs and two tense
forms for the perfective verbs; there is no present tense of
the perfective verbs. (Lingua Sourcs, 1)

5. English vs. Ukrainian Language
English Language Ukrainian Language
• The English Language is based off • The Ukrainian language is based off the
the Latin alphabet and consist of Cyrillic alphabet and has 33 Cyrillic letters .
letters.
• Ukrainian is a largely phonetic language.
• The English language has two This means that a word's pronunciation can
articles a / an and the. be predicted from its spelling and its
spelling from its pronunciation.
• When looking at English it is
made up of three tenses also, • Ukrainian grammar does not use articles in
however depending on the sentences.
situation there can be up to six:
simple present, present perfect, • The present day Ukrainian tense category is
simple past, past perfect, future, expressed by three tense forms for the
and future perfect. imperfective verbs and two tense forms for
the perfective verbs; there is no present
• English uses auxiliaries such as tense of the perfective verbs.
be, can, do, shall, which help in
forming of certain tenses • Ukrainian language does not have
auxiliaries, and omit them.

6. English Alphabet vs. Cyrillic Alphabet
English Alphabet Cyrillic Alphabet
A B C D E F G H
I J K L M N O P
Q R S T U V W X
Y Z

7. Maria from Ukraine
• The person used for research.
Name: Maria
Sex: Female
Age: 26
Language: Ukrainian
Country: Ukraine
Hometown: Kharkov
Years Speaking English: 10 Years
Languages Maria is fluent in English, Russian,
Ukrainian, and Norwegian.

8. Maria’s Data Analysis
• Types of Errors Made
Data Analysis: Types of Errors
Spelling Errors 6
6 6
Article Errors 8
Verb Tenses 4
Sentence Structure 6 4 Spelling Errors
8 Article Errors
Verb Tenses
Sentence Structure

9. Analysis of Maria’s Mistakes
Spelling Errors
What Maria Wrote Correct Form Error
I buy alot of cookbooks and even I buy a lot of cookbooks and even Alot is spelled incorrectly should
get to use them from time to time. get to use them from time to time. be “a lot”
I’m such a fun of hiking I’m such a fan of hiking Fun should be “fan”
usually get surprized when surprised Suprized should be “surprised”
I’ve learnt to cook learned Learnt should be “learned”
to the curios tourists. to the curious Curios should be “curious”
It not like It’s not like Wrong form of it, should be “it’s”

10. Analysis of Maria’s Mistakes
Article Errors
What Maria Wrote Correct Form Error
I get urge to cook fancy dinner. I get an urge to cook a fancy dinner. Missing the article “an”
I guess the biggest holidays in I guess the biggest holidays in the Missing the article “the” in front of
Ukraine are New Year’s Eve, Easter, Ukraine are New Year’s Eve, Easter, Ukraine
and Independence Day and Independence Day.
things I do on daily basis are things I do on a daily basis are Missing the article “a”
That’s why city has a unique That’s why the city has a unique Missing the article “the”
architecture architecture
Kiev is beautiful city Kiev is a beautiful city Missing the article “a”
English could be useful for me in English could be useful for me in the Missing the article “the”
future future
both in school and at university, both in school and at the university Missing the article “the”
middle of Ukrainian nowhere middle of the Ukrainian nowhere Missing the article “the”

11. Analysis of Maria’s Mistakes
Verb Tenses
What Maria Wrote Correct Form Error
I like go to the cinema with my I like going to the cinema with my Go needs an “ing” ending
friends. friends.
We are used to it Use Wrong verb tense of used, should be
“use”
I like to go to school I liked going to school Verb tense past should be “liked”
if the person will end up somewhere if the person would end up Wrong verb tense should be
somewhere “would”

12. Analysis of Maria’s Mistakes
Sentence Structure Errors
What Maria Wrote Correct Form Error
Maybe because this way I can sit I do this because I can sit quietly The sentence needs restructuring
quietly and observe people that and observe people that pass by. run-on sentences and hard to
pass by, Maybe because sometimes Sometimes some of those people understand.
some of those people happen to be passing by are people I know and
someone I know, and they stop by we end up having a conversation.
and we have in many ways
unexpectedly nice conversation.
I always take them first of all to I always take my friends to Kiev Sentences needs restructuring to
Kiev, which is the capital which is the capital make better sense.
My native language is Russian, I My native language is Russian, I Sentence restructuring speak also
speak also Ukrainian fluently. also speak Ukrainian fluently. need to be swapped to “also
speak”
I speak also English I also speak English Sentence restructuring speak also
need to be swapped to “also
speak”
There are many universities and There are also many universities Sentence restructuring moved also
scientific research centers there and scientific research centers to beginning of sentence.
also. there.
some seminars and stuff like that some seminars and stuff like that
that were in English. were in English.

13. Impacts of L1 on development of
English
• Ukrainian students learning English will initially struggle
with learning the phonological system of English language.
– Ukrainian language consists of 5 vowel sounds, with no
differentiation between short and long vowels. This contrasts
with English which has 12 vowel sounds (5 long, 7 short), plus 8
diphthongs.
• Ukrainian learners will struggle with auxiliaries in verb
tenses and article usage. For example when asking the
question ‘How do you do that’ a Ukrainian learner might
say ‘How you do that.’
• Ukrainian learners will also struggle with article usage,
since they do not exist in their language

14. Instructional Implications
• There are significant differences between the English
language and the Ukrainian language and educators and
parents should be aware of the challenges faced when
learning English.
• In terms of grammar, Ukrainian has a complex morphology.
Ukrainian, like German and Latin, is an inflected language.
This means that nouns, adjectives and pronouns must have
case endings to indicate their function (subject, object or
indirect object) in a sentence.
– English is not an inflected language; therefore, students require
considerable time and practice to acquire grammatical
understanding in modeled, structured and unstructured
situations

15. Instructional Implications
• Due to the vast differences between the Latin
and Cyrillic alphabet, “many younger students
confuse the Latin and Cyrillic letters and
transfer incorrectly between languages.
• It is important to understand that additional
time is required for students with Ukrainian as
a first language to develop fluency in English
because of its complexity and unique
characteristics.

16. References
• Alberta Education, L. (2008). Ukrainian Language Arts Grades 4-6: Guide to
Implementation. Alberta Education.
• Berry, C., Brizee, A., & Angeli, E. (2010). Sequence of Tenses. Retrieved October
12, 2011. From http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/01/.
• Lingua Source. (2011). Retrieved October 12, 2011. From http://lingua-
source.com/2011/05/26/grammatical-categories-of-english-and-ukrainian-verbs/.
• The differences between English and Ukrainian. (2011). Retrieved October
12, 2011. From http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/ukranian.htm.
• Ukrainian. (2011). Retrieved October 12, 2011. From
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ukrainian.htm.
• Ukrainian Language. (2011). Retrieved October 12, 2011. From
http://www.ukranianlessons.net/.
• Ukraine: The Ukrainian language. (2010). Retrieved October 12, 2011. From
http://where.org.ua/ukraine.php?r=The-Ukrainian-Language
• Ukrainetrek (2011). Retrieved October 12, 2011. From
http://ukrainetrek.com/about-ukraine-culture/ukrainian-language.