The women from the Ukraine sit there and stare intently into their German books, take notes, consider how old the woman or man in the picture might be, whether they like to do sports or not. Their German teacher Viola Naumenko had said they should create a profile, and they are doing it. They were driven from their homes by the war, fled with their children a few weeks ago, and now they are sitting here trying to start over.
They come from Kyiv, from the region around Donetsk and from Dnipro. And now they are learning German for the first time in their lives. 19 refugees, mostly women, few men, are sitting in a classroom in the former Allianz building in Neuperlach, Viola Naumenko is standing in front of them and teaching them. It’s not her first time – teaching German is her job. Until recently she taught in Odessa. Then the war started and she fled, like some of her colleagues and her boss, Maria Degtiarenko.
Degtiarenko runs a language school in Odessa, she still does, with phone calls and zoom conferences. And since the beginning of April, the 47-year-old has also been running a language school in Munich: the German-Ukrainian School Munich-Odessa (Dusmo). Degtiarenko has often traveled from Odessa to Munich. It used to take her two and a half hours to cover the distance. When she fled the war with her children in mid-March, it took her six days.
Until recently, Viola Naumenko was still teaching in Odessa.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
“With the language courses we want to show that it is possible to start a new life successfully in a new country,” says Maria Degtiarenko.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Being in a strange place, not understanding anything – that has a traumatizing effect on many, says Degtiarenko. She speaks fluent German and studied here. She wants to pass on her knowledge, just like she did in Ukraine. “With the language courses we want to show that it is possible to start a new life successfully in a new country,” she says. “The participants feel that they are coming out of their silent world.”
It’s not just about the language, but also about the German mentality and the pitfalls of everyday life. For example, they explain that it takes longer to open a bank account here than in Ukraine. That you don’t take your bank card with you immediately after the first appointment, but that it is sent by post. And the pin number too, separate from the map. “If you don’t know that, you think you won’t get a ticket because you’re Ukrainian.”
They have a classroom and a small office, 50 refugees learn German there, 15 more in Karlsfeld and more than 70 learn online. There are 75 names on the waiting list for the next beginners’ course in Neuperlach. “Within four months, they can reach a level that they can handle in simple jobs,” says the headmistress.
The school is financed by donations – still
They want to achieve two goals with the language school: They want to help Ukrainian refugees and give them a new start; and they want to continue employing the German teachers who taught in the Bavarian House in Odessa. Three of them are still in Odessa, giving online lessons from there. Before the war, they taught 1,000 language students a year at the Bavarian House in Odessa. The house is a German culture and meeting center, which is supported by a support group based in Karlsfeld.
In the classroom, the students get together in groups of three and read out the profile they have attributed to the woman or man in the photo in the textbook. Children, no children – the views differ. But almost everyone agrees: the woman speaks several languages. The participants have been learning German since May 2nd, have completed the first course up to language level A1 and immediately started the second. You don’t have to pay anything for it. The school is financed by donations. Still.
Christian von Sydow is a lawyer and founded the Ukrainian language school in Munich together with other members of the Förderkreis Bayerisches Haus Odessa. According to Sydow, certification as an integration school by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees can only take place in March next year at the earliest. They intend to submit the application in the coming weeks. The city of Munich has funded four courses so far, and donations have made further courses possible. In order to continue until March and to be able to offer six courses a month, they would need more money, around 170,000 euros. They have a private fundraiser planned for the end of July.
The language courses for children and young people are particularly popular
There are language courses for refugees from several providers. The Goethe-Institut Ukraine, for example, offers an online course, and at the Munich Adult Education Center there are around 45 additional courses for refugees from Ukraine in addition to the integration courses, and they have had around 900 participants so far.
Heike Richter is the program manager for German and integration at the adult education center and she has noticed that there is a great need for German courses for children and young people in particular. “Many parents want their children to take at least that with them from this difficult time.” The courses in August are fully booked. They now offer an additional course; more is not possible for the time being, the children and young people also have to be looked after.
Back to the Dusmo language school in Neuperlach. Maria Degtiarenko tells of the first success stories of her participants. One said she could now help her little son with his homework. Another said a woman asked her something on the subway. At first she wanted to answer that she didn’t speak German – then she just tried it and spoke to the woman. “It’s experiences like this that help,” says Degtiarenko. And she would like to help as many refugees from Ukraine as possible to have such experiences.
Anyone who would like to support the Ukrainian language school Dusmo can contact Maria Degtiarenko, e-mail: [email protected].