Yuri Shevchuk

Добрий день! Just so you know, I have no prior experience in other Slavic languages and had to learn pretty much from scratch. Prof. Shevchuk is a great guy! He's very passionate about the language and the culture and it really got me more interested with Ukraine myself! (And with everything that is happening there right now, it's a hot topic.) Since the class size is small, each student gets a lot of attention and he really wants to help us learn the language and get comfortable with the material. In the first semester, due to scheduling, I was alone for most of the classes, which was daunting at first, but became very helpful for me in learning the material. Now, we also use video conferences technology for a student at Yale, and everything has been going really great! It actually doesn't feel like we are video conferencing at all and that everyone is in the classroom. Sometimes we wouldn't even notice that class ended 15 minutes ago since we are all having a lot of fun learning the language. Also, he grades very fairly, as the curve is based on how much you as an individual as improved throughout the course. Since everyone else in my class knows Russian, Polish, or another Slavic language, this is great for me as someone who had no idea what declensions were, the structure of the grammar, and even the alphabet. I'm going to continue with Ukrainian next year since…

Professor Yuri Shevchuk is an incredible teacher. Firstly, he knows the Ukrainian language, grammar, society, and culture very well. Secondly, he knows many other languages such as Polish, Russian, French, and Spanish, and so it's really cool when he points out to you how what youÂ’re saying is Polish, for example, instead of Ukrainian. He is a relatively young guy who has a great sense of humor and runs the class so well that you don't ever really look at the clock until you realize that you're late for your next class. What is most important I think is that he truly loves Ukraine and it's culture, and so takes a lot of issues, such as that of language, very seriously and thus gives you insight into a lot of things that you thought you understood well, but really don't. As to the work-load, he lists all of the assignments on the web, and make sure that anything that says "in writing" is handed in, because he usually won't remind you to hand anything in. From monday to wednesday or tuesday to thursday (depending when you have it) he gives mainly grammar or vocab practice exercises that don't take long to complete. Over the weekend there is more work but nothing that can't be handled in several hours. He did not give a midterm, but had three tests throughout the semester that were pretty easy, but still needed to be studied for. He offered to replace the final with a translatio…

I learned a lot of Ukrainian grammar and vocabulary, speaking and reading/writing skills

Professor Shevchuk is an extremely recommended teacher. From day one he works with the class to ensure that everyone completely understands the material, then provides an immersive and helpful environment to learn the language. Shevchuk is extremely dedicated and passionate about Ukraine and the Ukrainian language, and it really shows in the class. The coursework can get slightly tiring depending on your schedule, but in the end it helps make the class an extremely useful way to learn the language.

I continued to learn basics in the Ukrainian Language including different cases, how to conjugate in present tense, and other grammar lessons. We also learned different common situations and vocabulary around it like talking about our family, inviting someone to dinner, and talking about films and entertainment. This course set us up to successfully interact and discuss various things with Ukrainian speakers.

HW: hour and a half, depending how fast you can write/understand the material. Oral assignments are frequent as well. Make sure you know what you are writing (aka translate the stuff you don't know). Exams: 4 chapter exams each semester. I'd say they are graded very fairly as stated above. Oral exams are much more challenging to me, but they are fine. Just make sure you do the homework for the class and you'll be fine! The elementary level class is 3 times a week, but they are fun to attend!

I learned a lot and it was very helpful on how to use verbs in different tenses and grammatical cases. It was a great class that gave me the necessary knowledge skills and perspectives that I need to communicate in Ukraine.

Nightly homework, periodic quizzes, several unit tests, midterm and final.

My Ukrainian language skills increased exponentially from this course. I was able to learn a lot, very in depth, and very quickly.

I would recommend this to someone who has the time and commitment in their schedule to dedicate the hours expected and necessary for this class. If you wish to become very proficient in Ukrainian, this is the course for you. However, it is important to consider and be prepared for a significant workload.