Ukraine: Knowing the Lingo

When we’ve spoken to the gov, Liza Chupri and others involved in the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, one subject kept coming back to us, the support of Cafe Lingo.

Run by Karen Norton, supported by her husband Tim and a group of volunteers, Cafe Lingo offers free language lessons to people moving to the island.

Well that’s what it says on the tin, but in truth the charity, which has been running since 2016, goes far beyond that, it also helps with learning about life in the British Isles, history, culture and other areas.

When islanders opened their homes to Ukrainians, one thing that quickly became clear was that, like here, the younger generation were far more likely to be multi-lingual than their parents and grandparents.

Karen said: ‘We initially didn’t really know how to respond, we weren’t sure how many people were coming, we didn’t know what their needs would, we didn’t know what their levels of English would be, or for how long they’d be here, everything was uncertain.

‘Initially we started by offering food and clothing, supported by One World Centre and then we increased our classes, although some people who came over from the Ukraine were very highly educated, with a very high standard of English, others, particularly the older people, had very little experience of the English language.

‘Our lessons were fairly, no advanced, but at an intermediate level. We knew we had to offer something for beginners again, so we started a weekly beginners lesson as well and contacting different government departments, different Ukrainian groups on the Isle of Man and we accessed three different interpreters. One of whom used to be a Cafe Lingo student, but is now a volunteer and we put in place events like workshops.

‘We deliberately geared things for them, so we changed our whole timetable, so we changed our whole programme so that subjects we wouldn’t normally cover at this time of year, we started to cover, so we were covering essentials for living, like going to the doctors, getting a job, shopping, schools, things like that.’

While some of the older generation of Ukrainians who have come to the island have needed this extra support, Karen said they’ve been helped by some of the younger ones.

She added: ‘What we have to remember is that these are all individual families, families are all different to each other, so we try to be flexible and cater to that. You may have somebody of a certain generation that’s really skilled at English and somebody who isn’t, we try to be flexible and when we see a need, we try to cater for it.’

As well as teaching English, Cafe Lingo has organised some events specifically aimed at the Ukrainian population on the island and for host families too. She said that one such event, a planned picnic, had to be moved indoors thanks to the ever reliable Manx weather delivering a day of rain. Surely there is little that will help anyone moving to the island, no matter where they’re from, settle in quite like having to change plans at the last minute because you can’t rely on a Manx summer.

Karen said that Cafe Lingo has links with so many organisations, be it the Job Centre, the DHSC and the Ukraine Support Team, they have been able to help people get the support they need.

She said: ‘We do a blanket provision, but we also hone in on individual people and try to support what they want for their lives. I know there is so much uncertainly for them, planning must be a really difficult thing. I think some have decided they want to stay on the island, which must be easier since they know where they are and will be but, they’re just trying to achieve certain goals, but for others, they really don’t know what the future is.

‘They don’t know about the place they’ve come from and the situations there, for employment and the physical conditions, big changes in their families as well, so it’s just so difficult.’

You can learn more about the tremendous work of Cafe Lingo here.