Disclaimer: This definitely sounds like a topic that has been discussed before (if perhaps not the language in question). Feel free to link to other discussions, thank you, and if this one needs closing because it’s too similar, so be it.
Anyway, the header is the discussion. Headed to Ukraine in 2 months, want to learn enough to fumble through with Inna, what’s the best way to go about this?
What or who is Inna?
Have you tried tapes for complete beginners like Pimsleur? You get about 15 hours of audio lessons, plus there are some reading lessons included.
Inna.
Is this really a good idea right now? Sounds like it would be quite an adventure, but potentially a dangerous one.
My brother visited Ukraine some years ago and it was a wonderful experience, but that was before it became a war zone.
Eh, her family lives there and, for health and age reasons, Inna wants to visit her mother.
As far as the war goes, to use an analogy, Ukraine is about the size of Texas. The war is being fought in Houston, Inna’s family lives in Midland/Odessa, and we are getting in via New Mexico…
We are also visiting Prague and Vienna as well.
Some of the major players in language courses are offering free materials for Ukrainian language learners right now.
Lonely Planet phrasebooks are geared for travelers, but will give a lot of material you can drill with Inna. Help from a native speaker will give you a big leg up.
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Someone mentioned Pimsleur courses upthread. They are offering a free Ukrainian course right now.
Since your OP asked about apps, DuoLingo has a Ukrainian course that’s free with ads.
Trip is booked, flying out on the 5th of July, heading back on the 24th.
Going to hit the following cities:
Prague
Lviv (in Ukraine - going to spend the night in this lovely city)
Kiev
Vienna
We were thinking of adding Warsaw to the list, but I wouldn’t have the slightest idea of what to do in Warsaw, so we decided a visit to Lviv, one of the more under-rated cities in Eastern Europe, was more suited for the time we could spare. And Lviv is not too far from her family’s village… Lviv is a stop on the train line(s) from Prague to Kiev, actually… so that’s an assist.
Inna is thrilled that I’m coming, but it was a no-brainer - am I going to let her go into a war zone alone? Anyway, I want to learn more about her, how she grew up, more about that part of the world, and what better opportunity to do so?
Just want to give a shout-out to the customer service team at Polrail. I fucked up in ordering the train tickets, emailed them right after, and they fixed the issue in less than 10 hours (it was 2am their time when I emailed them).
I didn’t have to go all U-Haul on them, I was polite, deferential, and made a clear request. Problem. Solved.