Language is the key to everything—from school and healthcare to finding employment. However, 20% of holders of temporary protection in the Czech Republic still do not speak Czech at all. Our courses offer the necessary language training that will help them integrate more easily into Czech society.
- The courses will be given to 1,300 holders of temporary protection from Ukraine over the age of 18.
- From 1/7/2024 to 31/12/2026, 87 face-to-face or online courses will take place at 4 levels, from A1 to B2, throughout the Czech Republic.
- Lecturers from the Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies at Charles University have contributed to the course methodology.
Why Continue Teaching Czech?
Although the number of Ukrainian refugees (temporary protection holders) who can communicate in Czech is still growing, an estimated 20% of them do not know the language at all. This not only complicates their search for a suitable job, but limits them to communication only within the Ukrainian community. These people often cannot do without interpreters even when dealing with the simplest everyday situations. In addition, not knowing the language increases the risk of social exclusion, which is a problem both for the refugees themselves and for Czech society as a whole.
What is our goal?
With a higher knowledge of Czech, it will be easier for holders of temporary protection to get involved in everyday life in the Czech Republic. Thanks to this, they will be able to:
- Communicate with locals and build social connections
- Be self-sufficient and arrange your their doctor appointment, communicate with the school, go to the local office or look for housing
- Find jobs matching their original qualifications more easily
- Get to know the local culture
Slovo 21 and Czech language teaching
Since the beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, we have been intensively helping Ukrainian refugees, whether it is in the form of information meetings or language courses. Thanks to these activities, we are in close contact with temporary protection holders and understand their needs.
While preparing this project, thanks to our outreach on Slovo pro Ukrainu social networks, we were able to find out what specific needs this group has and tailor the whole project to them (e.g. the ratio of conversational to specifically professional courses or the types of professional courses requested). Lecturers from the Institute of Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies at Charles University, who have been teaching Czech to foreigners with Slavic mother tongues for a long time, contributed to the methodology of our courses.
We are also cooperating on the project with several NGOs founded by Ukrainian refugees themselves. These partnerships allow us not only to reach out effectively to participants, but at the same time support the individual organizations in their growth - either by renting space or creating additional employment opportunities for their staff.
Course offerings will be gradually posted on the Slovo pro Ukrajinu social media channels. In case you are interested in courses, please get in touch.
The project Teaching the Czech language For Better Integration is funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) of the European Union.
