Speed English Odesa: 133 Participants, ₴50K Donated to Ukrainian

In Odesa, English teachers Kateryna Kozhukhar and Ruslana Reznichenko organized an educational project a year ago. These are English conversation sessions in the format of speed dating. That is, when two people sit across from each other, not to establish a romantic relationship, but for language practice. The concept is simple: participants have three minutes to discuss one question, after which both the question and the interlocutor change.

In 22 sessions at 6 locations, the organizer had 133 participants talk. During this time, the Speed English Odesa project has donated more than 50 thousand hryvnias to the Armed Forces. The teachers say that they hardly earn any money from the conversation club, as they have individual tutoring. But they can teach English to the military for free. Intent talked to the founders of the language project.

Tell us, how did you create the "speeds"? Where did the idea come from?

Speaking club sessions. Photo: Kateryna Kozhukhar/Facebook

Ruslana Reznichenko: I moved to Odesa from Mykolaiv because of the heavy shelling in April 2022. For the first year, I stayed in my apartment, did not go out, trying to adapt. I didn't know anyone here, had no friends or acquaintances. I thought, why not create my own community? But I realized that it would be difficult to organize it all by myself, I needed to find colleagues.

Ruslana Reznichenko. Photo: Ruslana Reznichenko/Facebook

In January 2023, I joined a free marathon for teachers, as I have been teaching English since 2016. That's where I met Kateryna Kozhukhar. It happened by chance. I wrote in a chat room: "People, who is from Odesa? Let's all meet together." Katia replied, I organized a group in the telegram, and we met with other teachers. Then Kateryna and I had a hit because we immediately found a common language.

A week later, she offered me to organize a mafia game in English. But this required a high level of language skills of the game participants.

I told her about another format, Speed English, in which I had participated in Mykolaiv. I really liked it because of its dynamics, which is different from the usual "speaking clubs". And Katya said to me: "Wow, there is nothing like this in Odesa. Let's do it!"

Kateryna Kozhukhar: The idea came up in early March 2023. Then we went to a Spanish-speaking "speaking club". It was very bright and there was a man among us who had lived in Latin America for five years.

The topic was the influence of Taras Shevchenko's work. And it had to be explained in Spanish. I had a beginner level, Ruslana had an intermediate level, and the man had an advanced level. This guy rejected us and just talked to the hostess.

Kateryna Kozhukhar. Photo: Kateryna Kozhukhar/Facebook

We left the place, I turned to Ruslana and said: "This was a sign. We need to make a project for people who don't have the opportunity to communicate-for introverts, for people who are very shy, who are afraid. That's why we're going to create an environment where everyone can talk."

Our first session was attended by four people - Ruslana and I and our friends. Now we get 20-30 participants twice a month. The maximum was 38 people. And we plan to scale this process through online sessions.

At our sessions, people stop being afraid and shy around the third question. Because at first you come, some people don't understand you, you don't know them, everyone doesn't trust each other. We ask the first question, and the person gets the hang of it, and by the third question, stress and nervousness disappear. You realize that you are surrounded by people who are just as afraid as you are. No one listens to your mistakes, everyone is thinking about how to avoid making their own. And everyone is open, and everyone helps each other. And we don't interfere with corrections.

We are not English teachers there. We manage the whole process. We don't need to teach people how to speak correctly; there are courses and teachers for that. We teach people to speak as well as they can and as well as they know how.

It sounds like a psychological club?

Conversation club sessions. Photo: Kateryna Kozhukhar/Facebook

Ruslana Reznichenko: Yes, because it is to inspire, motivate, and guide. In my classes with students, I always spend 15-20 minutes on therapy to show them that it is possible to master a language.

Kateryna Kozhukhar: We constantly write on our social media: it's okay to be afraid, it's okay to make mistakes. You will never speak until you start.
Just open your mouth and say your first words: "How are you?" It may not be good, but it will be. Your brain will see that you did it, you survived, it will be easier next time.
But you will speak and not be afraid that you will have a panic attack.

I heard that teachers come to you and want to take part in your sessions.

Sessions of the conversation club. Photo: Kateryna Kozhukhar/Facebook

Ruslana Reznichenko: Yes, they come, we even want to, but now we have started holding online speed sessions, so we don't always have time.

I teach beginner and intermediate levels for students. Kateryna teaches intermediate and advanced. So I feel that my English either stays at the same level or sometimes drops. Because I speak in accessible structures for beginners. The downside is that I can forget more complex constructions that I could use in everyday conversation. As a teacher, I would benefit from the "speeds". Because teaching and speaking English are completely different things.

Kateryna Kozhukhar: Teachers sometimes want to express their own opinions, not to look for mistakes, but just to communicate. For example, about artificial intelligence. We all have opinions about it. But when you work, you train a student, and you keep yours to yourself.

And here you can come and hear some cool philosophical question and show your skills, not correct others.

We have a lot of teachers-sometimes they talk about it at the sessions, sometimes not. They even find students for themselves.

Tell us about your stressful situations during the sets.

Kateryna Kozhukhar: We have a rule that we choose all our locations based on the availability of bomb shelters.

A girl came to us for the first time. During the session, we heard an alarm - a cruise missile was heading for Odesa. I should note that we are now holding "speed drills" at the Chornomorets stadium. They have a shelter there. A girl stopped in front of the shelter and started smoking. I turned to her: "We need to go down." She said: "There is no threat. I never go down, I'm a fatalist". I replied that it was her business, but we are responsible for her here.

I don't understand why such things need to be explained in the fourth year of the invasion. When the alarm ended and we started to continue the session, the girl left and never came back. It was stressful for me, but I'm sure I did the right thing.

Do you have any romantic stories after speed dating?

Conversation club sessions. Photo: Kateryna Kozhukhar/Facebook

Ruslana Reznichenko: We don't know of any romantic ones, but we do have work stories. There is no time to get to know each other during the set. But we have two breaks between sets, and there is some networking going on. This is how two girls met and started working together. One helps the other organize projects.

We created a private chat for people who attended the session. There, they look for services, a company for quests in the catacombs, bowling, and we have a book club.

Kateryna Kozhukhar: People now need not only English, but another person. We were sitting on our own during Covid for a long time, then the invasion came, then it became scary to gather in large companies, and 70% of our members come to socialize.

Tell us about your social mission and military project.

Conversation club sessions. Photo: Kateryna Kozhukhar/Facebook

Kateryna Kozhukhar: Our military take part in the sessions for free, even if they don't want to (laughs - ed.). There was a soldier who said he would still pay, but we said no, you won't. So far, there are not many of them, and we want to continue working with veterans' hubs on a pro bono basis. We have recently applied for a grant precisely to accommodate everyone.

In general, we plan to expand further not only for military personnel and veterans, but also for their family members. We want their children to come to us.

Now we allocate 10 free places per session. After the grant, we hope there will be no restrictions.

This is an educational social project, and we don't make any money on it. We invest our money here. We send 50 percent of everything we receive after paying taxes and paying for the hall rent to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Are you prepared to deal with possible panic attacks during the set in an environmentally friendly way?

Conversation club sessions. Photo: Kateryna Kozhukhar/Facebook

Kateryna Kozhukhar: We understand that a person may or may not know that they have PTSD. So when they find themselves in a room with a bunch of people who are all talking, this buzz can lead to something. We never say it before the session, but during the set I look at people every few minutes, how are they? Sometimes you can tell by the tone of their face that something might happen. We are ready for it. By the way, Prometheus has a course for educators on panic attacks.

We ask the military to leave everything at home that should not be in a place where people gather.

I understand that they may be stressed, we have tools to help them and want to develop in this direction. I know how to deal with another person's panic attack in an environmentally friendly and harmonious way.

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