TOP 5 mistakes Ukrainians make in English | Meet my English Teacher!

Today, we are discussing the most common mistakes made by Ukrainians in English with my English teacher and friend Irene Donchenko. Join this enlightening conversation with Irene, the founder of @ipshkola, an English language school for Ukrainians. Today, she will tell us about the TOP 5 categories of mistakes that Ukrainians make in studying English, and we will compare learning English to learning Ukrainian as a second language.
💙 Irene, thank you for this conversation, it was very interesting and fun!
I also want to express my sincere gratitude to these people, who helped me to produce this fantastic video:
💛 Director: J.P. Chanjpchan.com/ ‪@JPChan‬ (If anyone is looking for a filmmaker, you have found the ONE! Follow J.P.'s KZbin channel to see more of his works!)
💛 Music: Timo Chen. likemindedmgmt.com/clients/ti...
💛 Special thanks to Alexandra Malikova
🕒 Video Timestamps:
00:55 - Mistakes in pronunciation
05:55 - Mistakes in spelling
09:16 - Mistakes in punctuation
10:48 - Mistakes in grammar
14:32 - Mistakes in vocabulary
If you're on a journey to master the English language or if you're learning Ukrainian as a second language, this video is packed with insights and comparisons that you won't want to miss. Irene shares valuable tips to help you navigate the intricate world of language learning. Subscribe, like, and hit the notification bell to stay updated with our language-learning adventures! 🌟
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#ukrainianlanguage #learnukrainian #speakenglish #mistakes #speakukrainian #english #verbaschool #ukrainians
Nika Minchenko,
Your Ukrainian language teacher,
VERBA school

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Who can count how many mistakes I made during the video? 😉 Write them as an answer to this comment ❤️

[@jplouthelgm5156]

"What is vanity?'' 🤚"We'll talk about it later!" 🤣🤣🤣 That was hilarious! Дякую!!

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

😆Now I won't forget the word)))

[@gordonprice695]

I had an Italian friend ask how I felt about people's "mistakes" in English. I said I love them because when someone makes a "mistake" in English they are teaching me about their language. And English is so flexible, the meaning is rarely lost. To me that's awesome.

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Exactly ❤️‍🔥 Very well said!

[@1midnightfish]

I agree 100%! This has only become clear to me since I started learning Ukrainian - probably because it's the first language I've really wanted to learn as an adult (I got my two languages as a child). Ukranian youtubers' willingness to vlog in English is one of the many - many, many! - things I appreciate them for: I learn so much. 💙💛

[@prepper_nation_h]

This was such a fun discussion. As a native English speaker, I honestly don't know how anyone learns it. It has adapted parts from so many loaner languages and has changed itself a lot over the centuries. Your example of the difficulty with the letter combination "-ough" is a good one. It can literally be pronounced at least 5 different ways (if not more) in words which otherwise look very similar to each other. Though, thought, through, tough, and trough each use a different pronunciation of the same four letters. Or, in the case of the word "slough," the same spelling can be either a noun or a verb and can be pronounced three different ways depending on meaning or dialect, either like -ue in "blue," or like -ow in "cow," or like -uff in "stuff." And when it comes to tenses, I don't think even most native speakers can name them all or think of ways to use the obscure ones.

[@Woah595]

I used to love my ukrainian friend’s mistakes because they would always make me laugh, like she would call ‘toes’ ‘foot fingers’.

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

That's so cute 🥰

[@jeroen1158]

Your English is very good Nika. Yes there were some mistakes made, but just very small ones. I can see how much more work I need to do, to get my Ukrainian to the level of your English.

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

🤗 💙

[@am2dan]

I've been watching you off-and-on for quite a while, Nika, and I think that your English, which has always been good, has noticeably improved with time. 👍

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Thanks a lot😊

[@Clairvoyant_D]

Дякую ніко, I always find your videos very helpful I also bought your B1 level book to show my gratitude. 🙏I didn't notice any mistakes I thought it was insightful you mention saying "I'm normal" in english can be taken the wrong way 👍

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

🥰 Дякую 📘

[@jodiekarta-sheridan2597]

A great video, thank you both! I am learning Ukrainian but I also help two Ukrainians practice their English through a volunteer group so this is helpful for me on both accounts. I must say though, the easist way I have found in learning some of the differences in sentence structures and how to use words has been to imagine how I hear Ukrainians speak English and then I know how to attempt the sentence when I try in Ukrainian. I love these language differences ❤

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Exactly) This is what we were hoping to say by this video 💗

[@claresstyle]

Thank you for this video! This is very helpful since I volunteer to teach English to Ukrainians💙💛 It's so interesting to learn how unique languages are, stay safe Nika!

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

❤😊

[@AodhanBulger]

One of my most favorite topics of all is accent. I love hearing and feeling people's accents, and I am always striving to improve my pronunciation, whether that's in Ukrainian, French, or English, as well. And there is a sort of logic to things like "through/though/thought/thorough," which is largely two things: Norman French influence on spelling, and the attempt by early dictionary writers sought to standardize English (CA. 1650-1750 or later, if memory serves me right), they tried to crunch together as many dialects as possible, of which there were many. It was also more obvious to the people who spoke middle English, where sounds like г and х were still present early on, and kn still made sense - it was pronounced in Old->Middle English as k+n. Also, we have the subjunctive mood :D but many natives (particularly in the US) were not taught about it.

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Yeah, I knew you would enjoy this video😌😉

[@putinisakiller8093]

German people understand old English better than Englishman.

[@blitzdoodles]

It's always interesting to know as I think it's very helpful to imagine Ukrainian's mistakes in English when trying to get Ukrainian right. Also, I think pie can be both countable and uncountable. If it's a small individual pie it's more likely to use an article, but if it's a large pie for sharing, it's more likely to be treated as uncountable so you don't need an article.

[@putinisakiller8093]

Pie can. And many other thighs, too. 😥

[@thamesking]

Really helpful video as I am learning Ukrainian (thank you Nika) and I also have many Ukrainians who I teach English to and I have noticed many of the problems you described. Thank you for explaining the difference between the Ukrainian В and the English V! Irene you speak beautiful English except for two words: 'word' rhymes with 'bird', not 'lord', and 'learn' rhymes with 'fern' not 'corn'. Please make some more videos together!

[@irenedonchenko9398]

Thank you so much! Yup, I struggle a lot with this, as they say, 'long idiot' sound. It's so difficult to go to it from round /w/ 😑 Working on that 💪

[@thamesking]

@@irenedonchenko9398 That really helps me to understand the difficulties my students have if even a fluent speaker also struggles! Дякую!

[@irenedonchenko9398]

@@thamesking the articulatory approach seems quite helpful - when you understand how these sounds are created inside of the mouth. Adrian Underhill's course did come in super handy!

[@yoriko_takaoka]

I'm sorry for your loss, and my condolences, dear. Looking forward to this episode to see if my Ukrainian husband's mistakes are common. :) such as calling spoiled food - "wasted"; interchanging "until", "while" and "as long as" - which is one word поки in Ukrainian; and saying "it is" instead of "there is". Also observed the same from Anna-of-Ukraine and Denys-Davydov. See you soon!

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Дякую, Йоріко 🙏

[@Caradas33]

Hi Nika...I hate teaching English. I have spoken it for almost 60 years...I was a Shakespearean actor and I did English in university and I was first in my year....and I still don't understand it 😂😂😂😂😂

[@linman3310]

In the news I often see the verb повернутися (return) which Google translates as, "Ukraine returned 15 more POWs." Which sounds confusing in English because we use the transitive "return" to mean *giving* something back. If we *get* something or someone back, we say "regained," "reclaimed," "got back," or "brought home." But the Ukrainian word that covers the most bewildering ground for me is the adverb вже, "already." In English "already" has a much more limited scope; in Ukrainian, it seems to be used for shades of meaning from "just now" to "in the past" to "no longer in process but finished." Maybe you could do a short on how Ukrainian speakers see the word?

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Great idea 👍 I 'll add it to the list of my topics 😉

[@ann-marieeigert2720]

Some of my observations: There are some patterns that aren’t necessarily mistakes. For example using direct translations like ”private sector” when I think they mean ”residential area/district” or ”territory” when ”premises/area/yard” are better words to use. ”The territory of the school” for example. Also ”arrival” when meaning ”missile strike”. And the word пратцювати seems to have a wider usage so ”work” is used a lot in english. And contusion when they really mean concussion (контузія).

[@dudleydenison2167]

I admire all of you who try to develop English skills

[@johnbowyer5616]

Thanks - this was really interesting. Articles are certainly an issue - one Ukrainian pupil of mine called them 'meaningless words'.

[@putinisakiller8093]

Didn't you explain to him/her what they mean? 😊

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Oh, that's rude 😅 I hope they will understand the articles in result))

[@zipfslaw3771]

"Teeny" actually exists, and can be used like "tiny." It's a bit cuter

[@richardknevitt4615]

Or teeny tiny which means very, very small.

[@zipfslaw3771]

Or "teeny weeney" (not sure how to spell it), which is used when you want to be cute

[@Welikebananas1]

I have heard "Teenie/Teeny" by itself or in names like: "Teenie Beanie Babies".. Usually I hear them both together, "teeny-tiny" for "smaller than tiny". "Teeny" can also be used as "relating to teenagers" in something like "teenybopper". There were even the toys, "Teenie Teeny Tys", trying to use both meanings.

[@estebanr7877]

Я чекав на це відео годин!! Я готовий 😀

[@elenastojanovic6272]

Very lovely and useful video, its interesting to see what mistakes us slavs usually make. ))

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Oh yes🙈

[@0991476937]

Woah 😮 Love it!!! I won't repeat these mistakes ever again.

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Let's hope)

[@naoengland]

I’ve been helping hundreds of Ukrainian people in England as a volunteer. So it’s really useful to know some typical mistakes made by Ukrainian people. Thank you for making a very educational video 😊🇺🇦🇬🇧👍

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Thank you for helping my countrymen, Nao 🙏

[@champignonnoir5052]

It's an interesting video. We see that willingness from Ukrainian people to improve upon themselves. They are very easger to grow their knowledge. Here it's you improving your english. What I have seen personally with the people I work with is a tendancy to say "I have done it correct." when they should say "I have done it correctly". I suppose it's a confusion between adjective and adverbs ( правильно vs правильний ). In France we learned the "th" the same you were describing.

[@gregorysalgado2454]

Very good video дякую

[@dudleydenison2167]

Actually you two are doing very well!

[@davidklinger7140]

You don't need an article for "pie" in some contexts because it can be used as an uncountable noun. Non-singular nouns do not need and never take the definite article. This is because, etymologically, "a" came from "one" (actually Old English "ān", where the connection is more obvious), and "the" came from "this" or "that" (which hasn't changed from Old English). If there's more than one of something, you wouldn't say "one" to indicate it, that just doesn't make sense) By the way, you can see a similar process occur in Ukrainian where "це" is used in contexts where it is not strictly necessary to emphasize something, maybe in a few hundred or thousand years it will have turned into an article As for why pie is uncountable - frankly, I don't know for. "Cake" can be too, and many ingredients - "flour", "sugar", "water", "dough", etc. - are as well. I suppose "pie" and "cake" can be grammatically considered an abstract substance. If I had to guess, it's likely related to the partitive genitive. If you "eat a pie" you're eating a whole pie (my stomach would hurt). If you "eat pie" you're just having some pie. This is exactly analogous to Ukrainian - "Я з'їв пиріг" vs "Я з'їв пирога" - but instead of inflecting the case we drop the article to indicate that the noun is now uncountable. The partitive genitive is shared indo-european grammar that can be found in many languages, and in older forms of English, was much more similar to Ukrainian. We also say, in English, "I ate some of the pie" or, more shortly, "I ate some pie", where the relationship between partitiveness ("some") and genitiveness ("of") is explicit Of course, you don't need to know any of this. It's just for nerds)

[@irenedonchenko9398]

Oh, you're so invested! love this pie philosophy :)) thanks for sharing!

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

That's impressive 😍 Thank you 💛

[@zak3744]

I'm not sure if the lack of an article in "I cooked fish pie" is strictly because it is an uncountable noun in this sentence (which I agree it is!), since you also lack an article for countable nouns in the same usage. I'd have thought it's more to do with the fact that you are kind of talking about it as a concept, isn't it? Uncountable noun: "I cooked broccoli" = I cooked, and the thing that the cooking happened to was the thing called broccoli "I cooked some broccoli" = I cooked a specific portion of broccoli Countable noun: "I cooked peas" = I cooked, and the things that the cooking happened to were the things called peas "I cooked some peas" = I cooked a plural number of specific peas or "I cooked a pea" = I cooked one specific pea (a very small dinner!) In this first kind of conceptual sense, "peas" is still grammatically a countable noun isn't it? We've used the plural form of it after all. In fact you could do all the cases above with "fish pie", since you can use "fish pie" countably or uncountably! "I cooked fish pie" = I cooked, and the foodstuff I cooked was fish pie as an unbounded mass "I cooked fish pies" = I cooked, and the foodstuff I cooked was discrete, whole fish pies "I cooked some fish pie" = I cooked some amount of specific fish pie an an unbounded mass "I cooked some fish pies" = I cooked some amount of specific discrete, whole fish pies "I cooked a fish pie" = I cooked exactly one specific discrete, whole fish pie 😃

[@gregorysalgado2454]

You both speak English very well and i will luke to offer my assistance to you for your English classes i am a retired teacher eho will luke toblearn to speak Ukrainian language будлоска

[@zipfslaw3771]

The mistake that I notice the most from Ukrainians who speak English quite well is saying "as I know" instead of "as far as I know." Is this a direct translation from Ukrainian?

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

I think it's also because of a translation. In Ukrainian we say "Наскільки я знаю", so we have just one ford for the structure "as far as", this could be a reason 😉

[@zipfslaw3771]

Ah, you have taught me a useful expression again--thank you!

[@dudleydenison2167]

You Ukrainian women are all so special.

[@elenastojanovic6272]

❤❤❤

[@ericstrauch7192]

Enjoyed the video. Only one thing, (a) is used in front of a word that starts with a constant, and (an) is used when words start with a vowel. Example incorrect. Are you a accountant. Correct? Are you an accountant?

[@TheTioram]

English pronunciation has more exceptions than rules. No wonder so many people struggle with it. How on earth should anyone guess that „al“ in Salisbury is pronounced like „ou“ in soul, and a drawn out aaah in calm or balm and pronounced „a“ almost like German ä in calibre. As a foreigner it takes years to get it right. Not worth fretting about it

[@simbaman874]

Well... Before saying a new word, people who are not lazy just look it up in the online dictionary, listen to the pronunciation of the word ..and there's no problem at all

[@samparkerSAM]

Privit, I'm sorry for your loss.

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Thank you 🙏

[@samparkerSAM]

@@VERBA_SCHOOL My Mother just lost her older sister, she passed two weeks ago from cancer. I will pray for your father in Law also, my condolences, please be safe , and hugs 🫂

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

⁠Thank you 🙏 I am sorry for your loss too. It is very difficult part of life...

[@golokavrndavana]

XDDD enjoooyed

[@user-gf4zg8qn2r]

I still make mistakes in English too lol

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

😅

[@putinisakiller8093]

80-90% native speakers do. 😊

[@dieseldan5189]

English has a much simpler grammar than most languages but much simpler when compared to Slavic languages. For example: English has no gender for nouns, adjectives or verbs. English has almost no cases for nouns, except for a very few pronouns. And no cases for numbers. English has no cases for adjectives,(did I mention no gender also?) English has only 4 conjugations for each verb while slavic languages can have 50 or more. English has no verbal aspect(perfective/imperfective). English plural for nouns couldn’t be simpler: just add an ‘S’. Slavic plural is complex. The fact that Slavic languages have so many inflections of nouns and adjectives and so many verb conjugations makes vocabulary acquisition extremely difficult for English speakers. English prepositionsdo not vary meaning like Slavic prepositions . English avoids most of the complex Slavic grammar with word order syntax and precise prepositions. And since English has virtually no cases for nouns and adjectives and few verb conjugations, vocabulary acquisition is not a major obstacle. Contrary to what most Slavic speakers believe, the flexible word order of Slavic languages is an OBSTACLE for native English speakers when learning the Slavic languages, not at all helpful. It is very confusing. I have met hundreds of native Slavic speakers who speak extremely fluent English and have never left their native country. I have NEVER met a native English speaker who speaks a Slavic language fluently (learned it as an adult and not from family).. I know they exist but they are mostly Unicorns. By the way, English spelling and pronunciation difficulties are mostly from the French influence. About 50% of English vocabulary is from French.

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Brilliant summary 🎉🔥 But I believe it is still not impossible if a learner is truly motivated from the inside. I am doing my best to make this process a bit easier for people who learn Ukrainian 💙💛

[@putinisakiller8093]

"Slavic language can have over 50 conjugations". Really? Can you give an example? There are at most 3 verb conjugations in English except "to be" - do/does/did.

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

@@putinisakiller8093 робити (to do/make): imperfective aspect: present tense: я роблю, ти робиш, він/вона робить, ми робимо, ви робите, вони роблять. Past tense: робив, робила, робило, робили. Future tense: я буду робити, ти будеш робити, він/вона буде робити, ми будемо робити, ви будете робити, вони будуть робити or я робитиму, ти робитимеш, він/вона робитиме, ми робитимемо, ви робитимете, вони робитимуть. Imperfective mood: роби, робіть, робімо, роби-но. Perfective aspect: зробити. Past tense: зробив, зробила, зробило, зробили. Future tense: я зроблю, ти зробиш, він/вона зробить, ми зробимо, ви зробите, вони зроблять. Imperfective mood: зроби, зробіть, зробімо, зроби-но. 😅 And every verb like this) Also you may add different prefixes to change the meaning a bit: переробити (redo/remake), доробити (to finish doing) then they become perfective. But from them you may create imperfective forms by adding suffixes: переробляти, доробляти або перероблювати, дороблювати. And they all will have own set of conjugations.

[@putinisakiller8093]

@@VERBA_SCHOOL OK, let's count: 1 робити 2 роблю́ 3 ро́биш 4 ро́бить 5 ро́бим (ро́бимо) 6 ро́бите 7 ро́блять 8 роби́в 9 роби́ла 10 роби́ло 11 роби́ли 12 роби́тиму 13 роби́тимеш 14 роби́тиме 15 роби́тимем(о) 16 роби́тимете 17 роби́тимуть 18 роби́ 19 робі́м(о) 20 робі́ть "Зробити" - це зовсім ІНШЕ дієслово. Але можемо і його порахувати: 1 зробити 2 зроби́в 3 зроби́ла 4 зроби́ло 5 зроби́ли 6 зроблю́ 7 зро́биш 8 зро́бить 9 зро́бим(о) 10 зро́бите 11 зро́блять 12 зроби́ 13 зробі́м(о) 14 зробі́ть Якщо вже щось рахувати, то прикметники та порядкові числівники (там може бути 24 і навіть більше). Із повагою, але лінгвістика мені дорожча.

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

@@putinisakiller8093 the English term "conjugation" includes the variation of the form of a verb by which the voice, mood, tense, number, and person are identified. And yes, of course in Ukrainian робити і зробити will be two separate verbs, but for English speakers that learn Ukrainian as a second language it is difficult to distunguish them, because the translation into English is still the same. That is why we have certain methodology of teaching Ukrainian as a foreign language, that doesn't always uses the classical linguistic terms, when it won't bring a student any use in his goal - to start speaking the language (except for the linguistics students). So I wouldn't be so strict about the terms))) The point was to say that there are a lot of conjugations, that's all 😉

[@gregorysalgado2454]

Nistakes are not a priblem and i enjoy hearing Ukrainian accent

[@YulyaVladson]

I just wonder, how Irene can teach C1 if she doesn't know English has only 2 tenses 🙃

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

Here we speak about the terms that are used in teaching the second language and clear for any student, and they are not the same as linguistic terms. Not everything that a teacher knows in linguistics should be brought to a classroom 😉

[@irenedonchenko9398]

Thanks for taking time to watch the video and write this passive aggressive comment but I'm afraid that there's been a lack of experience and expertise. The number of so called tenses depends on how you define 'tense', which means we can distinguish 12, 16 or even 36 tenses (if we add voice). From a strictly formal perspective there are only two tenses. But still there's no one-to-one match between (grammatical) tense and (notional) time. So I'm afraid I have to stick to 12 tenses (and even more in some contexts) to show my students all the probable (and possible if needed) options. Sorry to disappoint. BTW, Scott Thornbury's methodological materials and Dellar's Grammar Nonsense might come in handy if you're truly interested in the topic.

[@gregorysalgado2454]

Ukrainian ladies are beautiful it is my favorite rune to hear Ykrainian ladies speak

[@Caradas33]

Pronunciation is not too important...just speak...my Ukrainian and Russian are full of intonation...😂😂😂

[@VERBA_SCHOOL]

😁😉