Ukrainian Language Day, 9 November 2008
A language day greeting from someone still at the stage of being corrected in shops.
A good Ukrainian Language and Writing Day to everyone.
I am at the stage of learning where I can conduct a transaction, misunderstand a joke and be corrected by a shop assistant in the same two minutes. It is humbling in a way I have decided to enjoy.
What I have noticed is that people here correct foreigners generously rather than impatiently. The correction usually comes with the right version repeated twice and no comment about the mistake. That is a small kindness extended thousands of times a day and it is the main reason I have made any progress at all.
To the teachers, the editors, the translators, and to every shop assistant who has patiently repeated a word for me: today is yours.
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