Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian's chief culture writer, decided to learn Ukrainian after visiting the country and meeting artists, novelists, and poets living under fire. She tells Helen Pidd that the decision came even before she returned home.
Weekly Lessons With Olha Makar
Back in London, Higgins began weekly lessons with Olha Makar, who lived in far western Ukraine and balanced teaching with helping displaced teenagers. Higgins wanted to navigate Ukraine on future visits and learn to read poetry.
Language Shaped by War
The lessons taught Higgins more than expected, revealing the war's impact on daily life. She learned words for drone, rocket, air raid alarm, and bomb shelter, noting that while learning Italian involves restaurant phrases and landmarks, Ukrainian was "inflected by the war."
Displacement and Longing
Four years and multiple trips later, Higgins recalls how Makar introduced herself: "Before the war, I lived in Kyiv. I love this place and I want to live there again." Higgins describes the sorrow in that sentence, noting that even in their first exchange, there was a sense of loss and longing for home.
