Today, most employers require job candidates to have qualifications in other fields and knowledge of English is a necessity
When Ukraine first opened its doors to foreign business after independence, the immediate demand for locals who were proficient in foreign languages, particularly in English, was immense. At the time employment requirements specified by many Western companies were not very sophisticated as potential candidates were typically required to have just two basic skills: knowledge of English and computer literacy.
But the days of simply knowing English have passed and are gone forever. Today, most employers require job candidates to have a specific education in a number of fields, including marketing, finance, banking, and the like. And knowledge of a foreign language – English for the most part – is a necessity that goes without saying.
The number of people in Ukraine who yearn for proficiency in foreign languages has been growing steadily since independence. People decide to learn a foreign language for many reasons: better employment opportunities at home and abroad, tourism and a desire to understand foreign cultures.
To find out about the current state of specialized foreign language instruction in Ukraine, the Post interviewed the management of ABC World Languages Center, The London School of English and The British Council Teaching Centre.
Galina Onishchuk, director of ABC World Languages Center, noted that an interesting trend has emerged in the last several years: Increasingly more students who come to study English have a better knowledge of the language than those who took courses just several years ago. Today people enroll to improve their English skills or to start learning the language. Yet they do not have to do so from scratch. The interest toward learning “business English” is growing more and more, she said.
“Today people are interested in specific language programs, like training for business communication,” noted Onishchuk. ABC is not only a language training center but is also one of the leading translation agencies in the country.
According to Onishchuk, the agency is different from other companies on the market because it offers courses in effective communications in foreign languages. Students learn the techniques of public speaking, effective presentations, effective boardroom meetings and telephone skills.
ABC offers courses in more than 30 languages, yet English is the most popular. Onishchuk said that there is a growing demand among expatriates for Russian and Ukrainian-language courses. “This is a new trend on the market,” she emphasized.
The ABC Group of Companies was founded in 1995 by Ukrainian nationals and operates in three directions: teaching, training and translation. All three areas are interdependent. For example, the company’s translation department develops modern vocabulary dictionaries that are used to teach language students. Some clients send their employees to improve existing language skills and to learn specific terms and terminology. “Teaching programs are primarily tailor-made to meet the needs of a particular client,” Onishchuk said.
Most of ABC’s language clients are Ukrainians. Their age group is broad, ranging from two-and-a-half to 60 years old. ABC has a separate teaching program for children.
ABC’s corporate language instruction clients include many well-known multinational and Ukrainian companies and organizations, like Danone, USAID, Loreal, Nestle, Finansy i Kredit Bank, Kievenergo, and Astelit, among others.
Onishchuk said that the market trend for the next several years will be the growing demand for programs geared toward achieving certain goals and obtaining specific skills, like effective communication and public speaking techniques. She said that in addition to language instruction, more and more clients are looking for additional services in crisis and time management training. Onishchuk said that a growing number of clients will want to improve the language skills they have already learned.
ABC prepares students for a variety of international examinations and has about 2,300 students studying a number of foreign languages. Onishchuk said that “according to our internal marketing research, ABC has a 15-17 percent [share] of the language training services market in Kyiv.”
Sean Harty, managing director of The London School of English Group, noted that “the market is currently very healthy in Ukraine, as there has been a considerable increase in demand over the last three years.” According to Harty, there are over 110 different English-language services providers in Kyiv, since “demand is greatest where the job market is the most competitive.”
Nevertheless, demand for language teaching services is still outstripping supply and “there is probably room for another five or six large language schools in Kyiv right now,” Harty said.
He noted that the situation is very different in various parts of Ukraine. “There is a chronic shortage of decent courses even in such cities as Lviv and Kharkiv,” Harty said. He added that a countrywide school chain has yet to appear in the country.
The London School of English was founded in 1997 by Harty from Ireland and Ukrainian national Vitaliy Kruikov. LSE boasts five schools in Kyiv, Odessa and Donetsk, with over 1,500 students studying the English language.
English courses at LSE are offered for children from five years old as well as for teenagers and adults who are either university students or young professionals. The average age of an LSE student is 23.
Despite the fact that a growing number of Ukrainians know English, Harty notes that “the market exists in the first place because of the relatively low levels of language instruction found in higher education in Ukraine.”
The form of English taught in the private language school sector is less academic and focuses more on fluency and accuracy, added Harty.
He noted that more and more companies are using the services of language schools to help improve their current employees’ level of English proficiency. “Competition in this small but fast-growing sector is fierce,” he mentioned, adding that prices for language instruction have been pushed down by companies employing freelance native English-language teachers.
Over the past decade, students seeking English-language instruction have become more sophisticated because now most of them know exactly what form of instruction they need.
Harty thinks that in the next several years there will be some consolidation on the market and certain schools will merge to form bigger groups. And some international groups will want to enter the market within the next two years.
Concerning LSE’s market share, Harty said that “we are definitely one of the top three schools in Kyiv.”
LSE’s corporate clients include various international and local companies, like Inter channel, UkrSibBank, GlaxoSmithKlein and TNK-BP.
Like ABC World Languages Center, The London School of English prepares students for various international English examinations in English.
Tony Hubbard, Teaching & Examinations Manager, and Inna Tarasyuk, Customer Services Manager at The British Council Teaching Centre, also noted that the market in Ukraine is growing, particularly in Kyiv, “where the demand probably outstrips the supply of good teachers and schools.”
The British Council Teaching Centre opened in 2001. Currently about 1,000 students take its three-month course, of which 75 percent are adults and 25 percent are young English learners.
Most of the center’s clients are young and motivated people who learn English for their careers and for socializing. The majority of its students are 20 to 40 years old, employed or university students.
According to BCTC, a growing number of students are seeking specialized courses in English, like Accounting or Medical English.
Over the last several years, Ukraine has become more European in outlook and many Ukrainians are seeking opportunities to study or work in the European Union, according to BCTC.
Within the next few years Kyiv will see an increased demand for tailor-made courses and the entire country will experience growing demand for English. BCTC said that its courses are very popular. Hubbard and Tarasyuk noted that “we are operating at full capacity and have waiting lists of students to join our classes.”
BCTC’s clients come from a variety of different fields, including the pharmaceutical, banking FMCG and governmental sectors. The center provides instruction in General English, Business English, English for lawyers and English for young learners.
As international business expands into Ukraine and the country itself becomes more open to tourism and events like the Euro-2012 championship, the demand for professional and high-quality English instruction will continue to grow. It appears that there will be sufficient room on the market for more and more players, including local and international companies.
Without a doubt, the private foreign language instruction market in Ukraine will thrive for many years to come, as more Ukrainians, both young and old, turn toward Europe and the world with more open minds, the experts said.
