Report on UKRAID’s Cultural, Social & Linguistic Immersion Program

Learning Spanish is one of the greatest barriers that Ukrainian refugees face when trying to rebuild their lives in a new country. Spanish as a Latin rooted language is completely distinct from Slavic languages in terms of pronunciation, alphabet and grammar. Furthermore, truly mastering a language requires cultural understanding and the opportunity to practice speaking with locals to really be able to communicate and integrate. While many language programs exist in Valencia, nothing offered a cultural and social element to help Ukrainian refugees really integrate by building new social connections.

Keeping these challenges in mind, we launched our first ever linguistic, social and cultural immersion program for 10 selected Ukrainian female refugees for 6 months over the course of June to December 2024. The results of the program have been very encouraging:

• All participants reported increased confidence in speaking and understanding Spanish with a +35.5% increase between pre and post program surveys
• All participants passed their A2 exams comfortably progressing to B1 and some to B2
• All 10 participants reported an increased sense of belonging in Valencia with a +42.5% average increase between pre and post program surveys
• One participant found employment promptly after completing the program
• Friendships grew between elderly volunteers and program participants with requests to repeat participation from the volunteers in future iterations of the program
• A friendship group also emerged between the program participants concluding in a trip taken all together independently of the program

While the objective of all participants reaching B2 was not met, we are incredibly happy with the results. This objective was set based on the average number of hours of Spanish learning for English speakers to reach B2 and did not account for the challenges faced by non English speakers. Furthermore, the DANA created some disruptions to logistics in being able to attend some parts of the program for many participants.

Thank you to all the volunteer teachers and volunteer conversation partners that made this program possible.

We are currently applying for subsidies in order to repeat this program in the future and will keep you updated on our progress.