– Listen and repeat: Shop assistant! – Store employee! – Men’s department! – Men’s department! Norwegian teacher Laila Lundervold at Johannes Læringssenter in Stavanger has few problems getting a whole class of Ukrainians to repeat the Norwegian words. There are many motivated refugees here who want to learn Norwegian quickly. – Many Ukrainians have a long schooling behind them, and then they often learn faster than those who do not have that background, says Lundervold. It is more than busy for Lundervold and the other teachers. Two weeks ago, almost 140 new Ukrainians started Norwegian education. Refugee from the war Oleksandra Onyshchenko is one of the many Ukrainians who are now sitting at school. She fled from the war in her home country with two small children right after the war started and came to Gjesdal guest house in Ålgård. – My youngest child was only a year old when we fled. There was a lot of shooting and fighting all the time, so it wasn’t easy. When they came to Norway, they were allowed to stay at the refugee reception at Ålgård. In June, they moved into an apartment at Storhaug in Stavanger, and in August, Oleksandra started learning Norwegian. – We speak a little Norwegian now. This is good. It is expected that 70,000 Ukrainians will come to Norway this year and next year. Most will be offered one year of Norwegian training in the municipalities where they live. Principal Harald Nedrelid at Johannes Læringssenter in Stavanger. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news Principal Harald Nedrelid has hectic days organizing Norwegian education at Johannes Læringssenter. Enrollment is so great that almost 30 new Norwegian classes will probably have to be created during this school year. – 160 came in August. Two weeks ago, 140 refugees arrived. 115 of them are from Ukraine. At the end of the month, in mid-January and in April, we expect just as many. A large influx is expected next year as well. On 1 October, almost 6,200 Ukrainians were in Norwegian education across the country, according to figures from the Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi). Stavanger just reached 500 resident Ukrainians. Oleksandra and the others in the class have to take turns in temporary premises to learn Norwegian. – From January we will probably have to find additional premises. We mostly run double shifts. One before lunch and one after lunch. We think there will be the same pressure in 2023 as well, says Nedrelid. For Oleksandra, all the dialects are a challenge when she has to learn Norwegian. But she notices that just a few Norwegian words are enough to make it easier to get in touch with people and learn more. – I feel better when I know a few words. I understand some of what is being said. This makes it easier to talk to new people. Oleksandra Onyshchenko gets both work and language practice with photographer Helle Navrati. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news At home in Ukraine, she worked as a photographer. With help from the refugee service, she has gained practice to learn working Norwegian in Studio Gaffa with photographer Helle Navrati two days a week. – This is good for me. I get language practice, and every day is different, she says.
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Large influx of Ukrainians who want to learn Norwegian – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
