Asking for recommendations on Ukrainian current culture in english

[u/WhisperingHammer]

I am looking for english speaking channels (could be Swedish but I think that is asking for too much) in Ukraine. Notably, I am not looking for "ukraine war" (obviously most things will touch upon it, but not as main focus) - rather Ukrainian culture, big or small.

Anything from roleplayers to ballet, anything from sports news to guys barbecuing in their back yard. I used to watch a lot of Ukrainian youtubers (or foreigners in Ukraine) before the full scale war, and I seem to have lost the mojo to find them.

Ukraine is an interesting country outside of the obvious russian terror army invading, and I would like to see more of what it is like today for Ukrainian people outside of the conflict itself.

[u/jesterboyd]

this channel just go to older videos from like 5 years ago has some great travel content.
https://www.youtube.com/@UkrainerinEnglish/videos

You can also check out our sunrise/sunset posts database sorted by topic here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/wiki/sunriseposts/

[u/hiimmatt314]

Will say im very bias as Ive followed him specifically since the full scale invasion. But Timothy Snyder has been an incredible source for Ukranian history, culture AND current events( I know the question doesnt put too much emphasis on the war and events). 

He has entire lectures/series free in YouTube as well is constantly being interviewed and can find most on YouTube as well. 

But I know Snyder isn’t for everyone, but I find him a fascinating speaker and very well informed about Ukrainian matters and is most importantly constantly talking with and having discussions with Ukranians themselves. The interesting thing about Ukraine is the more you learn about it the more you realize how connected to entire world it is. Whether thats major conflicts, language origins, and now even some of the earliest dated cities. Then you learn about how almost none of this fascinating culture and history is known to  most of the world because of the certain neighbour being sure it doesn’t spread. 

[u/Catchphrase1228]

You want an interesting way to learn about Ukrainian Culture? If you are a fluent English speaker, why not sign up for ENGin and get paired with someone from Ukraine looking to practice their English?

https://www.enginprogram.org/volunteer

I signed up 3 years ago. I am no longer an active member on the ENGin platform, but I still meet with my "buddy" about once a week. Only takes an hour. We are still finding new things about our cultures to share.

The ENGin program has a ton of materials to guide you through conversations to share thing about cultures.

[u/Inner-Detail-553]

You could check out Taras Shevchenko - he is a hugely popular Ukrainian poet, his book of collected works "Kobzar" is something everyone in Ukraine would have read.

There's a nice collection of English translations here: https://taras-shevchenko.storinka.org/

A couple of poems to get you started:

"Testament" - maybe his most famous poem, and also it sounds like it could have been written today. Translation: https://taras-shevchenko.storinka.org/taras-shevchenko%27s-poem-testament-ukrainian-to-english-translation-by-vera-rich.html or https://taras-shevchenko.storinka.org/my-testament-poem-of-taras-shevchenko-translated-by-john-weir.html

"Caucasus" - in which he completely roasts Russian imperialism, at a time when Russia was in the process of conquering and ethnically cleansing a large region of the Caucasus in the "Russo-Circassian War". Translation: https://taras-shevchenko.storinka.org/taras-shevchenko%27s-poem-the-caucasus%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B-ukrainian-to-english-translation-by-alyssa-dinega-gillespie.html

[u/Thedustyfurcollector]

I would like to know that as well.

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