Romanian as a second language, taught intensively
We “snuck” into the last rows of desks. We attended the Romanian language classes taught as a second language, intensively, in the pilot project we are implementing together with RAF.
On the electronic board, students complete the missing verbs in sentences to make them meaningful. Oana Constantinescu, their Romanian teacher since March 2023, has already observed significant progress among the Ukrainian children. They have enriched their Romanian vocabulary, improved their expression, and enhanced their reading and writing skills.
For children who had no prior experience with the Romanian language, this is progress. For Oana, transitioning from teaching Romanian to adult refugees to teaching it to child refugees was a timely challenge.
She felt she could rely on the kids to explore a completely new area. There are many challenges in working with children, and Oana strives to meet them: keeping their attention, preventing them from talking among themselves, and not looking at their phones.
“I want us to be friends but understand that I am the teacher, and you are the students. I am here to help you!”
Initially, the children were a bit distant because they didn’t know who Oana was, but over time— a few weeks, at most a month— they warmed up to her.
Oana shares two moments that connected her with the students the most. When Olga, the coordinating teacher, told the young Ukrainian refugees it was her birthday, the students saw she brought a box of candies but didn’t understand what was happening. When they realized it, they sang to her in Romanian— giving Oana goosebumps even now as she recalls— and in English.
On June 1st, the boys came and hugged her because she had given them sweets, and other gifts. Additionally, at the end of the classes, some students sometimes say: “Thank you very much, Oana, thank you!”
This gesture deeply moves her: “When I see the direct feedback from them, in a few words, they can strengthen me more than receiving constructive feedback from an adult”, concludes Oana.
Forty Ukrainian children aged between 9 and 13 are learning Romanian as a second language in a pilot project started this year, using the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) technique.
In the end, the project also proposes an institutional structure capable of responding to the national challenge of integration through linguistic efforts.
