Ukrainian workers in Lithuania have one year to learn the basics of Lithuanian. The government says they will not be left to fend for themselves and language courses will be made more widely available this summer.
Natalia Berezina came to Lithuania last May from Mariupol, where she spent several months in a bunker at the Azovstal factory. After arriving in Vilnius and getting a job at a supermarket, Natalia says she started teaching herself Lithuanian because she wanted to be able to communicate with customers in their own language. Now she plans to sign up for language courses.
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“I already know the words I need for work. I can say hello and ask for a discount card. I know a lot of key phrases. I can understand customers, but I want to learn better,” says Natalia.
Since the start of the war, the supermarket chain Rimi has hired around 200 Ukrainians. Rimi’s spokesperson Vaida Kaikarienė says the company does not collect data about how many of them take Lithuanian lessons. However, Rimi has received very few complaints from shoppers that they cannot communicate with sales assistants, she says.
“Some of our employees have taken courses, [we know it] because they have asked us to adapt their schedules so that they can attend their classes. With us, they learn more on the job – by working and interacting with customers and our teams,” says Rimi Lietuva head of HR Kaikarienė.
The Lithuanian government has suspended the requirement for refugees from Ukraine to speak Lithuanian in order to get a job. The exemption is to last 24 months and the Lithuanian Language Inspectorate has warned that next year it will start checking companies that employ foreign workers to check their language proficiency.
“A foreigner who does not speak the language is an insecure person. They do not know what is written in the employment contract, they do not know how to read safety instructions. In the event of an accident or an emergency, will they always be able to communicate?” says Audrius Valotka, head of the Language Inspectorate.
If a Ukrainian fails to take the language test by a given deadline, they will not be held responsible, but the employer will be at fault and could be fined.
According to Education Minister Monika Navickienė, over 2,500 Ukrainians were taking language courses organised by local authorities last year. This year, the Employment Service is also offering classes.
“We were going to intensify accessibility from the middle of the year, namely the teaching of Lithuanian in municipalities through the Employment Service. EU funds are now planned for this. [...] I think we will launch more of these courses at the beginning of the summer,” says Navickienė.
Several organisations offer free courses for Ukrainians: the House of Ethnic Communities, the Red Cross, Vytautas Magnus University.
However, there are relatively few spots and people may spend up to several months on waiting lists.
Individual teachers also offer paid Lithuanian language courses, but not all Ukrainians can afford them.
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