She applied in April, filled out an application, got a call, then a Zoom meeting, and was asked if she’d make a three-month commitment to the program.
“I was matched up with 33-year-old Natalia, and we hit it off immediately. She doesn’t want to talk about the war — she, her husband, son and mother-in-law got out of Ukraine early, and live in Poland now, although her own parents still live in Kiev.
“The program calls us ‘buddies’ — Ukrainians want to learn conversational skills in English, be able to practice, and receive encouragement — and it can help them get jobs. And, from a volunteer standpoint, the program offers lots of supporting materials and lesson plans. It’s so dynamic, I can’t say enough about it.”
Although she’d never taught before, Johnson, 66, majored in English, and worked as an administrative assistant to the chancellor of Antioch University from 1998 to 2023. Her mother, 101, is in an assisted-living facility “but she’s still very social and on the ball, and I see her a lot.”
In her volunteer position, she has a Zoom meeting with Natalia once a week; and this schedule also allows Johnson to spend time with her mother.
“Natalia and I are closing in on nine months, and as long as she wants to continue, I’ll stick by. In our Zooms, she takes the lead, whatever she wants to do. She’ll stop me if I say a word she hasn’t heard, and after I’ve told her its meaning, we’ll use it in sentences. When I use an idiom, she asks me about it and I have to explain that they’re expressions, and don’t mean literally what they say. Sometimes, her 7-year-old son gets in on our meetings.”
When Johnson and her husband went to Prague in October, she told Natalia about the trip, “and she said she’d come and meet me. It was the highlight of our trip — she hugged me right away; we had coffee and exchanged gifts, then walked and talked.
“When you volunteer for some nonprofits, like Habitat for Humanity, you know people who get the homes get a lot out of it — but this volunteer experience has really benefitted me. I have the pleasure of getting to know this woman whose experience I’ve never had, so find out first hand what their experiences are and have been.
“After six months, I know I’m getting as much out of this as my student, and being a one-on-one tutor is a lot of fun. It also helps me to appreciate my country more, and the difficulty of learning English. And, how similar we are — she wants the same things for her family that I do. It’s really fun getting to know someone, a complete stranger, and hear her describe raising her son — it’s very different than the way we raise our kids. While she’s improving her English, I’m getting to know more about how others see America.
“She’s even taught me about WhatsAp; we text all the time and share pictures. When I asked her for a comment for this story, her response was ‘It has been (and it is!) an amazing experience for me. I appreciate [ENGin] for creating the platform, appreciate you and your time and I’m very happy for everything!’
“Taking on another buddy to tutor is something I’d like to do. Right now, however, my hands are full with the weekly Zooms with Natalia and being available to my mother.
“In the beginning stages of taking on Natalia as a student/buddy, there was considerable time needed to prepare — once I got to know her, preparing for Zooms took no time. It’s just like having a visit with a good friend (albeit one that you occasionally correct in an appropriate/kind manner!). I have to believe there are many retired people in the Dayton area, teachers especially, who might love this experience.”
Contact this writer at virgburroughs@gmail.com
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