THE ENGIN BLOG

Two thirds of our 32,000 volunteers have gone on to support Ukraine beyond the scope of their weekly meetings. Some are attending rallies, others are purchasing handmade products from Ukraine. Still others are volunteering with humanitarian causes, even traveling to see Ukraine for themselves. So the instinct to give more than what's asked isn't rare in our community — it is part of who we are.

At ENGin, volunteers hold thousands of English conversation sessions with Ukrainian students every week. Idioms come up constantly and how you handle them makes a real difference. In collaboration with betterclass, here's a practical guide to teaching idioms in a way that actually sticks.

Emiliia Tokar is an English teacher and ENGin student who joined the ENGin for Educators program. Below, she shares what happened after she met her volunteer and where that connection took her.

Major Serhii "Phoenix" Halhan of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade has worn many roles: a soldier, a survivor, a drone instructor, a fundraiser, and — since December last year — an ENGin student through the ENGin for Defenders program, which connects Ukrainian military personnel and veterans with English-speaking volunteers for free weekly conversation practice. What follows is that story, told in his own words.

On August 25, 2021, Olha Vasheniuk received an email with the subject line: "ENGin: Meet Your Match!" She didn't know it then, but that message would mark the beginning of a journey that would take her far beyond conversational English — all the way to a career connecting Ukrainian professionals with American startups. This is her story.

Wissal Ben Rhouma is an English tutor and ENGin volunteer. In her work with learners, she keeps encountering something that grammar lessons alone can't explain and in this piece, she shares what she's found.

At ENGin, volunteering looks different for everyone. Some volunteers show up for weekly one-on-one conversations. Others go further — building spaces where dozens of people connect, learn, and grow together. Kelsey Jung did exactly that. Since 2022, she has led ENGin's Movie Community, turning a shared love of film into one of the program's most active and beloved communities. In her own words, here's how she did it — and what keeps her going.

Storytelling is the thing that makes English click. Once a student gets caught up in what actually happened, they stop fussing over verb tenses and start reaching for words because they want to be understood. That shift, from worrying about the language to wanting to use it, is the whole point of the lesson.

On October 1, 2023, Alex sent his first message to Maria. It was a simple introduction, the kind that every ENGin volunteer sends at the start of a new conversation partnership. Neither of them could have predicted that two and a half years later, they would be standing together in the shadow of Wawel Castle in Kraków, unfolding a Ukrainian flag and attempting to sing a Ukrainian song that Alex had mentioned somewhere along the way in one of their calls.

Almost two years ago, Dmytro Kniaziuk made a quiet, slightly terrifying decision: he wanted to try teaching someone English. He had no training, no formal experience, and, by his own honest admission, very little confidence. What he did have was curiosity, a willingness to try, and a classmate who mentioned a program called ENGin. That small beginning would grow into something far larger than he ever expected.