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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Ukraine

22nd January 2010

Ukrainian lessons #3: crisis vocab?

My first ever blog entry last April noted my efforts not to be discouraged when I attempted to speak Ukrainian and people burst out laughing.

In a later entry, I noted learning the invaluable phrases “I completely agree”, “I share your opinion”, and “You’re totally wrong”.

Last week I made some new MP3 files of useful Ukrainian words and phrases, which I listened to for the first time today while walking down to and onto the frozen Dnipro (see photo below). My excellent Ukrainian teacher always tries to look out vocab from articles and broadcasts which will be useful to me in my contacts with politicians, officials and journalists; so I was intrigued to see how the phrases had evolved over the time I’ve been learning. Here are a few:

December 2008: “The political crisis has been overcome” (possibly a bit premature – Ed). January 2009: “To cut off the gas supply”; “unreliable”; and “Europe is today without gas”. March 2009: “In Ukraine no-one is seeking a way out of the crisis”. May 2009: “What can rescue the country?” June 2009: “Global Financial Crisis”. September 2009: “I feel tired”. October 2009: “It is impermissible to remain indifferent”. January 2010: “[The politician] is accused of trying to disrupt the elections”; and “Each must be responsible for their choice”. It’s all splendid stuff, and there are several phrases here I’ve used often (guess which). The question is, what phrases will I be learning from the Ukrainian media over the months after the second round of the presidential elections on 7 February? Any suggestions?

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.