The tension between Ukrainian and Russian has reached Norwegian classrooms

Researchers have examined how two translators translated and adapted texts for newly arrived students from Ukraine.

The students were between 16 and 24 years old.

“The war in Ukraine means that the use of Ukrainian and Russian is now charged. The words we choose matter a lot,” says Joke Dewilde.

She is a professor of multilingualism at the University of Oslo's Department of Teacher Education and School Research.

Together with Natalia Kudriavtseva, a professor at Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University in Ukraine, she has followed two Ukrainian translators living in Norway.

They are translating texts for school students and young adults from Ukraine who are new to Norway.

The texts are available on the digital learning platform Hugin og Munin. It is aimed at newly arrived students and young adults who are learning Norwegian.

The researchers were 'flies on the wall'

The researchers observed how the translators discussed things while they worked.

This gave them new insight into how the educational materials were developed.

The fact that the translators collaborate is an important point in itself, according to Dewilde:

“When translators discuss word choices together, different possibilities and considerations become visible. This makes it easier to find words and sentences that are both linguistically sound and work for the students,” she says.

Two translators, two answers

Both translators grew up speaking Ukrainian and Russian, but they now have different views on translation after the war.

Svitlana has lived in Norway for 20 years. She increasingly associates Ukrainian with her identity and wants to avoid Russian, which she associates with war and power abuse.

Svitlana said that Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 marked a shift in how she views language. For her, the Ukrainian language became an increasingly important and deeply rooted part of her identity.

At the same time, Russian became more strongly linked to the war and exercise of Russian power.

Oksana, who came to Norway after the full-scale invasion in 2022, takes a more practical approach.

For her, language is first and foremost a tool for communication. She believes that people should use whatever languages they know, whether it’s Russian, Ukrainian, or other languages.

“However, both were flexible in practice. They try to adapt as best as possible for the students and prioritise solutions that make it easier for the students to understand,” says Kudriavtseva.

The students' needs come first

One example is the Norwegian word 'tankekart' (mind map), which frequently appears in Norwegian textbooks. In the Ukrainian material, several different terms were used.

The Russian version consistently used one term: интеллект-карта (intellect-karta). In their discussion, Oksana proposed a Ukrainian variant similar to the Russian term.

Although Svitlana generally does not want Russian to influence Ukrainian, she accepted the suggestion. Many students from Eastern Ukraine speak Russian at home. The similarity makes the word easier to understand.

“Here, the consideration for the students’ understanding carries more weight than a principled distance from Russian as a pedagogical resource,” says Kudriavtseva.

Adapting to Norwegian school culture

The translators also discussed the personal pronoun 'du' (you).

In Norwegian, the same form is used for everyone.

In Ukrainian and Russian, there is a distinction between the informal 'ty' and the formal 'vy.' They chose the informal form.

“The translators had to balance Norwegian ideals of equality with the use of polite address in Ukrainian and Russian. This shows that translation is not just about finding the right words, but also about evaluating what works in the Norwegian school context,” says Dewilde.

Reference:

Dewilde, J. & Kudriavtseva, N. Between purism and flexibility: Ukrainian translators negotiating multilingual teaching materials in Norway (PDF), Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development, 2026. DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2026.2714290

About the study

• Dewilde and Kudriavtseva have researched how two translators translated and adapted teaching materials for newly arrived students from Ukraine aged 16–24.

• Kudriavtseva interviewed the translators about their language histories, experiences with migration and war, and use of Ukrainian, Russian, and Norwegian.

• In a workshop organised by the researchers, the translators discussed and revised Ukrainian and Russian texts, compared possible phrasings, and evaluated translations produced with digital tools such as ChatGPT.

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