Методичні вказівки для студентів спеціальностей "Міжнародна інформація" та "Міжнародні економічні відносини" Затверджено на засіданні

The Romanization System, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, enables to convey personal names, family names and geographical names in accordance with some rules. It is to be strictly observed by the people responsi­ble for its implementation in this country and abroad. This system is as follows:

1. The population of Ukraine is approximately 47,5 million, of which 73 % is Ukrainian and 22 % Russian. The remaining population is made up of many minorities, the largest of which is Jewish (1.35 %), followed by Byelorussians, Moldovans, Poles, Armenians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Tatars and others. Ukrainian population is only 64 % urban.

2. The official language, Ukrainian, is related to Polish, Slovak, Russian, Belarussian and belongs to the Slavic group of languages. The highest population densities are found in the industrialized Donetsk Basin and Dnipro Bend regions and in the agriculturally productive forest-steppe belt.

3. Most people in Ukraine belong to the Orthodox Christian religion. Other religions include Catholic, Prot­estant and Jewish faiths. A millennium of cultural development has created a wide spectrum of spiritual achieve­ments. Splendid architectural landmarks, very rich folk art, music, a network of drama and music theatres, art schools, thousands of artists creating in all possible styles attest to a high level of cultural development despite all political and economic upheavals.

4. The youngest and smallest of Ukraine's 26 regions, Zakarpattya (Transcarpathian) borders four coun­tries - Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland – and is heavily influenced by them. An open and welcoming culture has developed there, where tourists are greeted with open arms and local brandy flows as freely as nearby mountain streams.

5. Second in number only to Ukrainians in Zakarpattya, ethnic Hungarians predominate over all other ethnic groups in the area. There are sizable presences of Slovaks, Romanians, Poles, Jews, Armenians, and nearly 70 other ethnic groups. This mix can be heard in the language spoken on the streets of the historic regional capital, Uzhgorod, and also tasted in the local food. Hungarian words are as common on city streets here as goulash and bograch (a spicy soup) are on local menus.

1 The rural segment of Ukraine is made up of

A many minorities

B mostly Ukrainians B Dnipro Bend regions

C over one third of the entire population

D half of urban population

2. Most of people in Ukraine live in

A Donetsk Basin

B Dnipro Bend regions

C the forest-steppe belt

D the most productive regions

3. The high level of cultural development in Ukraine is

A connected with the Orthodox Christian religion

B connected with religious diversity

C surprising

D natural

4. Zakarpattya region has developed a

A it is the youngest and smallest region in Ukraine

B of international mix in the area

C tourists like to be greeted with open arms

D there is a lot of cheap local brandy here

5. The ethnic composition of population in Zakarpattya is different from that of the entire Ukraine in

A the amount of ethnic groups

B the proportions of ethnic groups

C the language mix of ethnic groups

D the local cuisine

His father was in construction, and moved the family a lot, jumping around to various building projects.

Kyiv became Santiago's destination in December of 1995. That was when, seeing Ukraine's economic potential, Gingerhouse asked him to transfer from Houston, Texas to Kyiv. With two partners, he was charged with setting up the company's taxation and legal consulting practice.

"It was my look-see trip to Ukraine. There were two problems with it. First, it was minus 30 degrees. They told me it was the worst winter in 30 or 50 years. Second, the garbage collectors were on strike, so the city was full of garbage, although I was told it's not usually that bad," he remembers with a smile.

"So I went for two years, but Ukraine has this unique feature that keeps on charming people, so instead of two years, now I am here close to ten years."

The main things to overcome were the language barrier and the alien culture. "I speak several languages, so in the past it was easy to move around, but this was the first time I couldn't do without a translator; it was a kind of a shock. At that time there was nothing in English, even the menus in the restaurants.

Ukraine's business environment was also somewhat unusual. "There is something in the culture here we don't have in other locations. It is 'mozhe buty' {maybe) that's got a very special meaning here. Another one is 'v pryntsypi tak' (yes, in principle). It is neither day, nor night – there's always a foggy area somewhere. So for the business mind, it is very difficult to deal with." Once Santiago decided to prolong his stay, he learned the language, started meeting locals, some of whom became good friends. It was then that he "discovered Ukraine," as he puts it.
13. Work in pairs. Look through the text again and write out the words and word combinations according to the categories below.

Features of Ukrainians in general as seen by Santiago:

Features of Ukrainian business people:

Problems encountered by Santiago:

Steps taken by Santiago to solve the problems:
14. Translate

Населення України майже на три чверті складається з етнічних українців, хоча є досить значний про­шарок росіян (близько однієї п'ятої), а також десятків інших національностей - вірмен, болгар, білорусів, карпатських русинів, греків, євреїв, поляків, молдаван, румун, татар тощо. При цьому етнічна структура є різною в різних обласних центрах - наприклад, в Ужгороді найбільшою національною меншиною є угор­ська, яка переважає усі інші. Частка міського населення не така значна, як у промислово розвинутих краї­нах Європи (трохи більше 60 %), а найбільша густота населення спостерігається в індустріальних східних та центральних районах, а також в продуктивних зонах лісостепу. Українська мова є слов'янською і спорід­нена з іншими мовами цієї групи, чиї народи мають спільний кордон з Україною: польською, словацькою, білоруською, російською. Домінуючою релігією в Україні є православна християнська релігія, хоча тут мирно співіснують десятки інших вірувань: католики, іудеї, протестанти тощо. Український народ протя­гом тисячоліть, незважаючи на часті політичні збурення, створив відкриту і гостинну культуру, про що за­свідчують чудові архітектурні пам'ятки, багатогранне народне мистецтво, неперевершені духовні здобут­ки. Проте навіть космополітичним іноземним підприємцям, які працюють в Києві, нелегко дається перехід до нового середовища - чужа культура, мовний бар'єр, незвичне бізнесове довкілля, де багато непевних ділянок, а ситуація часто характеризується словами "ні те, ні се", складності оподаткування компаній та одержання кваліфікованих юридичних консультацій - все це вкупі з іншими чинниками, як наприклад, страйки прибиральників сміття, створює значні проблеми вже під час ознайомчих поїздок до України.