Study the text about Ukrainian fairy tales and check the activities.

Ukrainian fairy tales are as old as the hills. For centuries, people have been gathering stories and integrating life experience, dreams, facts and fiction into them. They told tales to their children to teach them how to be good.

Many popular tales are about animals. Rukavychka – The Fly’s Castle – is about seven animals, from a mouse to a bear, who make their home inside a lose mitten and become friends. In the story Koza-Dereza, the main character is Billy Goat Gruff who tells lies and is punished for that.

Other fairy tales deal with magic. Their good character fight against the evil ones. Kotygoroshko –Thistledown – saves the older brothers from the Dragon’s dungeon. The story of Tsarivna-Zhaba in which Prince Ivan marries a frog and helps her to become a beautiful princess is also famous.

Some tales are about every day life. Their good characters are hard-working, generous and wise. They defeat the bad ones.

All Ukrainian fairy tales are full of humour, love to nature and to our native land. There is something for everyone in them. Which is your favourite?

a. Match the Ukrainian and English titles of fairy tales.

1. Kotygoroshko a. The Frog Princess
2. Rukavychka b. The Billy Goat Gruff
3. Koza-Dereza c. Thistledown
4. Tsarivna-Zhaba d. The Fly’s Castle

b. Read the text again and for fairy tales 1-4 in ex. a write out all the adjectives used to describe the main character and add your own.

A ………………………………………………

B ………………………………………………

C ………………………………………………

D ………………………………………………

c. Explain the words from the text in bold.

d. Use the gestures to describe characters from Ukrainian fairy tales. Your class guesses which character you’re describing.

1. Read the following information about Ukrainian hryvnia and do the activities.

A currency called hryvna was used in Kievan Rus. In 1917, after the Ukrainian National Republic declared independence from the Russian Empire, the name of the new Ukrainian currency became hryvnia, a revised version of the Kievan Rus’ hryvna. The designer was Heorhiy Narbut.

The hryvnia replaced the karbovanets during the period of September 2–16, 1996 (1 hryvnia = 100,000 karbovantsiv) due to hyperinflation in the early 1990s as the reason of collapse of the USSR.

To a large extent, the introduction of hryvnia was secretive. Hryvnia was introduced according to President’s Decree dated August 26, 1996. During the transition period, both hryvnia and karbovanets were used in circulation, but merchants were required to give change only in hryvnias. All bank accounts were converted to hryvnia automatically. During the transition period, 97% of karbovanets were taken out of circulation, including 56% in the first 5 days of the currency reform. After September 16, 1996 the remaining karbovanets were allowed to be exchanged to hryvnias in banks.

The hryvnia sign is a cursive Ukrainian letter He, with a double horizontal stroke, symbolizing stability, similar to that used in other currency symbols such as ¥ or €. The sign was released in 2005. It is now supported by the latest computer systems. It is still rarely used in Ukraine; instead, the abbreviation UAH is preferred.

In 1996, the first series of hryvnia banknotes was introduced into circulation by the National Bank of Ukraine. They were dated 1992 and were in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 hryven’. The design of the banknotes was developed by Ukrainian artists Vasyl Lopata and Borys Maksymov. One hryvnya banknotes were printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company in 1992. Two, five and ten hryvnya banknotes were printed two years later. Until introduction into circulation the banknotes were kept in Canada. Also in 1996, the 1, 50, and 100 hryvnia notes of the second series were introduced, with 1 hryvnia dated 1994. Later, highest denominations were added. The 200 hryvnia notes of the second series were introduced in 2001, followed by the 500 hryvnia notes of the third series in 2006.

a. Fill in the blanks using your knowledge on Ukrainian national currency or check the Internet.

Banknote value	Image description	Main color	Year of issue
Obverse	Reverse
1 hryvnia	Vladimir I of Kyiv	Ruins of Chersoneses	Green and brown	September 2, 1996

b. Online investigation.

Using the Internet try to find out the origin of other world currencies.

1. Writing options. Try to make a story on the offered topics.

1. Are you a patriot of your country?
2. What is special about your country?
3. Would you like to live abroad? Give your grounds.
4. How do you see Ukraine growing in the next 10-20 years?
5. Is Ukraine worth visiting? Give your reasons.

HUMOUR TIME

Ukrainian people are famous for their ability to find the way out of difficult situations. But they are even more famous for their ability to find the way to get into them.

*****

I handed the conductor 50 kopeks on Ternopil trolley. She took it and turned away. “Where’s my change?” I said. “Haven’t got any,” she said. “You’ll have to ride two more stops.”

*****

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