Ukraine (literally: ‘land on the border’) is the largest European country in terms of size. Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey are bigger, but are only partially located in Europe. Ukraine is very central in the Eurasian continent and largely consists of flat steppe and grasslands, and it has left deep traces. For centuries, nomadic conquerors and robbers (including Vikings, Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Goths, Huns, Turks, and Mongols) roamed these vast plains, and when they weren’t, it would be the surrounding states that invaded (most recently the Germans and the Russians). All of these people have turned Ukraine into an ethnic melting pot, but in terms of language development, the Slavic languages set the tone.

Slavic language

Ukrainian belongs to the East Slavic language group and is spoken by 40 million people in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and Transnistria (a de facto dwarf state between Moldova and Ukraine that is not yet recognised by many other countries). Ukrainian is written with the Cyrillic alphabet. That alphabet was created by missionaries Cyrillus and Methodius, who were inspired by the Greek script, in the 9th century. The alphabet was expanded with additional letters for Ukrainian.

Ukrainian versus Russian

Ukrainian looks a lot like Russian; however, the languages split up in the late 18th century. Ukrainian changed into an independent language with its own vocabulary, sentence structure, and sound formation. Polish influences, among other things, changed the intonation and vocabulary. Approximately two thirds of the vocabulary is still made up of Russian words. The communication between Russians and Ukrainians runs smoothly – in terms of language, at least.

Language and culture

Language and culture are inextricably linked; and even over the course of one lifetime, they can change significantly. This means it is best for a translator to be on top of their own language and culture. That is why we like working with in-country translators, in this case, Ukrainian translators who live in Ukraine and are native speakers of Ukrainian.

Our standards

Translation Agency is in possession of the ISO certificates ISO 9001 and ISO 17100. These are the highest achievable European quality standards for translation agencies. These standards impose strict requirements on us and the translators we work with. This means you do not run any risk with our translators; especially considering the fact they have also all signed a confidentiality statement. In addition to these guarantees, we also offer you a lowest price guarantee and our 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you would also like to hear it from someone else, you can visit this independent website.