Hosting a Ukrainian Family: Everyday Communication That Works

Yes. A host family and a Ukrainian family can run daily life by writing to each other in their own languages and reading each other in theirs. Piou detects each message's language automatically, Ukrainian or Russian, and Piou Premium translates it into English on your phone. For paperwork, health and anything binding, translation helps you prepare, but an interpreter or an official service has to take over.

The first days: simple, written, not too much at once

Sarah and David, in Minneapolis, are hosting Olena, her kids Sofiia (12) and Maksym (7), and Olena's mother, Halyna. On the first evening, everyone is exhausted. It's not the time to explain the recycling schedule.

• On the first evening, use Face to face mode. One phone placed on the kitchen table detects who's speaking, shows the translation and reads it aloud. The other person doesn't need the app, and once the languages are downloaded, it works even if your guests don't have mobile data yet.
• Then put Piou on their phones, when they're ready. Each person picks their language in Settings → Language & translation and downloads the languages on your Wi-Fi. The phone number requested at sign-up is verified once; it lets contacts find them and is never used to sign in.
• Create a “Home” group with a pinned message covering the essentials: the full address, the door code, the thermostat, trash days, your two phone numbers. One item per line.

An example of what comes through well:

• Sarah writes: “Breakfast things are in the cupboard on the left. Help yourselves whenever you like.”
• Olena reads something like: “Усе для сніданку в шафі ліворуч. Пригощайтеся, коли захочете.”

Ukrainian or Russian: their choice, no comments

Depending on region, generation or habit, many people from Ukraine write in Ukrainian, in Russian, or in both. In the same family, the grandmother may write in Russian and the teenager in Ukrainian. That's their choice: don't ask why, don't correct, don't comment.

There's nothing for you to set up. Piou detects each message's language on the sender's device (falling back to the language in their profile), and you read everything in English. Each translated message carries the label “Translated,” and “Show original” displays the text exactly as it was written, in Ukrainian or Russian. The only technical limit: a message that mixes both languages in one sentence may translate less well.

Also keep the news and politics out of conversations unless your guests bring them up, and don't ask them to recount what they've been through. If they want to talk about it, they will.

Paperwork: translation helps you prepare, official services decide

The rules for status, benefits or work depend on each situation and can change. This guide doesn't spell any of them out: check official websites and offices, and the organizations that support newcomers.

Here's where Piou does help:

• Before an appointment, write your list of questions in a conversation with Olena; she reads it in Ukrainian and answers in her language. You arrive with clear answers.
• Letters aren't translated. Piou translates messages, not documents, PDFs or photos. Go through an official letter with an interpreter, a support organization or the office that sent it.
• At the counter, Face to face mode helps with simple exchanges (“Where is room 3?”). For a form or a signature, you need an interpreter or a human translation.

School and health

Maksym's teacher probably doesn't have Piou. If they're willing to install it, a video call with translated subtitles becomes possible: each phone transcribes its owner's voice and the recipient translates on their own device, with Premium on each side so everyone reads in their own language. Otherwise, Face to face mode works for a parent-teacher meeting. A note sent home on paper isn't translated from a photo, so type the key points into a message.

At the doctor's office, Piou can help with simple things, like a list of symptoms prepared in advance. For a diagnosis, a treatment or a prescription, ask whether a professional interpreter is available and have medical information confirmed by a doctor or nurse. In an emergency, call local emergency numbers from the phone itself; Piou can't call regular phone numbers. With the address pinned in the group, anyone can read it out to responders.

Shared life: clear rules, respected privacy

• House rules fit in one pinned message: bathroom times in the morning, laundry, guests, quiet after 10 p.m.
• Polls head off misunderstandings: “Who's home for dinner tonight?” with “Yes” and “No.” Premium translates the question and the answers.
• Personal matters go in a one-on-one conversation, not in the group.
• ID documents don't need to travel by message: when you can, show them in person.
• The first walks to school feel calmer with live location sharing, for a duration you choose.
• Make room for giving back. Many guests want to contribute, by cooking one night or doing a grocery run. Say yes.

What translation gets wrong

• Formal and informal “you”: Ukrainian and Russian distinguish “ви” and “ти,” and English doesn't, so tone can shift in both directions.
• Idioms, humor, sarcasm, diminutives like “сонечко” or “Максимко,” and names.
• Abbreviations and typos.
• Anything binding: health, money, a job offer, a lease. Use a human translation or an interpreter.

Paying for translation: who and how much

Messaging is free for everyone: texts, voice messages, photos, calls. Translation is Premium, and it's personal: with Premium, you read Olena in English; for Olena to read you in Ukrainian, she needs Premium too. You can give it to her with “Gift Piou to someone,” from the app or the website, each person at the price of one subscription. In the US that's $5.99 a month or $47.99 a year; in the UK, £4.99 or £39.99; in Canada, CA$7.99 or CA$62.99. The exact price appears before you subscribe. The 7-day free trial requires a card: nothing is charged for 7 days, then the subscription starts automatically unless it's canceled before the trial ends. You manage or cancel gifts in Settings → Premium.

Chat between English and Ukrainian with Piou