English Speaking club - Coca-Cola - 125!

Today’s session was dedicated to the most expensive brand – Coca-Cola. This year Coca-Cola celebrates its 125th anniversary.

We have explored the Heritage site of the Coca-Cola company. It helped us to check our Coke IQ.  

On-line quiz 

As always the coca cola quiz was popular. The brainstorming resulted in a decent score – 12 correct answers out of 15. A lot of new design terms were learned.

We have also compared the scale of celebration in Ukraine and in Atlanta (Georgia). The video of the concert was quite enjoyable.

At the end of the session the club members shared their opinion about the taste of the drink. In different countries it turns out to be different.  
Our USA guest Deedra was an expert in American soft drinks. She explained that many states differ in their states for soft drinks. In her native State Oklahoma more popular drink is Dr.Pepper.

However among the English Speaking Club members not many persons were the Coca-Cola fans. 

Participants – (25 visitors)

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Movie Club - The Philadelphia Story

At the Window on America Dnipropetrovsk  the weekly Movie Club session took place.

Today’s movie was “The Philadelphia Story”.

“Cross Cultural Encounters: Ukraine - USA”

The WOA Dnipropetrovsk continues to implement the project “Cross Cultural Encounters: Ukraine - USA”.

The aim of the project is to introduce the WOA and its resources to the students majoring in

“Hospitality Management”.

At the initial stage of the project students of the Kyiv University for Arts and Culture (Dnipropetrovsk branch) have been invited to the WOA center.

Svitlana Usenko, the head of Window on America center, presented the resources of the Center (Books, Movie Club, Rosetta Stone etc.)

The group of students with major in “Hotel and Restaurant Management” watched the video “United Tastes of America” – introducing the most popular ethnic cuisines in the USA.

Number of the visitors – 7.

Excursion of students

The students of National Metallurgical academy with their English teachers Alexandra Myrgorodska and Tetyana Eschenko visited WOA Center Dnipropetrovsk.

Svitlana Usenko, the head of Window on America center, presented the resources of the Center (Books, Movie Club, Rosetta Stone etc.)

The  students were shown  the Dnipropetrovsk library web site, WOA center blog, pages on Facebook and Vkontakte as well .

They watched a slide show dedicated to the Window on America’s history and  its activities and a video about our Center on YouTube.

It was interesting to get acquainted with a program Rosetta Stone which can be interesting for self-studying.

They saw several displays:

-        Posters display “All Americans –Images of Heritage and Citizenship” – the art works of Texas students with different ethnic background

-        Brochures display – Multiculturalism in American Culture

-        Book display “American Art”.

Tanya Volokita

Tanya Volokita, a finance student, presented her hand–made decorations – earrings and wrist bracelets made from beads, metal and plastic.

After the visit to the WOA the group proceeded to the local Historical Museum. The Museum tour was made in English by the guide V. Kovalenko, WOA’s  loyal friend .

Number of the visitors – 16 (the English language teachers – 4, students – 12)

The Museum tour was made in English by the guide V. Kovalenko

 

Tanya Shutina presented her oil paintings

The art theme announced in advance urged some of the club members to offer their own art works for display at the centre.

Tanya Shutina, the architect, brought her oil paintings –  mostly marine landscapes.
Look video, please 

English Speaking club - Cultural diversity

This week events are dedicated to the World Day for Cultural Diversity which is celebrated on May, 21.

Several displays were offered to the patrons of the WOA centre:

-        Posters display  “All Americans: Images of Heritage and Citizenship” – the art works of Texas students with different ethnic background

-        Brochures display – Multiculturalism in American  Culture

-        Book display “American Art”.

The art theme announced in advance urged some of the club members to offer their own art works for display at the center.

Tanya Shutina, the architect,  brought her oil paintings  –  mostly marine landscapes.

Janina Stets, a State University Scientific Library worker,  offered her craft works – cross stitch embroidery. Among her works were landscapes, still lifes and a portrait.

Tanya Volokita, a finance student, offered for display her hand–made decorations – earrings and wrist bracelets made from beads, metal and plastic.

All the artworks on display had positive feedback from the WOA patrons and ESC members.

The English Language Club meeting started with the slide show presenting the notion of multiculturalism in the world and in the American life. The slide show was complemented by the video clips of numerous types of ethnic music in USA.

After that it was decided to project multiculturalism on the reality of the Ukrainian life. The club members formed teams and   had a brainstorming session about cultural diversity in the Ukrainian music and art. The winning team produced the longest list of artists from different ethnic backgrounds.  The video clips of afro Ukrainian and other performers were thoroughly enjoyed.

To conclude the topic a round table discussion on multiculturalism was offered. The Club members discussed the positive and negative aspects of this phenomenon.

Today we also had a visitor from the USA – Deedra Hall. She is a Peace Corps volunteer working in the town of Verhovtsevo in Dnipropetrovsk region.  Deedra briefly introduced herself and shared her opinion about living in Ukraine. She promised to prepare a lecture about her native state Oklahoma and cultural diversity there.

Number of the visitors – 25  (the English language  teachers – 1,  specialists – 19 , retired –1, students – 2, pupils – 1, librarian –1)

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Deedra Hall  - a Peace Corps volunteer (in the center)

ART WEEK

This week events are dedicated to the World Day for Cultural Diversity which is celebrated on May, 21.

Several displays were offered to the patrons of the WOA centre:

-        Posters display  “All Americans –Images of Heritage and Citizenship” – the art works of Texas students with different ethnic background

-        Brochures display – Multiculturalism in American  Culture

-        Book display “American Art”.

The art theme announced in advance urged some of the club members to offer their own art works for display at the centre.

Tanya Shutina, the architect, brought her oil paintings –  mostly marine landscapes.

Janina Stets, a State University Scientific Library worker, offered her craft works – cross stitch embroidery. Among her works were landscapes, still lifes and a portrait.

Tanya Volokita, a finance student, offered for display her hand–made decorations – earrings and wrist bracelets made from beads, metal and plastic.

All the artworks on display had positive feedback from the WOA patrons and ESC members.

Look more pictures here 

«Wednesday Movie Club» - The Cats

“THE CATS” was chosen to introduce the Center’s art week dedicated to the World Day for Cultural diversity celebrated on May, 21.
The movie is the world known musical and the second longest running show in Broadway history. Read more here

The movie was not always understandable, but we enjoyed watching it!

 

 

 

“United Tastes of America”

Students of the Kyiv University for Arts and Culture (Dnipropetrovsk branch) have visited the WOA center.

The group of students with major in “Hotel and Restaurant Management” watched the video “United Tastes of America”.

ART WEEK dedicated to the World Day for Cultural diversity

Students of the Kyiv University for Arts and Culture (Dnipropetrovsk branch) have visited the WOA centre.

They familiarized themselves with the book and posters displays on Cultural diversity in American Art.

The displays with the club members’ art works also received a lot of attention from the appreciative patrons.

SHUTINA TANYA – oil paintings

STETS”   JANINA  – cross stitching craft: JESUS CHRIST   PORTRAIT, WINTER  LANDSCAPE, MARINE   SCENE, STILL LIFE WITH FLOWERS, STILL LIFE WITH APPLES

The group of students with major in “Hotel and Restaurant Management” watched the video “United Tastes of America”.
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English lesson for students

The students of National Metallurgical academy with their English teacher Alexandra Myrgorodska visited WOA Center Dnipropetrovsk to improve their English.

English Speaking club - «Civil War»

Today’s discussion started with the introduction of the new club members.

It was followed by the slide presentation “150^th anniversary of the Civil War in the USA”. 

 Vadim, visitor of Window on America center, expressed his view about club meeting (VIDEO)

        We have refreshed in the memory the basic facts about this war: the duration, the conflicting sides, the major battles, the aftermath, etc. 

After the slide show several videos were demonstrated - the celebration of the 150th anniversary in Fort Sumter, the excerpt from the movie “The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998)”and others.

On-line quizzes are still quite popular with the club. A Civil war quiz was offered. This time it was an on-line quiz from “The Christian Science Monitor” web page. The brainstorming was enjoyed by the audience, but result was not very good. Our score was - 5 correct answers out of 13 questions.

The president of the English Speaking club Vasil Tofel' summed up the quiz result – we do not know the details of this war as well as Americans do. But for an improvised test the results were not too bad.

The final activity for today was roundtable discussion about wars in the modern society and their reasons.

The possibility of the civil wars in the modern European societies was also discussed.

Number of the visitors – 18  (the English language  teachers –2,  specialists – 9, retired –1,

students – 4, pupils – 1, librarian –1).

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Reed more here 

«Wednesday Movie Club» - Cold Mountain

Today’s movie COLD MOUNTAIN was chosen to make an introduction to the Saturday’s English Speaking club topic  – the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War in the USA.

The movie is a war drama about a Confederate Army deserter who is on his way to return to the love of his life.

The prize winning film gives an insight on the life of a Southern village community at the end of the American Civil War.
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English Speaking club - Mother's Day

Today’s discussion started with the presentation of materials about the peculiarities of the American families. The Club members discussed the meaning of the American phrase “Feel yourself at home”.

The next phenomenon to discuss was the American family traditions and values. The values most cherished are integrity, self-discipline, proactivity, empathy, humility. Principals of human freedom and universal harmony are maintained in most American families.

American wedding ceremonies and anniversary celebrations were compared to the Ukrainian ones. Some curious facts were discovered about the bridal shower and wedding rehearsal. Window Candle, Yellow ribbon and Recipe Box meanings were explained to the Club members. The “Yellow ribbon on an old oak tree” song, the 70s hit, had a great success with the audience.Listen to a lovely song!

On-line quizzes turned out to be quite popular with the club. So a Mother’s Day quiz was offered. The brainstorming as always has given a high score – 11 out of 12.Check youself here!

The popular activity with the club members is debates about the quotes.  Quotes about mothers from classical authors and modern celebrities gave a chance to everybody to express his opinion.

The finishing phase of today’s session was a discussion about mothers and their role in one’s life, the differences between a mother and a mother-in-law, etc.
Number of the visitors – 17  

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Book Display: «American Art»

A display “American Art” was presented at WOA Dnipropetrovsk. 

It includes 20  colorful books about American and world artists. It immediately draw the attention of the patrons. The highlight of the display is the Thames and Hudson Multimedia Dictionary of Modern Art.

«Wednesday Movie Club» - Kramer vs. Kramer

«Wednesday Movie Club» - Kramer vs. Kramer

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