International Water Cooperation

Today’s session of the Gabfest Speaking Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk) was visited by fewer people – due to the school holidays and the storm warning in the region.
We started the session with the small talk about Easter which is celebrated in the USA on Sunday, March, 31.
We have listened to and discussed the text “Easter in the USA” from the book “American Holidays” by Barbara Klebanow and Sara Fischer. The text was accompanied by a native speaker’s sound track. The most interested question was why bunny is a symbol of Easter.
    The official topic of the session was International Water Day 2013. This year’s theme is “International Water Cooperation”.  The UN poster “Cooperation or Competition?” was presented to the Club members. We have researched the water problems described on the poster.  The following factors lie at the roots of the water tension in the world:
•    neglect of treaties,
•    over-abstraction,
•    diversion,
•    scarcity,
•    pollution.
Each of the above factors was illustrated with a case from real life. The club members read and translated information about water tensions in Nile river region, in Mexico, in Aral Sea region, in Chine, etc.
The further discussion on Water Day issues drifted into the direction of the Ukrainian water problems. We have discussed the following problems:
•    the Danube river as a trans boundary watercourse and its pollution
•    International lakes in Ukraine and their problems: Azov Sea and Shatski lakes.
At the end of the session we’ve talked about Club affairs:
•    the Ukrainian souvenirs  acquired for the Club’s guest, the Fulbright exchange professor  Ms. H. Allen
•    the  illness of the club member Valeriy Shkuropat and our possibility to help him.
The session was educational and enjoyed by all the participants.
The number of participants – 19 persons.
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Futaba battle on iPads

The Head of Dnipropetrovsk information and resource center "Window on America" Svitlana Usenko met the visitors from Novooleksandrivs’ka school.
She informed the students and their teacher about the funds and resources of the Oblast Scientific Library named after the Slavic apostles Cyril and Methodius.
All the participants of the event were acquainted with the "Window on America" Center. The Center will be useful to all English language learners.
The meeting ended with Futaba battle on iPads.
Number of participants – 7 (teacher of English – 1, pupils – 6).
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Cool

This app allows the user and up to 4 people to play at the same time. There is enjoyable music in the background, great illustrations, and challenges the user to understand what they are looking at and use that information pick the correct answer

• Easy to Use
• Educational
• Good for Road Trips
• Good for Single Player
• Great for Tablets
• Multi-person Use on a Single Device
• Musical
• Staff Favorite

The Prize Winner

“Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
The film «The Prize Winner» (2005) was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Plot: In order to support her ten children, Evelyn Ryan (Moore) enters a commercial jingle-writing contest. Based on a true story.
Director: Jane Anderson
Writers: Terry Ryan (book), Jane Anderson (screenplay)
Stars: Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern

The English teachers conference

The Head of the Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk Svitlana Usenko invited to participate in the English teachers conference (Dnipropetrovsk district schools).
She showed the slide-show presentation about the DOUNB library, library electronic catalog, free resources and most popular activities of the Window on America center. 
The modern literature on teaching methods for TEFLA were offered.
She informed the teachers about the free resources available on-line and recommended by the US State Department:
- Rosetta Stone software
- the software Trace Effects
- on-line resources (American Online English, Voice of America The Classroom…) for the English language study recommended by the US State department.

The donated gadgets iPad and Kindle were presented to the audience.
The topics for educational activities with children were suggested to the teachers.
The English teachers got interested in the collaborations with WOA for students’ lessons.
The number of participants – 23 persons.

Q and A meeting

Today’s session of the GABFEST speaking club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) had a visitor from the US State of Rhode Island. 
The Fulbright academic exchange lecturer, Business Professor Heidi Allen who will be lecturing in English in the National Mining University within 6 weeks, told about her lifestyle, travels and food preferences, shared her first impressions of the city and answered on numerous questions from club members.
Mrs. Heidi was impressed to see well-know the Dnieper river embankment, where she went jogging as well as in the large Taras Shevchenko Park (which is on the right bank of the river) and on Monastyrsky Island and was amazed to see high level of Ukrainian interest in outdoor sport activities the same as in the US. Club members recommended to visit places in Dnipropetrovsk where can be enriched her knowledge about the city and suggested “what is worth trying” in Ukrainian cuisine and drinks. And the conversation drifted into the discussion on kitchen and gardens across America and particularly the state where Mrs. Heidi lives and comparison between Ukrainian and American vegetables and fruits which people grow their own. There was mentioned a big difference regarding Ukrainians. Having summerhouse is not only to have a break from polluted city but also very hard work and preparation for wintertime in order to grown their own plants, can vegetables, store them in a cool, dry, dark drawer or bin, make winter jams.
Then, discussion was about traveling. And guest was highly advised to visit Western Ukraine in order to experience varieties of traditions, events with folk costumes, tendency to use Ukrainian language.
Professor told about traveling experience around the World. The journey began when Mrs. Heidi`s family moved from Germany, it was at the very early age. Being adult, Mrs. Heidi had more trips and even found a book “how to travel for 10 usd” . And as a joke mentioned that now there is a book with the same title but “… for 100 usd”.
In the past, Mrs. Heidi had a chance to live and work in South Korea where so many high-tech devices weren’t as now, and country wasn’t as rich. Living in a small city, she was only American and children followed her on a street repeating all the time “American, American…”
Mrs. Heidi also has her own blog where she uploads photos of Ukraine for her American students so as to give them more information about the country and share her thoughts about culture and new experience to encourage them to visit it.
Today`s session was the Q&A. The Gabfest visitors had a chance to practice English communication skills, had a “small talk” with a native speaker and have a lot of interest in future meetings with Mrs. Heidi.
The session full of communication was enjoyed by all participants. We hope for further friendship and cooperation with Mrs. Heidi Allen.

(text by Yulia Sobolevskaya)
The number of participants – 23 persons.

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Sports in the USA

WOA Dnipropetrovsk continues its project “Discover USA”.
The Head of Dnipropetrovsk information and resource center "Window on America" Svitlana Usenko met the visitors from school # 23.
She informed the students and their teachers about the funds and resources of the Oblast Scientific Library named after the Slavic apostles Cyril and Methodius.
All the participants of the event were acquainted with the "Window on America" Center. The Center will be useful to all English language learners.
The relevant Youtube videos were showed  to the students on the topic "Sports in the USA".
Number of participants – 15 ( teachers of English – 2, pupils – 13).
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Sex and the City

“Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
The film Sex and the City (2008) was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Director: Michael Patrick King
Writers: Michael Patrick King, Candace Bushnell (book)
Sex and the City is a 2008 American blue romantic comedy film adaptation of the HBO comedy series of the same name (itself based on the novel of the same name by Candace Bushnell) about four female friends: Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis), and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), dealing with their lives as single women in New York City. The series often portrayed frank discussions about romance and sexuality.Plot: A New York writer on sex and love is finally getting married to her Mr. Big. But her three best girlfriends must console her after one of them inadvertently leads Mr. Big to jilt her.
The world premiere took place at Leicester Square, London, on May 15, 2008 and premiered on May 28, 2008 in the United Kingdom and May 30, 2008 in the United States.
Budget    $65 million
Box office    $415,253,641

 

Discover USA

WOA Dnipropetrovsk continues its project “Discover USA”.

The Head of Dnipropetrovsk information and resource center "Window on America" Svitlana Usenko met the visitors from school # 23. 

She informed the students and their teachers about the funds and resources of the Oblast Scientific Library named after the Slavic apostles Cyril and Methodius.
All the participants of the event were acquainted with the "Window on America" Center. The Center will be useful to all English language learners.

The following activities were offered to the attention of the students:

•    Slide show “Meet the USA”

•    Youtube video “Washington D.C." 

Number of participants – 27 ( teachers of English – 2, pupils – 25).
Have a look at more pictures, please 

Consumer’s Day

Today’s session of the GABFEST speaking club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the topic Consumer’s Day.
Before the mid-twentieth century, consumers were without rights with regard to their interaction with products and commercial producers. Consumers had little ground on which to defend themselves against faulty or defective products, or against misleading or deceptive advertising method
By the 1950s, a movement called consumerism began to gather a following, pushing for increased rights and legal protection against malicious business practices. By the end of the decade, legal product liability had been established in which an aggrieved party need only prove injury by use of a product, rather than bearing the burden of proof of corporate negligence.In 1962, President John F. Kennedy presented a speech to the United States Congress in which he extolled four basic consumer rights, later called The Consumer Bill of Rights
We have talked about the consumers’ rights in Ukraine and their violations. We analyzed the rights of transport passengers and their typical violations on different types of transport - from public transport to aviation. Club members shared their stories about bad quality of services and how they fought for their rights.
Another important problem for our city is the poor quality of tap water. We discussed several ways of handling this problem. One of them was the use of detergents for household needs.
The topic was important as we all are consumers and deserve better quality of consumer products.
The number of participants – 30 persons.

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The anniversary of Oles Honchar

Oles Honchar (1918–1995) was one of the leading Ukrainian writers of the twentieth century. He was also a prominent public figure. He left a rich legacy of novels, short stories and diaries. Oles Honchar was indeed a person of high integrity, rectitude and Ukrainian national convictions.
Quite early in life he discovered in himself a talent for creative writing. He studied at a journalists’ training school, then at the Department of Journalism of the University of Kharkiv. When Nazi Germany invaded Ukraine in June 1941, he, still a student, volunteered for the army service. He served bravely and with distinction — his many awards include the Order of Glory, one of the highest awards that was given to soldiers for bravery. He was wounded twice but survived the war to become a writer.
After the WWII O. Honchar resumed his studies, this time at the Department of Philology at Dnipropetrovsk University. Nowadays the University is named after its famous graduate.
Honchar’s novel Sobor (Cathedral), published in 1968, was severely criticized by the soviet authorities for its “nationalistic leanings and religious overtones” and it was the writer’s prominent social position and fame that saved him from downfall and possible ban on writing, or maybe even prosecution and arrest.
He continued writing, and in the 1980s his political and cultural stance became even more nationally oriented. In 1992–1993, he was recognized to be “The World Intellectual” by the Intellectual Biographical Centre in Cambridge, Great Britain.
At the Gabfest Club session dedicated to the anniversary of Oles Honchar  we have read an article about his ties with Dnipropetrovsk region. The local historians proved that the writer was born in Dnipropetrovsk, spent a lot of time in the city and described the nature of our region in some of his novels. Some of the club members even tried to translate excerpts about Dnipropetrovsk from Ukrainian into English.
The quiz about Honchar’s artistic work revealed some curious facts about the genres mastered by the writer. It turned out that he wrote several scripts to the movies. We have watched a short video of the movie “The College Applicant” – about the first terrorist attack on the Soviet airlines in 1970. The movie was based on the real story when a young stewardess of Ukrainian background, Nadezhda Kurchenko, was killed during the high-jacking of a Soviet aircraft.

 

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North Country

“Wednesday Movie Club”
At the Window on America center in Dnipropetrovsk the film North Country (2005) was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Plot:  A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States - Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit.
Director: Niki Caro
Writers: Michael Seitzman (screenplay), Clara Bingham (book)
Stars: Charlize Theron, Jeremy Renner, Frances McDormand

The early March holidays.

Today’s session of the  GABFEST club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) started with the presentation of the book display “America’s first ladies”.
The session was dedicated to the early March holidays.
The main holiday for Ukrainians is the 8th of March, the International Women’s Day which is a public holiday in Ukraine. 

Our American friends PC volunteers Kathryn and Samantha asked the club members to explain the nature of this holiday and the Ukrainian traditions of celebration. All the present shared their family traditions of honoring women. We talked about the history of the holiday, the Ukrainian corporate culture in its celebration, the adverse effect on Ukrainian flora endangered species, etc.
March, 09 is also the Barbie doll birthday. In 1959 the first Barbie doll was shown at the New York toy fair. It was introduced by “Mattel” Company and became one of the greatest toy manufacturing successes ever. Barbie was invented by Ruth Handler who adapted her from an earlier German doll called Lilli.  She was named after Ruth's daughter Barbara and billed as "New For '59, The Barbie Doll: A Shapely Teenage Fashion Model Price $3.00."
Thus was born the Barbie doll phenomenon which is certainly one of the greatest success stories. Prior to Barbie nearly all children's dolls were child dolls rather than adult figures. Barbie changed all this. Barbie soon became a collectors doll and was avidly sought after by adult collectors. Some dolls are worth up to $8000. We have watched a video about the Barbie doll manufacturing and discussed the good and bad things about Barbie phenomenon. To round up the discussion we have talked about our own collectible items.
The session was very educational to all and introduced new names to the Club members.

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Taras Shevchenko's birthday

March, 09 is celebrated in Ukraine as the birthday of the Taras Shevchenko, the great Ukrainian poet, artist and thinker. Club member Marina briefly told the tragic story of his life to our American guests.
Born as a serf to a rich landlord he was bought out of serfdom by noted writers and artists.
The 2,500 rubles required were raised through a lottery in which the prize was a portrait of the Russian poet, Zhukovsky, painted by Russian painter Karl Bryullov.
Shevchenko began to write poetry even before he was freed from serfdom. In 1840, the world first saw the Kobzar, Shevchenko's first collection of poetry. Later Ivan Franko wrote that this book, "immediately revealed, as it were, a new world of poetry. It burst forth like a spring of clear, cold water, and sparkled with a clarity, breadth and elegance of artistic expression not previously known in Ukrainian writing." For anti-zarist activities Shevchenko was punished very severely: with an exile to central Asia as a private with the Military Detachment. Russian Tsar Nicholas I, in confirming the sentence, wrote, "Under the strictest surveillance, with a ban on writing and painting." 

The Stepford Wives

 At the Window on America center in Dnipropetrovsk The Stepford Wives (2004) – 92 min. was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Plot: What does it take to become a Stepford wife, a woman perfect beyond belief? Ask the Stepford husbands, who've created this high-tech terrifying little town, in a very modern comedy-thriller.
Director: Frank Oz
Writers: Ira Levin (book), Paul Rudnick (screenplay)
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick

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