Сommonly recognized Christian values

Today’s session of the GABFEST speaking club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) took place on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas. It was a good opportunity to focus on the basic elements of the Nativity and introduce important terms to the learners of English. We have read and translated a Wikipedia article about the Nativity of Jesus. The article was illustrated by the photos and videos of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem (Palestine).The illustration video was made by an ABC journalist of mixed background (Christian, Muslim and Jewish).

The new vocabulary of Nativity terms was   drilled and crossword puzzles were offered to memorize the words.
The second part of the session was a conversation about Ukrainian traditions of Christmas celebration. Once the appropriate article introduced the specific terms the conversation focused on culinary traditions. It’s a challenge to the English learners to describe Ukrainian dishes to foreigners in an adequate way. We had some fun listening to the attempts of the club members to describe Ukrainian Christmas dishes! Oleg tried to define “Shooba” - pickled herring filet under the coat of boiled vegetables. Helen tried to describe a salad called “Vinaigrette” in Ukraine, but it is better to name it “Beet and potato pickled salad”. Rita described the process of “Kholodets” preparation for Christmas lunch. The group had difficulty to find a nice menu description and came up with “Boiled meat in jellied stock”. Some introduced Ukrainian traditions were unknown to half of the group. 
After this conversation the club members will be able to speak about Ukrainian Christmas.
The session was wrapped up with an offer of a Christmas tea. It was most educational and funny!
Number of participants  – 19 persons.

Have a look at more pictures, please