Grammar Day

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club шт. Window o America Dnipropetrovsk observed the GRAMMAR DAY which normally takes place on March, 04 in the USA and other English-speaking countries.
We have watched a video about the differences between the grammar of the American and British English and other typical grammar mistakes that ESL (English as the Second Language) students make.
 

Several on-line resources were introduced to help the Gabfest club members with their grammar studies.
The group voted for most challenging topics in English Grammar and we tried to make several on-line exercises and complete several on-line grammar tests.
 Each club member shared his/her experience of grammar related academic work in Russian or Ukrainian.
The Club members who had an opportunity to pass   international English language tests shared their experiences with the group.
 

To round up the grammar topic we have listened to the You Tube videos of songs that helped to practice English verbs and tenses.
The new comers to the Club introduced themselves and listened to the introductions of the regular Club members.
The session was educational and useful for all the participants.
Number of participants – 22 persons.

American Teen Club

The "Window on America" center hosted American Teen Club members, Dnipropetrovsk teenagers, who are willing to improve their English language, get to know about the United States and have a good time. 
The meeting was lead by the FLEX alumni Darya Gerasymova'13 and Olga Chichikalo’12.
Everyone was engaged and practiced their speaking skills!

Sweet Home Alabama

“Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine offered screening of the American romantic comedy film «Sweet Home Alabama» (2002) with Reese Witherspoon, and Josh Lucas starring to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Sweet Home Alabama is a 2002 American romantic comedy film directed by Andy Tennant, starring Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey and Candice Bergen. The film was released by Touchstone Pictures.

Washington D.C.

Within the frame work of the “Discover USA” project Window on America Dnipropetrovsk arranged a session for the students from the local high school No. 28.
At the beginning of the visit the WOA Head arranged for the group a tour of the library. The 7th year students learned a lot of useful things about the DOUNB Library. We hope that love of reading will be part of their life for the future. The library tour ended at the premises of the Window on America Center.
The group was offered a slide show about the city of Washington – the capital of the USA. The WOA’s Head Svitlana Usenko who has been to Washington city shared her positive emotions about the trip to the USA.
The students had to read and translate the text on the slides and comment the images on the slides. The focus of the presentation this time was on the architecture of the buildings and the interiors of the world-known sites – the White House, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court building, etc.
The teacher and the students were impressed by the visit and will be happy to cooperate with the WOA Center in the future.
Participants number – 12 persons.

The Spring Jazz Talk

Within the framework of the project “U.S. ART Residence in Dnipropetrovsk” the session of English speaking club GABFEST was dedicated  to «American Jazz Divas». March is a good time to introduce female artists whose input into American jazz was very considerable. The session’s moderator T.Gavryliuk prepared a compilation of videos about most famous American female jazz singers – both vintage and contemporary. The compilation presented important ladies in American jazz and introduced the audience to the golden jazz hits performed by Ella Fitzgerlad, Billi Holiday, Barbara Strerisand and Chaka Khan. The Club members had the opportunity to read the lyrics and enjoy both the jazz music and the texts.
 

The genuine surprise of the session was a live performance of jazz by the musician from the Dnipropetrovsk Conservatorium – Yakov Tsvetynskiy (trumpet). The talented local jazz musician was introduced by the expert – PhD in Musical Theory Ms. Irina Riabtseva.
The Club members were delighted to learn more about the history of the American jazz with the live music illustrations. The guest   received the round of applause and a gift .The performance took place at the DOUNB library Art department.

The WOA staff invited the musicians and the GABFEST Club committee for an after-event tea.  With the background of jazz music we discussed the plans for future cooperation of the DOUNB Library and Dnipropetrovsk Conservatorium.
Participants number – 26 persons.
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American Teen Club

The American Teen Club meeting was for teenagers, who are willing to improve their English language, get to know about the United States and have a good time!
The meeting was lead by the FLEX alumni Hanna Akastjolova.
Participants took a few grammatical questions online, testing their knowledge. Everyone was happy to see positive results!
Everyone was engaged and practiced their speaking skills!
Number of participants – 5 persons.

Discover USA: Washington D.C.

Within the frame work of the “Discover USA” project Window on America Dnipropetrovsk arranged a session for the students from the school No. 4 in the city suburb Pidhorodne.
We decided to start the presentation of the WOA Center with a slide show about the city of Washington – the capital of the USA.  The WOA’s Head Svitlana who has been to Washington city shared her positive emotions about the trip to the USA.
 The students had to read and translate the text on the slides and comment the images on the slides. The focus of the presentation this time was on the architecture of the buildings and the interiors of the world-known sites – the White House, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court building, etc.
 

The second half of the session was a presentation about the FLEX school students exchange program by the WOA volunteer Hanna Akastelova. Hanna shared her experience of living and studying in the USA for an academic year. She also told the group about the process of enrolling into the FLEX program.
The teacher and the students were impressed by the visit and will be happy to cooperate with the WOA Center in the future.
Participants number – 11persons.

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Remember the Titans

Within the framework of the “From mines to art heights” project the "Window on America" Center (Dnipropetrovsk , Ukraine) was visited by the group of National Mining University students majoring in IT studies. The group was accompanied by the English language lecturer - Mr. Brian Chung, the Fulbright academic exchange lecturer from New York.
 
The WOA Center premises were used as a site for an out-of-class training session. The freshmen continued to watch and discuss an American movie Remember the Titans. The story tells about a weatherman who finds himself living the same day over and over again
Mr. Brian stopped the film on a regular basis to explain to the students American idioms and cultural phenomena presented in the movie. He also asked questions on the content of the film to check the students’ comprehension.
Number of participants – 11.

Visit of students

The "Window on America" Center (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was visited by the group of National Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine students majoring in English language studies.
The group was accompanied by the English language lecturer – Mrs. Alexandra Myrgorodskaya.
The WOA Center premises were used as a site for an out-of-class training session. The freshmen continued to watch and discuss an American movie Little Women (1994).
The movie based on Louisa May Alcott's autobiographical novel account of her life with her three sisters in Concord Mass in the 1860s. With their father fighting in the civil war, the sisters: Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth are at home with their mother – a very outspoken women for her time. The story is of how the sisters grow up, find love and find their place in the world.
Ms. Alexandra Myrgorodskaya stopped the film on a regular basis to explain to the students American idioms and cultural phenomena presented in the movie. She also asked questions on the content of the film to check the students’ comprehension.
Number of participants – 7.

O Brother, Where Art Thou

The “Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, offered screening of the adventure comedy film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (2000) with George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson  starring. 
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 adventure comedy film written, produced, edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning in supporting roles. Set in 1937 rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, the film's story is a modern satire loosely based on Homer’s epic poem, Odyssey. The title of the film is a reference to the 1941 film Sullivan's Travels, in which the protagonist (a director) wants to film a fictional book about the Great Depression called O Brother, Where Art Thou?



Much of the music used in the film is period folk music, including that of Virginia bluegrass singer Ralph Stanley. The movie was one of the first to extensively use digital color correction, to give the film an autumnal, sepia-tinted look. The film received positive reviews, and the American folk music soundtrack won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 2001. The original band soon became popular after the film release and the country and folk musicians who were dubbed into the film, such as John Hartford, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Chris Sharp, and others, joined together to perform the music from the film in a Down from the Mountain concert tour which was filmed for TV and DVD.

A Speed TOUR of WOA

A  Speed TOUR of Window on America and Resources Presentation.
In the course of the DOUNB Library tour the WOA center was visited by a group of Dnipropetrovsk province librarians. They attend the skills’ up-grading courses at the DOUNB Training Center for librarians. The group was introduced to the wide range of WOA’s resources for the English language study. The activities most popular  among library patrons were presented to the group -  the theme book displays, weekly movie club and weekly English-speaking clubs for different age groups (for teens and adults).
The group members received the WOA’s promotional materials.
Number of participants – 15.

Academy Awards 2015

Today’ session of the Gabfest Club in Window on America Dnipropetrovsk was a pleasant surprise for all club-members. We had a big group of foreign guests – Mr. Brian and Mr. Jason managed to come; Mr. Carl brought along an English-speaking friend from Morocco. So we started the session with the introductions of the newcomers- both foreign and Ukrainian. Several neutral topics were tossed in to initiate conversation.
 

The official topic of the session was “Academy Awards 2015”. The Academy Awards or The Oscars (the official title was rebranded as The Oscars in 2013 – changed from The Academy Awards) is an annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname “Oscar”. We watched a video about the history of the Academy awards and learnt several fun facts – what the price of the ticket for the first ceremony was; what kind of figure is the statuette (a night with a sword);  why the trophy’s nickname is Oscar, what the real color of the red carpet is, etc.
 
The club members were offered a list of questions about

Academy Awards to answer. We visited the official site of the event and checked the names of the winners in all categories. The funny video about the “must see” moments of the ceremony helped us to have an insight into the atmosphere of the fest. The tips from our American guests helped to understand some of the jokes.
The session was educational and enjoyable for all the participants.
Number of participants – 26 persons.

Have a look at more pictures, please

Learn in motion

The "Window on America" center hosted American Teen Club members, Dnipropetrovsk teenagers, who are willing to improve their English language, get to know about the United States and have a good time! The meeting was lead by the FLEX alumni Darya Gerasymova'13 and Hanna Akastelova’13.
Today’s session started with a pleasant surprise – the Teen Club was visited by the American guests - Mr. Brian Chung and Mr. Jason Rush.
The session started with grammar exercises. The teenagers tried to complete on-line grammar test. Then group watched several relevant YouTube videos.
In the second part of the session Mr. Chung suggested to play popular in the USA action games. The first game activated the vocabulary for the topic “Animal World”. The second game “Ninja” needed more space for the “action” element and the group had to move to one of the DOUNB library lobbies.
All the participants were happy to “learn in motion” and communicate with native-speaking guests.
Number of participants – 8 persons.

Have a look at more pictures, please

Resources Presentation

A  Speed TOUR of Window on America and Resources Presentation.
In the course of the DOUNB Library tour the WOA center was visited by a group of Dnipropetrovsk province librarians. They attend the skills’ up-grading courses at the DOUNB Training Center for librarians. The group was introduced to the wide range of WOA’s resources for the English language study. The activities most popular  among library patrons were presented to the group -  the theme book displays, weekly movie club and weekly English-speaking clubs for different age groups (for teens and adults).
The group members received the WOA’s promotional materials.

Number of participants – 11.