Summer - time for rest. Fishing, cook or eat fish?
In the information-resource center "Window on America" (Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) held a regular meeting of the English-speaking club "Gabfest" which was dedicated to the Fisherman's Day. Americans celebrate this day with all fishermen of the World in the summer.
Club members watched videos, read, translated, and learned the names of exotic fish. More pleasant was part of the meeting, when everyone said that he knows, loves, or fishing, eating fish or able to cook.
Professional fisherman Nestor surprised us his own hand-made device for catching catfish. Our American guest Jason learned about the most common species of fish in Ukraine and also told us what kind of fish is favorite for Americans.
All who was present improved their vocabulary and had fun discussing the topic of the meeting.
Number of participants – 21 persons.
Today Information and Resource Center "Window on America" in Dnipropetrovsk was attended by the English teachers from schools of Dnipropetrovsk region.
Head of WOA Center Svitlana Usenko presented the Online resources for teaching English. The presentation familiarized the teachers with the American electronic library resource “eLibrary USA Databases”, the electronic portal “American Online English”, the phonetics and grammar teaching program by Rosetta Stone.
The donations by the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine were also introduced – electronic gadgets iPad and Kindle.
All the participants were provided with the opportunity to practice the new devices and to search information on the e-Library. The teachers received the center’s brochure and printed copies of the resources for e-Library and American Online English.
Number of participants – 14.
«You only really know what you have when you're about to lose it»
Today «Wednesday Movie Club» at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine offered screening of the drama film «The Clearing» (2004).
WOA’s patrons who wish to improve their language skills enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Plot: As an executive is held captive by an employee, it's up to his wife to deliver the ransom.
Director: Pieter Jan Brugge
Writers: Pieter Jan Brugge (story), Justin Haythe
Stars: Robert Redford, Willem Dafoe, Helen Mirren
Within the framework of the “U.S. Art Residence in Dnipropetrovsk” project the "Window on America" Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine presented a session dedicated to the Art of Photography.
The session started with a documentary about George Eastman, the founder of the Eastman Kodak company. George Eastman wanted to simplify photography and make it available to everyone, not just trained photographers. In 1888, he invented rolled photography film and the Kodak cameras that could use the new film. "You press the button, we do the rest" promised George Eastman in 1888 with this advertising slogan for his Kodak camera. The video added extra facts about heritage of G. Eastman in the USA.
The second part of the session was dedicated to Margaret Bourke-White. She was an American photographer and photojournalist. She is best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of Soviet industry, the first American female war photojournalist. She also traveled to Europe to record how Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia were faring under Nazism and how Russia was faring under Communism. Her abilities resulted in some of the best industrial photographs of that era, which earned her national attention. The group watched a slide show about M. Bourke-White’s background and tried to analyze her world famous pictures.
The topic allowed introducing new vocabulary and activating the analytical abilities of the group.
During the session we were using new sound equipment.
Number of participants – 21 persons.
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“Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
The film «In America» was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
In America is a 2002 drama film directed by Jim Sheridan. The semi-autobiographical screenplay by Sheridan and his daughters Naomi and Kirsten focuses on an immigrant Irish family's struggle to start a new life in New York City, as seen through the eyes of the elder daughter.
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay for the Sheridans, Best Actress for Samantha Morton and Best Supporting Actor for Djimon Hounsou.
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine was visited by a group of students from the local summer camp ”Friendly family”. The group was introduced to the following WOA’s resources:
* open access encyclopedia, dictionary, fiction and movies collections
* paper display about USA music and musicians
* book display about USA movie stars.
The group was offered a You Tube video with a funny “Shark Song” in English. This video from native speakers presented a language activity with singing, moving and introduction of new words.
Funny atmosphere is a good stimulus for young students – they learn new things more willingly.
The older students in the group were interested in paper-based library catalogues which become history and are replaced by electronic catalogues in many libraries.
WOA’s patrons improved their language skills and enjoyed the active games.
Number of participants – 40.
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Today’s session of the Gabfest Club at the "Window on America" Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine was dedicated to the National Flag day in the USA. The flag of the United States represents freedom and has been an enduring symbol of the country’s ideals since its early days. Many people in the United States honor this day by displaying the American flag at homes and public buildings.
This year the group focused on the history of the Flag and the background of Betsy Ross. We watched a slide show about the important facts from the US history. On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress replaced the British symbols of the flag with a new design featuring 13 white stars in a circle on a field of blue and 13 red and white stripes – one for each state. This flag may have been made by the Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross, who was an official flag maker for the Pennsylvania Navy. The number of stars increased as the new states entered the Union, but the number of stripes returned to 13. The American flag is nicknamed as “Old Glory”, “stars and stripes” or “star-spangled banner”.
The second part of the session was dedicated to topic of LGBT civil rights. President Obama has selected June to be LGBT Pride Month. The date commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Riots in which police raided the Stonewall Inn, a New York City gay club. On civil rights progress, “our journey is not complete until our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law,” said President Obama in one of his announcement.
The group was introduced to the Rainbow flag (the symbol of the LGBT movement) and shared the ideas about LGBT community in Ukraine.
Number of participants – 21 persons.
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A group of young and ambitious IT students from Dnipropetrovsk National University decided to start a learning project and try to win a funding opportunity on a globally known platform KICKSTARTER based in the USA.
The team of creators visit Window on America Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) to find information for their project that will help Ukrainians and other people to study the English language.
Some of the brainstorming sessions also take place at the WOA premises.
We wish the team to succeed in reaching their funding goal and launching the project that will be beneficial for the learners of English both in Ukraine and globally.
Number of participants – 4 persons.
"Window on America" Center Dnipropetrovsk completes its project of collaboration with students of the National Mining University «From mines to art heights».
American lecturer at the Dnipropetrovsk National Mining University – Mr. Brian Chang – spent 10 months in our city. During all this time he encouraged students to visit the library and participate in its activities. He particularly recommended the WOA’s film collection and screening of the best American movies.
During today’s visit the NMU students watched iconic adventure film about the time travel «Back to the Future» (1985).
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.
We hope for further cooperation with the Mining University students and lecturers!
Number of participants – 11.
Today in Wednesday Movie Club was held in unusual format. All those wishing to improve the level of English were asked to review and discuss in English video lectures by globally known psychologists available at You Tube’s TEDx channel.
The International community organizes events at TEDx in TED-style (Ideas worth spreading) to present to the public ideas that can change the world.
Today TEDx covers the following areas of our life – education, art, science, sports, sociology, medicine, business, energy and others. TEDx project provides the opportunity for the world's leading scientists, political scientists and sociologists, artists and designers, programmers and university professors to share their ideas with millions of people.
Number of participants – 5.
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Today’s session of the Gabfest Club at the "Window on America" Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine was dedicated to the World Environment Day.
The 2015 theme for World Environment Day (WED) is Sustainable consumption and production. The slogan for the theme is 'Seven Billion Dreams; One Planet; Consume with Care'. We have discussed the WED posters than recommended the following actions to keep the planet clean and safe:
-Eat vegetarian at least once a week
-Fly with an e-ticket
-Telecommute
-Dine in! instead of fast food places with plastic utensils
-Fix leaky pipes
-Recycle old electronic devices
-Rethink bottled water
-Change your light.
The second part of the session was dedicated to a Success story. The Club’s loyal member Yulia shared her story of finding employment abroad and her experience of living and working in another culture. All the club members were grateful for the shared experience and became motivated to improve their spoken English.
Number of participants – 21 persons.
«Wednesday Movie Club» at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine offered screening of the comedy film «Morning Glory» (2010).
WOA’s patrons who wish to improve their language skills enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Plot: An upstart television producer accepts the challenge of reviving a struggling morning show program with warring co-hosts.
Morning Glory is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Roger Michell, written by Aline Brosh McKenna and produced by J. J. Abrams and Bryan Burk. It stars Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, and Diane Keaton, with Patrick Wilson, John Pankow and Jeff Goldblum appearing in supporting roles. The plot revolves around young and devoted morning television producer Becky Fuller (McAdams), who gets hired as an executive producer on the long-running morning show DayBreak, at a once-prominent but currently failing station in New York City. Eager to keep the show on air, she recruits a former news journalist and anchor (Ford) who disapproves of co-hosting a show that does not deal with real news stories.
After some delays, the film was released in the United States on November 10, 2010, and abroad in 2011. This marked the first time that Bad Robot Productions produced a comedy film. Morning Glory received mixed reviews and had moderate success at the box office, grossing $60 million worldwide. The theme song of the film is "Strip Me" by Natasha Bedingfield.
