Year of English events continue – participants are having fun!
Today the participants of the Basic English Group at «Window on America» Center Dnipropetrovsk had a pleasant surprise – the arrival of the WOA’s American volunteer Mr. Jason.
The Group participants practiced greeting in English, they introduced themselves to Mr. Jason and answered his question "What do you like doing in your free time!" And this was only the fourth lesson!
Well done! Keep learning!
Number of participants – 12 persons.
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“Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
The members of Movie Club selected a film Let's Make Love (1960), which is a part of the WOA’s collection of the best Hollywood movies.
Let's Make Love is a 1960 musical comedy film made by 20th Century Fox in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope. It was directed by George Cukor and produced by Jerry Wald from a screenplay by Norman Krasna, Hal Kanter, and Arthur Miller. It starred Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand, and Tony Randall. It would be Monroe's last musical film performance.
Plot: When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he passes himself off as an actor playing him in order to get closer to the beautiful star of the show, Amanda Dell.
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Number of participants – 8 persons.
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During the Spring Break visit to Dnipropetrovsk a big group of Pavlograd high school students (school No.5) were invited to visit the WOA Center Dnipropetrovsk.
The WOA staff member T. Gavryliuk introduced to the visitors the “УкраїнаSpeaking” project and the “Window On America” Center (Dnipropetrovsk) .
The students were informed about the academic exchange opportunities for school students (FLEX program) and University students (the Fulbright exchange).
The students were invited to follow WOA Dnipropetrovsk Facebook page to keep in touch and be aware of the news.
The positive wrap-up of the presentation was a photo near the book installation about the English Language at the partner library department (the foreign languages division).
Number of participants – 55 students+ 1 teacher.
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During the school Spring break WOA staff member T. Gavryliuk invited the 6th year students of the local school No.58 for a DOUNB Library Tour. The highlight of the tour was the introduction of the УкраїнаSpeaking project and a brief presentation of the WOA Center and FLEX program for academic exchange of school students. Within the frame work of the “Year of the English Language” initiative the children where familiarized with the book installations and hand-made crafts (dolls and tourist attractions) that introduce the English language at the WOA’s partner department – the department of foreign languages documents.
The other WOA’s partner – the Art department of the DOUNB Library – surprised the students with the book display “The Art of Book Production” and complementing displays: a fascinating collection miniature books and the exhibition of local painters’ art works used as book illustrations.
Number of participants – 20 students+3 teachers.
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Activate English Group 1.3.
The year 2016 in Ukraine is the year of the English Language.
The Activate English Group at DOUNB library is an integral part of the EXPRESS-ENGLISH course offered to the Window on America Dnipropetrovsk readers in year 2016.
The Activate English Group was created for people who have been studying English for several years, but are too shy to speak. The objective of the course is to activate the passive knowledge and enable the students of English to express themselves in English no matter how small might be their vocabulary.
Today’s session of the Gabfest Club ("Window on America", Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) started with the introductions of the new comers and the presentation of the Club traditions.
The nation-wide project “УкраїнаSpeaking” was introduced to the group and its objectives explained. We even discussed the quality of the promo video for the project and the controversy about it.
The Bunny toy as a centerpiece of our round table reminded the group about the forthcoming US holiday – Easter. We talked about traditional Easter games for children – Egg hunt and Egg roll. The club members were reminded to send Easter greetings to all their American friends.
The official topic of the session was “Organizational Culture and Consumer Rights”. The club members shared their opinions about their workplace atmosphere and tried to make conclusions about the respective organizational culture. The people who do not have a work place shared their experience as consumers and made conclusions about the organizational culture of the bad service companies.
We explored an image “The Iceberg of Organizational Culture”, learned the terms for its elements and tried to give examples from real life (organizational policies, procedures, feelings, values, etc.).
The highlight of the session was a video about the TripAdvisor – an American search engine that helps people to make their travel arrangements without the help of professional travel agents, allows to leave comments about the quality of tourist attractions, hotels and restaurant service. The video showed the atmosphere of the TripAdvisor office and feed-back of the staff about their employer.
The session was a full house and was considered very educational by all participants.
Number of participants – 33 persons.
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Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk continues its project Discover USA. Today the DniproWOA Center was visited by a group of the 1st year students from the University for Culture and Arts. The students major is Hospitality Management.
The WOA’s staff member T. Gavryliuk offered the group a lecture on “Corporate Culture in US Hospitality”. The peculiar features of the US hospitality corporations’ culture were presented and illustrated with relevant videos. The recent trends in corporate culture were introduced.
Among the corporations presented to the students were “Marriot” and “Hilton” hotel chains, the iconic American coffee house “Starbucks”. The highlight of the lecture was the video about the corporate culture of the “Chipotle” restaurant chain. It gave the insight into the values and operations of this fast growing business.
Number of participants – 20 persons.
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This afternoon the second session of the Basic English Group took place at the DOUNB Library in Window on America Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine).
The Group was founded as a training site for people who never studied English or for those who need to return to the basics of the language.
The pronunciation of the English vowels was introduced to the group and. As an illustration several YouTube videos were demonstrated to introduce the native-speaking pronunciation and its peculiarities. The group was familiarized with the basic reading rules for vowels.
The sessions of the Express-English Basic Group started used the premises of the WOA Center and its technical resources – the multimedia equipment and internet connection.
All the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 14 persons.
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Within the framework of the educational project #УкраїнаSpeaking DOUNB Library and "Window on America" Center were presented to new comers.
Studens of Juridical Lyceum learned about the modern library service which operates 24 hours 7 days a week through its website and online catalog. Head of the "Window on America" center Svetlana Usenko told the members of Activate English Club about the planned activities to observe the "Year of English in Ukraine" and #УкраїнаSpeaking project # that will help all who wish to improve their knowledge of English.
Library members were acquainted with the WOA Center’s book collection and learned about the opportunity to use its free resources for learning English: attending Movie club and English-speaking club, access to e-LibraryUSA, the vocabulary board games. The students watched a slide show that highlighted on-line resources such as УкраїнаSpeaking, American English, Voice of America, SHAREAMERICA, English is fun and others.
Number of participants – 8 persons.
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2016 Year of English in Ukraine events continue!
"Window on America" Head Svitlana Usenko addressed the training course students who were the chief library bibliographers from the Dnipropetrovsk province. In her speech she stressed the need to plan activities in advance, to look for volunteers and language experts to implement the events. She proposed a list of topics that will be appropriate for cultural and educational sessions; recommended the names of famous American writers and artists for library events; described the popular event formats: an English-speaking club, a film screening, a lecture, a presentation, a musical evening, game time, etc. S. Usenko mentioned and promoted a "library bike ride" as an activity that is gaining popularity among library community in Ukraine. Librarians received a compilations of electronic materials produced at the "Window on America" center.
They will help the librarians to prepare activities that will motivate library patrons of all ages to learn English, to improve the language skills of those who’re already studying it intensively.
Number of participants – 22 persons.
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«Love had suddenly come to her under the China
sky...love for this Eurasian soldier who now pressed his earthy, Oriental skin
against her own...»
Movie Club’s friends number is getting bigger. Today 3 new comers visited the “Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine to watch a film. The members of Movie Club selected a film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, which is a part of the WOA’s collection of the best Hollywood movies.
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness is a 1958 DeLuxe Color 20th Century Fox CinemaScope film based on the true story of Gladys Aylward, a tenacious British maid, who became a missionary in China during the tumultuous years leading up to World War II. Directed by Mark Robson, who received an Academy Award for Best Director nomination, the film stars Ingrid Bergman as Aylward and Curt Jürgens as her love interest, Colonel Lin Nan, a Chinese officer with a Dutch father. Robert Donat, who played the mandarin of the town in which Aylward lived, died before the film was released. The musical score was composed and conducted by Malcolm Arnold. The cinematography was by Freddie Young.
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Number of participants – 19 persons.
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“The Year of English” events in Ukraine and in our library continue! "Window on America" Center was visited by our old friends – the students of the neighboring school #23 with profound study of English.
Head of the center "Window on America" Svetlana Usenko arranged for them a session of the so-called “Speed English”. This kind of activity is recommended for Language Clubs as it activates participants’ speaking skills. Students start conversations in pairs. Every minute they rotate the seats with other participants and change the conversation topic. The slide show with useful phrases was prepared by the WOA staff in advance and helped to practice the topic ”Introduction to people”.
The WOA premises resembled a bee-hive due to the sound of simultaneous conversations of many people. The young people felt at ease and relaxed.
We look forward to new visits of School No.23 students!
Number of participants – 20 persons.
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The year 2016 in Ukraine is the year of the English Language.
The Activate English Group at DOUNB library is an integral part of the EXPRESS-ENGLISH course offered to the Window on America Dnipropetrovsk readers in year 2016.
The Activate English Group was created for people who have been studying English for several years, but are too shy to speak. The objective of the course is to activate the passive knowledge and enable the students of English to express themselves in English no matter how small might be their vocabulary.
Activate English Group: Lesson 2 – The Group’s Instructor T. Gavryliyuk was pleasantly surprised to hear the participants drill the new vocabulary and rehearse their home task dialogues before the start of the Lesson. In pair conversations the students of English practiced the phrases from the topics “Giving Directions” and “My Home”.
The new topic today was “Asking Permission” . The group was familiarized with the phrases to ask permission in formal and informal way.
The task for the independent preparation is “Family”. The students should prepare the vocabulary for the conversations about the family members.
All the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 31 persons.
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This Thursday the WOA ("Window on America" (Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) welcomed FLEX graduate Olga Chichikalo and group of school students from school #23.
Olga told the group about the aim of the FLEX program for students and the procedures for enrolment. Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) is a cultural exchange program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State and administered in Ukraine by American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS (American Councils) and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine. The program provides Ukrainian students with an opportunity to study in a US high school and live in an American host family for one academic year.
Olga shared her experience of living in the American family in Idaho, studying in the American high school, travelling around the southern states, celebrating holidays and having fun American style.
Each school students had a possibility to ask Olga questions about her stay in the USA. The most interesting questions ranged in the topic of her study: subjects selection at school, teaching methods at school, choice of food in the school canteen, etc.
Number of participants – 17 persons.
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Our Window on America Center in Dnipropetrovsk supports the Year of English in Ukraine!
WOA's patrons visit the partner department of the DOUNB Library and enjoy the book and image installations for the Ukrainian nation-wide event "Year of the English Language".
Number of participants – 8 persons.
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Year of English in Ukraine
Our Window on America Center in Dnipropetrovsk supports the Year of English in Ukraine!
WOA's patrons visit the partner department of the DOUNB Library and enjoy the book and image installations for the Ukrainian nation-wide event "Year of the English Language".
Within the framework of the educational project #УкраїнаSpeaking DOUNB Library and "Window on America" Center were presented to the students from the school No. 119 in Dnipropetreovsk.
Visitors learned about the modern library service which operates 24 hours 7 days a week through its website and online catalog. Head of the "Window on America" center Svetlana Usenko told the new comers about American Teen Club that will help all who wish to improve their knowledge of English.
“Discover USA” project Window on America Dnipropetrovsk: We showed presentations and videos 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 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.
Number of participants – 8 persons.
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Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) focused on the topic “OSCAR Awards 2016”.
To break the ice we started to enumerate the basic words that are associated with watching the movies: film reel, movie theater, pop-corn bag and others. The group was familiarized with the DOUNB Library books that provide information about American actors and movie industry. But the most valuable resource was the WOA’s book “The Art of Watching Movies” that introduced the numerous aspects and terms used for a film analysis.
In the second part of the session the club members were offered the materials from the official Oscar Ceremony site. We learned the names of the nominations and the winners in each nomination. The videos that illustrated the topic provided the insight into what were the best and the worst moments in the Oscar show 2016.
In the final part of the session the club members explained to our American volunteer Mr. Jason why they are so fond of American movies.
The session was a” full house” and explained several cross-cultural issues to the participants.
Number of participants – 38 persons.
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Express-English Basic Group. Meeting 1.2.
This afternoon the second session of the Basic English Group took place at the DOUNB Library in Window on America Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine).
The Group was founded as a training site for people who never studied English or for those who need to return to the basics of the language.
The pronunciation of the English vowels was introduced to the group and. As an illustration several YouTube videos were demonstrated to introduce the native-speaking pronunciation and its peculiarities. The group was familiarized with the basic reading rules for vowels.
The sessions of the Express-English Basic Group started used the premises of the WOA Center and its technical resources – the multimedia equipment and internet connection.
To practice reading we used the WOA’s table game “BOGGLE” which introduced new vocabulary and spelling of the one syllable words.
All the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 15 persons.
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“Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
The film North by Northwest was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills with staring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason.
North by Northwest is a 1959 American spy thriller film, made in Technicolor and VistaVision, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures".
North by Northwest is a tale of mistaken identity, with an innocent man pursued across the United States by agents of a mysterious organization trying to prevent him from blocking their plan to smuggle out microfilm that contains government secrets.
This is one of several Hitchcock films that features a music score by Bernard Herrmann and a memorable opening title sequence by graphic designer Saul Bass. This film is generally cited as the first to feature extended use of kinetic typography in its opening credits.
North by Northwest is now regarded among the essential Hitchcock pictures and is often listed as one of the greatest films of all time. It was selected in 1995 for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Number of participants – 8.
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The Activate English Group at DOUNB library is an integral part of the EXPRESS-ENGLISH course offered to the Window on America Dnipropetrovsk readers in year 2016.
The year 2016 in Ukraine is the year of the English Language. The Activate English Group was created for people who have been studying English for several years, but are too shy to speak.
The objective of the course is to activate the passive knowledge and enable the students of English to express themselves in English no matter how small might be their vocabulary.
The participants of the group will be offered some revision activities to refresh their grammar skills. The vocabulary for the topics will be presented and illustrated with native-speaking videos to activate their comprehension skills.
The activation of the speaking skills will take place during the conversation pair practice.
The materials for the Activate English Group are compiled and presented by the qualified ESL teacher. They are based on original textbook by the reputable language house “Macmillan” and various free on-line resources for ESL study.
All the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 28 persons.
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Today’s session of the «Gabfest» Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the observance of the “World Women’s Day” in different countries.
The Club had an influx of newcomers and we allowed them to break ice by introducing themselves to the regular club members. The newcomers were pleasantly surprised to meet Club’s native-speaking US volunteer Mr. Jason.
We started the conversation with description of the iconic American poster “We Can do it”. The club members explained why the poster was associated in their minds with American women. Our American volunteer was interested in the Ukrainian images associated with the Women’s Day. The task for the club members was to describe and to explain the images from the Women’s Day postcards issued some fifty years ago in our country. The cross-cultural differences are quite substantial. The group had to explain to the foreign guest certain phenomena that they took for granted. And the task turned out to be very challenging. All the participants of the conversation realized that translation of inscriptions on old postcards was even more challenging.
The club members learned how to define cultural phenomena or describe them with limited vocabulary.
Number of participants – 34 persons.
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Within the framework of the educational project #УкраїнаSpeaking DOUNB Library and "Window on America" Center were presented to new comers.
Members of new Activate English Club learned about the modern library service which operates 24 hours 7 days a week through its website and online catalog. Head of the "Window on America" center Svetlana Usenko told the members of Activate English Club about the planned activities to observe the "Year of English in Ukraine" and УкраїнаSpeaking project that will help all who wish to improve their knowledge of English.
Library members were acquainted with the WOA Center’s book collection and learned about the opportunity to use its free resources for learning English: attending Movie club and English-speaking club, access to e-LibraryUSA, the vocabulary board games. The students watched a slide show that highlighted on-line resources such as УкраїнаSpeaking, American English, Voice of America, SHAREAMERICA, English is fun and others.
In the second part of the meeting the participants were offered a funny activity – “Speed English” conversation. This form of training is recommended to practice students’ speaking skills. The members of the group had conversations in pairs with several counterparts by changing their seats in the room. The conversations lasted only few minutes (speedy), but with several different people in a row. This activity enables the learners of English to practice the same material several times.
In a short time the question was changed and the procedure of changing counterparts was repeated.
The rotation of questions and participants was organized by the librarian. She prepared a slide-show with questions that helped to have a conversation with the topic “Meeting New People."
Number of participants – 34 persons.
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