The Santa Clause 2

Tonight we, members of the Wednesday Movie Club (Window on America center in Dnipro, Ukraine), have watched “The Santa Clause 2, a 2002 American fantasy film starring Tim Allen.
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Participants number – 9 persons.
#TheSantaClause2 #WednesdayMovieClub #DniproWOA
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XMAS eve at WOA Dnipro

This afternoon the Gabfest Club session (Dnipro Window on America, Ukraine) was dedicated to the insight into the Xmas mood of the English-speaking countries.
The group was offered a compilation of the funniest Xmas commercials and asked to comment them. It turned out that things that are funny for English-speaking countries audience are not always funny to the learners of English in Ukraine.
Our American volunteers Mr. Jason and Mr. Stephen had to explain many things from the commercials.
The group was introduced to the FODOR’s Travel – a famous American travel company that published numerous US guide- books.
We wished our American friends Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!
The after-party was an enjoyable event with a lot of sweet treats, tea and Xmas conversation!
The session was most enjoyable and inspired to continue building bridges between American and Ukrainian people.
Participants number –  37 persons.

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Presentation of recourses for English learners

Presentation of recourses for English learners: eLibraryUSA.
The Information and Resource Center "Window on America" was visited by the 1st year students of National Metallurgical Academy (the lecturer – O. Myrgorodskaya). They had a pleasant surprise – the encounter with the WOA’s American volunteer Mr. Kelly.
The students watched the WOA’s promotional video about the new library services, learned about the electronic services of DOUNB library to support the learning process. The young people observed with interest the Xmas tree-shaped book shelf. It showcased helpful materials for English learners - "winter" vocabulary, idioms, phrase verbs, books and films on DVDs. Their teacher recommended the students to read the WOA adaptive literature books in order to improve the language skills.
The students were urged to join the most popular WOA’s projects: the English-language Movie Club on Wednesdays and the English-speaking club "GABFEST" on Saturdays.
Students received promotional materials that will keep good memories about the DOUNB library in the year 2017.
Participants number – 9 persons.

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Christmas Greetings

«Christmas Greetings exchange at Dnipro Window on America center»
Year of English in Ukraine is coming to an end. A group of the 4th year students from secondary school №14 arrived to WOA Center. The school has been actively cooperating with the DOUB library and the "Window on America" center for a long time.
Today the students visited the DOUNB library to hand in the Christmas gifts to the staff of the Foreign Languages Department. These gifts were beautiful handcrafts: from simple paper cuts to exquisite crocheted dolls of Santa Claus, Father Frost and Snow Maiden .All the Xmas crafts will take part in the Library competition and eventually will decorate the DOUNB library interiors.
As a personal season greeting to the librarians the children sang a funny Xmas song in English, and made the librarians laugh. During the educational part of the visit the students learned about American Christmas traditions. The red Poinsettia plant is a symbol Xmas in the USA, it’s used to decorate homes. In Ukraine we enjoy the blossom of the winter cactus – the Schlumbergera flower.
We talked about popular Xmas stories for children and winter sports activities. The surprise for the students – a globally known "Carol of the bells» has a Ukrainian author – composer Mykola Leontovych.
The kids were impressed by the acapella performance of the American group “Pentatonix”.
The DOUNB Library passed a Gratitude Letter to our contact in School No.141 – Ms. Oksana Bogovyk, she also received a small Xmas souvenir from WOA – stationary with the "Window on America" logo .
See you all again in 2017!
Number of participants – 20 persons.

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Graduation Party of the Basic English group - 4

Graduation Party of the Basic English group - 4 in Dnipro Window on America center.
Year of English events continue – participants are having fun!
The Basic English group - 4 of the Express-English course at DOUNB Library completed their curriculum.
The learners (in Window on America center in Dnipro, Ukraine) were offered several units of educational information: English alphabet and sounds pronunciation; reading rules and reading practices; basic vocabulary; basic speaking practices (greetings in English, introducing oneself, talking about one’s family).
Particular attention was given to the phonetical differences in American English and British English.
At the final session the group was able to listen, read, comprehend rather big texts, and they could make speeches in English.
The course became a good impulse for the participants – they will continue to study English Grammar on-line and some of them will join higher level groups offered at DOUNB Library’s Express-English.
The Basic English group impressed the instructor Tamara Gavryliyuk with their enthusiasm. The students showed good progress.
Instructor: T. Gavryliyuk.
Pictures: S. Usenko.
Number of participants – 31 persons.

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Mystic River

Tonight we, the Wednesday Movie Club members (Window on America center in Dnipro, Ukraine), had an honor to enjoy the movie with movie stars like Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney.
Mystic River is a 2003 American mystery drama film directed and scored by Clint Eastwood. The screenplay by Brian Helgeland was based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. The film was produced by Robert Lorenz, Judie G. Hoyt and Eastwood. It is the first film on which Eastwood was credited as composer of the score.
 

The film opened to widespread critical acclaim. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor. Sean Penn won Best Actor and Tim Robbins won Best Supporting Actor, making Mystic River the first film to win both awards since Ben-Hur in 1959.
Plot: With a childhood tragedy that overshadowed their lives, three men are reunited by circumstance when one has a family tragedy.
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Participants number – 9 persons.

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Graduation of «Activate English Group 4.0.»

Graduation of «Activate English  Group 4.0.» took place today at the WOA Dnipro. The group had a 20 hour language course within the framework of the project “Express-English at the DOUNB Library”. The instruction was provided by the library staff member Tamara Gavryliuk who has the University degree equivalent of the MA in ESL.
The course was based on the materials from the textbook published by McMillan Language House and focused on the conversational practice for intermediate and advanced level learners of English.
During 10 educational sessions the students practiced popular conversational topics, studied new vocabulary and grammatical structures, learned about the basic etiquette of the English-speaking countries, mastered the skills of “small talk”. At the final session the most diligent students received certificates of attendance.
The fourth group graduation lesson took place today. As a test task the group had to tell our US volunteer Mr. Stephen about the Orthodox Xmas celebration tradition and New Year celebration in Ukraine.
 

The group managed with the challenging task and had almost no difficulties in describing Ukrainian holiday dishes to our American friend. The most diligent students received certificates of attendance.
Participants number – 32 persons.
#americanspaces #DniproWOA #Dnipro #library #DOUNB #ДОУНБ #Ukraine #EducationalActivities #LearnEnglish #УкраїнаSpeaking #ActivateEnglish
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International Tea Day

This Saturday the GABFEST Club members (Window on America center in Dnipro, Ukraine) observed the International Tea Day.
We started the conversation with the description of the image that introduced the challenges the tea-growers face due to the climate change. We also remembered the basics of the tea art – how the plant is grown, what kind of leaves make the best tea.
The group was offered several YouTube videos that explained why Brits are a tea-drinking nation and how they drink it.
The group was introduced to the personality of Thomas Lipton – a globally known millionaire-tea-trader who moved to the USA and wanted to win the America cup (a popular yacht race).
 

In the conversation that followed the Club members shared how they drink tea in Ukraine. The discussed styles were – black tea with lemon, herbal teas, infusions from berry leaves. Our American volunteer Mr. Jason was given a recommendation to try sweet condensed milk and wash it down with black tea. The popular tea flavors in our Club were jasmine and bergamot flowers (Earle Grey style).
The bottom line of the conversation was the TEA QUIZ that we completed by brainstorming. We made it right in 8 questions out of 10.
The information about tea-drinking traditions in UK and USA was funny, useful, and enjoyed by all participants.
Instructor: T. Gavryliyuk
Pictures: S.Usenko
Participants –  35 persons.
#WeekOfEnglish #УкраїнаSpeaking #americanspaces #DniproWOA #Dnipro #library #DOUNB #ДОУНБ #Ukraine #EducationalActivities #LearnEnglish #Gabfest #TeaDay
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American discovers Dnipro city

“The American told schoolchildren of the outskirts of Dnipro about America in English”.
The week of English Language in Ukraine still continues. The New Year holidays are approaching! So let’s create festive mood to everyone who studies English festively!
The American volunteer and English teacher of Mr. Jason Rush and the Head of the information and resource Window on America center Msr. Svitlana Usenko made a friendly visit to secondary school No 39 being invited by school teacher Victoria Platonova. It was a welcome surprise for 5th graders. Mr. Jason became inspirator of oral skills of the schoolchildren and checked their knowledge of English by asking questions and answering the counter-questions of the braves. The conversation was focused on Washington D.C., where our guest came from, about his sphere of activity in Ukraine, hobbies, sports, cars, plant and animal kingdom and much more on which children’s imagination is capable of.
The schoolchildren prepared several festive activities like declaiming a poem and dancing with a song.  The performing artists received commemorative photos with the guest on them.
 

The weather was pretty cold (-8 C), but it did not intervene our planned picturesque outskirts excursion in the Pivnichnyi district, which took place in the end. The group of activists made a start to feed birds and squirrels in the forest to help them to survive in these frosty days. The American guest liked the New Year garland on the front doors which looked like it was in American style, and he was interested in buildings of the Soviet architecture and enchanting Orthodox Church.
The English teachers of the school also joined the activity. So we shall wait for the new invitations and prepare new activities for the schoolchildren of the secondary school No 39.
Number of participants – 50 persons.

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#УкраїнаSpeaking #americanspaces #DniproWOA #Dnipro #library #DOUNB #ДОУНБ #Ukraine #educationalactivities #LearnEnglish #Christmas

My breakfast

Express-English Basic Group. Meeting 4.9.
This afternoon the 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 members of the group are now able to describe "My breakfast".
Instructor: T. Gavryliyuk.
Pictures: S. Usenko.
All the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 34 persons.

The Wronged Man at Wednesday Movie Club in Dnipro WOA

Tonight we, members of the Wednesday Movie Club, were proud to have watched “The Wronged Man”, a 2009 American drama film starring Julia Ormond.
The film, which was directed by Tom McLoughlin, is a drama story about a paralegal fights a 22-year battle with the legal system to prove the innocence of an African-American family man (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali) convicted of assaulting a neighborhood girl in a small Southern town. Based on a true story.
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Participants number – 11  persons.
#WeekOfEnglish  #TheWrongedMan #WednesdayMovieClub #DniproWOA
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Activate English Group 4.9. at Dnipro Window on America center

The Year of English in Ukraine is coming to an end. Today the last but one lesson of the WOA’s “Express English” course took place.
The conversation with the topic “Transport of Dnipro city” caused a lot of laughter and jokes. The instructor-lecturer Tamara Gavryliuk started the lesson with conversational exercises in pairs – to activate popular grammatical construction.
The home task for the group was to prepare presentations about preferred transport. Today some students presented their speeches to the public. The challenges of Dnipro transportation system were mentioned: absence of cycling culture and aggressive towards cyclists drivers, neglect of safety rules (no helmets even on moto cycles). The row of laughter started when we described out subway - probably the shortest subway in Ukraine and maybe in the world. The lesson was very educational and provided a lot of cross-cultural information. The students practiced to talk about complicated things in simple, but idiomatic English.
Number of participants – 33 persons.
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Christmas Art Therapy at School No.22

Dnipro high school № 22 provides in-depth study of English; it’s a specialized school – one of the best in town. For many years it cooperates with DOUNB Library and "Window on America" Center.
The WOA’s Head Svetlana Usenko was invited to take part in the Week of English and to tell the students about American Christmas and New Year traditions.2 lessons in which Svitlana participated flew like a flash.
The students’ show was followed by S. Usenko’s slide-show presentation and demonstration of relevant videos. The students learned about the annual celebration in the USA.
The final Christmas activity offered to the students was coloring Christmas pictures. Many of the students left school with a lovely Christmas gift for their parents.
Number of participants – 62 persons.
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Week of English

З 12 по 18 грудня в Україні відбудеться #WeekOfEnglish! Приєднуйтеся до наших навчально-розважальних заходів та слідкуйте за новинами!


Протягом тижня Україна заговорить англійською

З 12 по 18 грудня в Україні відбудеться Тиждень англійської мови, в рамках якого заплановано безкоштовні  заходи та можливості вивчення англійської для кожного українця. Під час Тижня компанія  GoGlobal підведе підсумки по усім основним напрямам активностей, які відбувались протягом 2016 року, проголошеного Президентом України Роком англійської мови.

Згідно із соціологічним дослідженням, проведеним компанією TNS, у 2016 році в Україні значно збільшився інтерес до вивчення англійської мови: 34% жителів міст почали її вивчати саме протягом останнього року, а 83% опитаних планують навчати англійській своїх дітей. Тому для того, аби українці могли отримати ще більше інформації про безкоштовні можливості вивчення англійської та попрактикувати свої мовні навички, кожен день Тижня англійської мови буде відведений окремому напрямку.
У дніпровському центрі «Вікно в Америку» заплановані заходи:

12 грудня – старт Тижня англійської мови: презентація виставки-ялинки «Зима в країні «Англійська мова»;

13 грудня – Дружній візит до школи партнера №22, з поглибленим вивченням англійської мови. Уроки для дітей середнього віку «Зима в країні «Англійська мова», 9-00 – 12-00.

13 – грудня – зустріч-урок для групи «Активуй англійську!» о 16-00;

14 грудня – День фільмів мовою оригіналу: відбудеться перегляд американського фільму «» в Wednesday Movie Club о 17-00;

15 грудня – зустріч-урок для групи «Базова англійська» о 16-00;

16 грудня – Дружній візит до школи партнера №39 разом з волонтером центру, носієм мови американцем Джейсоном Рашем, 13-00 – 15-00.

17 грудня – Засідання англомовного клубу «Добра розмова»

18 грудня – День ігор та розваг у бібліотеці.

Радо зустрінемо екскурсійні групи в любий день тижня та проведемо презентацію ресурсів для самостіного вивчення англійської мови, познайомимо з електронною бібліотекою eLibraruUSA, тренажером Rosetta Stone та сайтом "Американська англійська".

«Підсумки Року англійської мови в Україні: підсумки роботи інформаційно-ресурсного центру «Вікно в Америку» у Дніпрі (ДОУНБ)».

Biblical Mountains and sacred mountains of Ukraine

This afternoon the Gabfest Club members (Dnipro Window on America center, Ukraine) were observing the International Mountains Day. The group was offered a slide show about mountains mentioned in the Bible. The club members learned a lot of new biblical terms and refreshed the knowledge of popular biblical stories: the Noah’s Ark and the flood, the Babel tower construction, etc. We mentioned such famous mountains as Ararat, the Sinai, the Calvary, the Temple and the Olive Mountains.
The spoken part of the session was dedicated to the sacred mountains of Ukraine. Our foreign friends
Mr. Jason and Mr. Stephen (USA) and Mr. Michelle (France) learned a lot about hills of Kyiv, Shevchenko memorial, Goverla mountain , popular cliff monasteries and castles, etc. They had a chance to recommend Ukrainian attractions connected with mountains and cliffs.
Number of participants – 31 persons.

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Students of all generations: Basic English 4.8.

Students of all generations attend the Basic English lessons in Dnipro Window on America center at the DOUNB Library. 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.
This afternoon the Basic English group 4.8. has practiced reading the vowels and combinations of consonants. They are now able to talk about “About myself” in English.
Instructor: T. Gavryliyuk
Pictures: S.Usenko
All the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 35 persons.
 
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Wednesday Movie Club: Love Actually

Tonight we, the Wednesday Movie Club members (Dnipro Window on America center, Ukraine) proudly enjoyed watching an amazing Xmas comedy-romance film.
"Love Actually" is a film that features an exceptional mega cast of top British actors. It follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely and interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England. The United States release was on 14 November 2003, but received mixed-to-positive reviews. The film was a box-office success, grossing almost $247 million worldwide on a budget of $45 million.
Directed by: Richard Curtis
Starring: Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Martine McCutcheon, Sienna Guillory, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth.
It was really amazing to see eight Xmas love stories in London! WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Participants number – 15 persons.
#DniproWOA #LoveActually #WednesdayMovieClub
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Activate English Group 4.8.

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 - 4 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 – 31 persons.

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Presentation of Recourses. eLibraryUSA

Presentation of recourses for English learners: eLibraryUSA.
The Information and Resource Center "Window on America" was visited by the 3rd year students of National Mining University (their major -"Finance", the lecturer - O. Krylova). They had a pleasant surprise – the encounter with the WOA’s American volunteer Mr. Jason.
The students watched the WOA’s promotional video about the new library services, learned about the electronic services of DOUNB library to support the learning process. The young people observed with interest the Xmas tree-shaped book shelf. It showcased helpful materials for English learners - "winter" vocabulary, idioms, phrase verbs, books and films on DVDs.
The students were urged to join the most popular WOA’s projects: the English-language Movie Club on Wednesdays and the English-speaking club "GABFEST" on Saturdays.
Students received promotional materials that will keep good memories about the DOUNB library in the year 2017.
Participants number – 11 persons.

New American Friend and UN December Observances

This afternoon the Gabfest Club members at Dnipro Window on America center welcomed to the club a new-comer from the USA – Mr. Cole who arrived to serve in an American church mission. Mr. Cole told us about his home state Iowa and his first impressions about Ukraine. Cole shared with us some things that strike him as unusual in Dnipro and Ukrainian club members explained to him the local habits (not to whistle indoors, not to choose yellow flowers, not to talk to strangers in the public transport).
 

The official topic of the session was to observe important international dates: International Day for Abolition of Slavery (December, 2) – we watched the UN’s illustrative video about modern types of Slavery, introduced new vocabulary and shared stories about personal experience of working in the slave like conditions; International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December, 3) – since 1992 it has been celebrated annually around the world. The theme for this year’s International Day is “Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want”. We talked about types of disabilities and introduced respective vocabulary, the barriers for disabled people that exist in Dnipro city, shared the stories about inclusion of disabled people in social life in Dnipro. The highlight of the discussion was an illustrative video about Nick Vujicic. He was born without limbs, but became a successful citizen of his country.
Participant numbers – 55 persons.
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Basic English 4.7.: About myself” in English

Students of all generations: Basic English 4.7.
Students of all generations attend the Basic English lessons in Dnipro Window on America center at the DOUNB Library. 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.
This afternoon the Basic English group 4.7. has practiced reading the vowels and combinations of consonants. They are now able to talk about “About myself” in English.
Instructor: T. Gavryliyuk
Pictures: S.Usenko
All the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 48 persons.