July 2018 @ Dnipro Window on America center

Poster and Book display:

About US: To the American Independence Day

July, 3 – Activate English! at 4:00 p.m.

July, 4 – Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.

July, 7 – ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.

July, 10 – Activate English! at 4:00 p.m.

July, 11 – Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.

July, 14 – ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.

July, 17 – Activate English! at 4:00 p.m.

July, 18 – Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.

July, 21 – ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.

July, 25 – Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.

July, 28 – ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.

July – Display «Picture US».

Dnipro Window on America center presented a new display. Now it’s a good time to boast a WOA’s collection – a set of images “Picture US”.

We have decided to use them for an image display at the center dedicated to the American Flag Day and Independence Day in the USA.

The pictures from the set may be a very useful tool for language teaching and learning. They bring authentic American life to lessons and motivate learners to produce language.

The strong side of the pictures is the sizeable format – it makes them suitable for use in large classes.

The sturdy material will allow this wonderful teaching aid to survive hands-on activities.

The display seen by 100 persons.

on July, 3  – Activate English group 9.7. at Dnipro Window on America center.

The DOUNB Library and the Window on America Dnipro center offer the library patrons an “Express English” activity that will help them to activate their passive knowledge of the foreign language and to overcome the fear of speaking in English.

 Ten two hour- lectures are offered for the participants to improve their conversational skills in pairs.

The professional EFL lecturer T. Gavryliuk combines the lexical exercises with important cross-cultural information that will help the English learners to understand their foreign counterparts better and to avoid awkward situations in communication.

The new topics was “My Job” and “Transport”.

All the participants found the session educational and helpful.

Number of participants – 21 persons.

July, 4 – «Wednesday Movie Club» / «Кіноклуб по середах»:

On July, 4th - Wednesday Movie Club - Greetings to the American Nation!

At "Window on America" Center Dnipro the Movie Club session coincided with ​​the Independence Day of the United States of America. This day was very special!

The WOA Center was visited by a regional TV shooting crew. They have made a video report about WOA Dnipro and its popular activity- Movie Club. The Club runs for many years   on the premises of the DOUNB Library. Movie Club members combine “business and pleasure” - they improve their English skills, watch films and enjoy the American Art. Watching films enriches vocabulary, improves comprehension   and auditing of the English speech. The Club members discuss the films, their philosophical messages, film directors’ skills.

The Movie Club members were interviewed by the journalists. They have told why they like to visit the DOUNB library, how it helps them. We hope that the TV broadcast will attract more people to our free Movie Club.

 This evening the documentary “Over Washington D.C. The Capital of Our Nation” (2010) was viewed and discussed. The film shows all the main architectural monuments of the city from the bird flight height. Wonderful music filled the film with emotions, good voicing made the text comprehension quite easy. After the viewing, everyone could express their emotions and thoughts.

Participants number – 13 persons.

On July, 5 – LIBRARY OUTING and US Independence Day!

DOUNB Library regularly arranges outings in summer. The Library staff goes into the streets to reach out and remind the community about its summer activities and rich  book collections.

On July, 5,2018 the Window on America center Dnipro staff was responsible for the Library’s street event. The Library display was dedicated to the US Independence day and showcased books, CDs and images about the USA, its history and Independence Day celebration. 

Many passersby were attracted to the display by American tunes and the Cowboy Hats of the WOA’s staff and volunteers. The potential patrons were offered quizzes and fun activities. Some visitors tried to play displayed board games – “Apples to Apples” and “Monopoly”. The WOA Dnipro favors were much appreciated as prizes. 

We are grateful to WOA volunteers Serhiy and Maryna for helping us to held a festive event in the summer heat!

Marina Repan Today I’ve got a rare opportunity to participate in a WOA event devoted to the Independence Day of the USA. It is a great pleasure for me to talk to people, both adults and children, about Window on America Center, about the Book Exhibition, about opportunity to learn English at the library, about the regular events at Window on America Center. I used to have a job to talk to people and give them explanations outdoors, so doing the same today was no wonder to me, and now I’m still feeling excited and cannot help sharing my feelings about today’s event and my participation in it.

on July, 7 –  US Independence Day at WOA Dnipro.

During today’s session of the Gabfest Club we focused on the US Independence Day. We watched several YouTube videos about the holiday celebration this year, some fun facts about this date and great funny stories connected with modern ways of celebrating the Fourth of July. The group was reminded to send “Happy Independence Day” greetings to all friends and family in the USA.

The Speed English activity had a slogan “Red, White and Blue challenge” and required to name different objects in the national colors of the USA.

After the session the Gabfest activists had an Independence Day Tea and composed their greeting to the American people.

Participant number – 32 persons.

on July, 10 – Activate English 9.9.: Transport.

This afternoon the WOA Dnipro’s Express-English group practiced conversation about transport.

For the warm up activity they shared opinions about private and public transport. The car owners told the group when do they use their cars in a big city like Dnipro and where do they park them.

The challenging task was to make a list of “do’s and don’ts” for foreigners in Dnipro’s public transport. To wrap up the session the students talked about the advantages and disadvantages of ships, planes and trains.

The home task is to learn the topics – “Check- in at a Hotel and Airport”.

Participants number – 17 persons.

on July, 11 – Wednesday Movie Club: Jumper.

This afternoon the WOA’s Movie Club (at Window on America center Dnipro, Ukraine) offered the big-screening of a science fiction film.

Jumper is a 2008 American science fiction action film loosely based on the 1992 science fiction novel of the same name written by Steven Gould. The film is directed by Doug Liman and star Hayden Christensen. The film follows a young man capable of teleporting as he is chased by a secret society intent on killing him. The script went through a rewrite prior to filming and the roles for the main characters were changed during production. Jumper was filmed in 20 cities in 14 countries between 2006-07. The film received generally unfavourable reviews from critics, mostly due to the many changes from Gould's novel, rushed plot and anti-climactic ending.

WOA’s patrons enjoyed the warm discussion followed the film watching and touched the different aspects of the film: the actors’ playing, the director’s work, the soundtracks and the lifestyles of the fiction heroes.  

On July, 14 – Dnipro & Mississippi – All You need to Know.

On July, 7   Ukraine celebrated the International Day of the Dnieper River, the third largest river in Europe. The focus of the Day was on the campaign for the prevention of phosphate pollution in the Dnieper River basin. The Ukrainian households are urged to use phosphate-free (P-free) detergents to prevent the “blossoming” of algae in the river. The phosphate pollution impacts the water quality and biodiversity of the river.

The Gabfest Club members (in Window on America center, Ukraine) briefed our foreign volunteer Mr. Eric about the Dnipro River Day and events in Dnipro to observe this day.

 We always try to find common things for Ukraine and US. So we discussed the recent article about the similarity of GDP for US states and countries of the world. It turned out that Ukraine’s GDP is comparable to the GDP of Mississippi state. We watched a video about the state, the tourist attractions on the Mississippi river, the troubles that the river faces in the 21st century. Our foreign volunteer Mr. Eric told us about the major Australian rivers and the problems they face.

The session raised awareness of the Club members about the   ecological challenges for the main Ukrainian water artery – the Dnieper river.

Participants number – 27 persons.

on July, 14 – Foreign Volunteer at #DniproWOA.

The Window on America Dnipro’s patrons had an opportunity to have a Q&A session with Mr. Eric. He was asked various questions about his home country Australia. The questions were about tourist attractions of Sydney and New Castle, Australia’s neighbor New Zealand, about global events hosted by Australia – Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, local festivals.

The WOA Dnipro patrons had a good chance to practice their spoken English and learn a lot of new things.

On July, 16   – Guests from Indiana.

This afternoon the Window on America center in Dnipro welcomed the Ukrainian family that studies and works in the USA.

Ms. Alina Nesen is professional IT specialist from Dnipro who now takes a PhD course at the Purdue University (Indiana). Ms. Alina has been an active participant in US academic exchange programs since high school – she started as a FLEX program participant. The Education USA consultants helped her to find a PhD program in Computer Science at the Purdue University. Alina was offered a job at the University – she is a Software Engineering Project Coordinator. It’s hard to combine work and academic research, but Ms. Alina enjoys work in the avant-garde of computer science and software development.

Alina’s daughter Sasha (14 y.o.)  studies at an American high school. She told us about the education system at her school and compared the school systems in US and Ukraine. She shared some tips how one can improve the English skills. Sasha thoroughly enjoys her American experience and speaks American English almost as a native speaker.

We look forward to see our Indiana students at the sessions of the Gabfest speaking Club!

on July, 17 – “Activate English!” Group’s Graduation at Dnipro Window on America center.

This afternoon the Activate English group had the final lesson. A pleasant surprise was the most of students who have made it to the end of the course.

The group was introduced to the phrases and vocabulary for international travelers.

They practiced the topics “At the Airport” and “In the Airplane”. The phrases for customs and immigration formalities were very useful for the learners.

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”.

The most diligent participants of the Activate English group received WOA’s Certificates of Attendance.

Well done, guys! You are welcome at all WOA’s events!

Number of participants – 17 persons.

on July, 18 – «Wednesday Movie Club» / «Кіноклуб по середах»: Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Window on America center Dnipro, Ukraine, offered screening of the American fantasy comedy Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) with Bob Hoskins starring.

Plot: A toon hating detective is a cartoon rabbit's only hope to prove his innocence when he is accused of murder.

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writers: Gary K. Wolf (novel), Jeffrey Price (screenplay).

Who Framed Roger Rabbit spurred a renewed interest in the Golden Age of American animation and spearheaded the modern era of American animation, especially the Disney Renaissance.

In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

WOA’s patrons enjoyed the warm discussion followed the film watching and touched the different aspects of the film: the actors’ playing, the director’s work, the soundtracks and the lifestyles of the fiction heroes.  

Participants number – 18 person.

On July, 21 – Full insight to Australia (insightful journey to Australia) at WOA Dnipro.

This afternoon the Gabfest Club session in Dnipro Window on America center was very special and unique, because we spent it with a great pleasure with our beloved and favorite Australian friend Mr. Eric as our moderator! To have sessions moderated by an English native speaker is such a rarity, especially with Eric, because his wish to reveal Australia and his amazing Australian sense of humor made us more knowledgeable and entertained us! So no wonder, that we made a best of this rare opportunity to dive into English language realm and forgot for two hours, that we are in Ukraine. Eric loves his motherland Australia so very much, that two hours was not enough for him and for us as well. So he took us all to a wonderful journey to Australian nature and Australian cuisine, inviting everyone to ask questions.

Our journey with Eric started from the city, in which he lives with his family – Newcastle, which is in the state New South Wales. We loved watching lovely pictures of view of this city, its beaches. Then Eric told us some details about waterfalls, because there are many of them, and that the majority of them are constant, and when it is too dry, they disappear, and when it is rainy there is more than enough water in them. Eric had been to three waterfalls, so he showed us the pictures of them with pleasure. Then we had an insight to some deserts of different colors. Some of them are red because of color of stone is red. Eric told us that there are ten deserts in Australia. Some of them are named Great Victoria Desert, Sandy Desert, Simpson Desert. We were so amazed that despite the fact that these deserts are hotter than in Africa, there is life in them, and it was so wonderful for us to see that there are so many flowers in these deserts, and the other wonderful thing is that people work in those areas, and businesses thrive.

Then Eric revealed to us that there are some regions in Australia in which it snows. The real fun was to see pictures in which kangaroos are standing or jumping on snow, unfortunately we did not see penguins there, but Eric says that they can be there, anyway we will see everything if we have a chance to go to Australia. Also Eric told us that there are seals and sea lions, and many other things, and while the club members were asking their questions about Australian nature, he told that aboriginals live among the other Australian live every other ordinary citizens. And while we were talking about famous animals in Australia, Eric revealed to us how camels appeared in Australia and became wild.

The next sphere for today’s research of Australia was its cuisine. As it turned out that many people were interested in Australian cuisine, Eric gladly familiarized us with traditional food of Australia. This part was pretty fascinating as Eric presented the pictures of that food which were with some explanations everyone was invited to read and Eric gave some comments to them, which turned out to be so vitally important. For example, vegemites, peanut butter are those which can be usually bought in supermarkets of Australia, as they turn out too difficult and time-consuming to be prepared at home. Another special food in the list of Australian cuisine is ANZAC cookies, which have their history and loved by everyone in Australia since WWI, and people traditionally eat on ANZAC day. Some special food Australian parents cook for their children are called fairy pies, which are easy to cook, as these are pieces of white bread with butter and sprinkles of different colors. And also Australians turn out to love meat pies which are very convenient for Australians to bring to eat on football matches, for example. And the others, like French fries, popular like in any other country. And there is another special reason for pride of Australians – Pavlova dessert. It turned out that this dessert was designed in Australia after a famous Russian ballerina Pavlova, but Australians or Aussies, how they love calling themselves and New Zealanders, or Kiwis, have an argument between each other that they are the creators of this dessert, and all the club members are extremely lucky to be closer the truth of origin of the Pavlova dessert than everybody else in the world. 

After the session, when we familiarize ourselves with Eric’s help with Australian cuisine, we proceeded from theory to practice – Eric invited us to try some delicious food from the list of Australian cuisine to share with him his love for Australia. Eric treated us with some tea – black and decaf, brought from Australia, which we enjoyed while Eric gladly treated us with amazingly tasty cheese, crackers with vegemite and peanut butter and fruit cake, which is usually served in Australia on big holidays or weddings, and thus this Australian tea party with Eric was a real celebration of holiday in honor of Australia. Yes, Eric seriously planned to familiarize us with Australia to the full extent to make us forget that we are in Ukraine, and we must say – he made it! Hopefully next time he will familiarize us with Australian food festivals on which we did not have much time today, but we have a strong belief that they deserve it!

 We are all extremely thankful to Eric for the insight to Australia and terrific Australia-themed tea party, as, like one of the club members noted, it was an unexpected and pleasant time to see Australia from the inside.

Participants number – 30 persons.

on July, 25 – «Wednesday Movie Club» / «Кіноклуб по середах»:.

The members of the “Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipro, Ukraine, who wish to improve their language skills had watched an American comedy film «Father of the Bride» (1991) film starring Steve Martin.

Martin portrays George Banks, a businessman and owner of an athletic shoe company (called Side Kicks), who, when he finds out his daughter is getting married, does not want to give her away. He eventually learns to live with his new son-in-law and realizes that as long as his daughter is happy, he is happy.

The film inspired a series of Hallmark commercials that featured the smiling faces of the happy couple and sneak-peeks at the backs of numerous greeting cards. It is number 92 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

WOA’s patrons enjoyed the warm discussion followed the film watching and touched the different aspects of the film: the characters’ behavior, the message conveyed by the film, the soundtracks and the lifestyles of the film heroes.  

Participants number – 8 person.

July, 28 – Stop Trafficking in Persons!
This afternoon the WOA Dnipro’s English-speaking Club “Gabfest” introduced the members into a global problem. World Day against Trafficking in Persons is held on July 30th annually in many countries of the world. People trafficking and modern day slavery is a massive worldwide problem with very few countries immune to human trafficking.
Introductions of the new-comers worked as a warm-up activity for the group.
The Gabfest Speaking-Club session was aimed to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking cases. Thousands of men, women and children end up in the hands of traffickers every year. They are being tricked and mislead to believe that they are being taken to work. The group was introduced to the ways that lure people into trafficking. The victims lose their rights and identity; they are used and abused.
The topic was illustrated with You Tube videos about rescue from human trafficking by US airlines personnel. The Club members were urged to be aware of the problem and report to police the suspicious cases of forced labor and begging.
Participants number – 25 persons.

July, 31 – Book Donation from Krystyna.

WOA Dnipro’s active patron Krystyna donated a collection of EFL textbooks to the center. She is a student of Information Science at one of the Dnipro city universities.
The girl hopes that her collection will help other WOA patrons to improve their English language skills.
Thank you Krystyna! We are very grateful!