31 August, 2018

August 2018 @ Dnipro Window on America center


August 2018 @ Dnipro Window on America center

Poster and Book display:
About US: To the American Independence Day

August, 3Activate English! at 4:00 p.m.
August, 4Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.
August, 7ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.
August, 10Activate English! at 4:00 p.m.
August, 11Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.
August, 14ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.
August, 17Activate English! at 4:00 p.m.
August, 18Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.
August, 21ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.
August, 25Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.
August, 28ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.
8/2018 - Apple Show Room Opened in Dnipro City.
iOn Store is a showroom with an area of more than 150 square meters. The room has a modern interior according to the standards of Apple. The design project for the new iOn was created by specialists from Cupertino (the headquarters of the " Apple" company.) In Dnipro city it was realized as accurately as possible . The furniture is imported from Europe, the parquet - from Canada, and the walls are covered with special light panels. The main idea is to immerse the visitors in the world of Apple, so that they visit the store not only for shopping.

August, 02 WOA Partners’ Cooperation.
This afternoon the WOA Dnipro US volunteer Mr. Joseph had a business meeting with Ms. Svitlana , the Head of the Soroptimist society in Dnipro City.
The Soroptimist Society expects a visit of fellow representatives from EU countries in September.
Mr. Joseph helps Svitlana with the welcome speech translation into English.

August, 04 - World Population Day and E.Musk’s Projects.
World Population Day is observed annually on July, 11. This afternoon the Gabfest Club members shared their opinions about the state of the worlds’ population with our foreign volunteer Mr. Eric. They have briefed him about the population challenges in Ukraine. In return Mr. Eric has told the group about the demographic situation in his home country and how challenges are solved there. The group shared the opinions on the overpopulation theory – some agreed with it, some think it’s a myth.
The group was familiarized with the projects of the US tech icon – Mr. Elon Musk. We focused on his project of Mars colonization. The majority of the group agreed that it is a way to avoid overpopulation of the Earth. The fun facts about E.Musk’s biography impressed the group.
The session raise the awareness about the demographic challenges for the planet and Ukraine.
Participants number
33 persons.

August, 04 Speed English at WOA Dnipro
The topic for today’s Speed English session was “My August Break”.
Participants number 32 persons.

August, 04 From Eric - Donations and Conversations
The WOA Dnipro’s foreign volunteer Mr. Eric is a highlight of this summer season . Once again Mr. Eric donated English books and EFL textbooks to the library. He is eager to spend time with the WOA patrons engaging them into conversations in English and helping them to overcome the fears connected with speaking in a foreign language.
We are happy to have such a wonderful volunteer as Mr. Eric.

August, 09 Viking’ s Visitors and WOA Dnipro
This time we had pleasant chats with the “Viking Cruises” onboard manager Mr. Oliver (UK) and a US tourist Mr. Charles from Pennsylvania. These encounters made our morning special.

August, 09 Welcome Back ,“VIKING Cruises” !
The 9th call of the “Sineus“ river ship to Dnipro city took place this morning. The US and UK passengers from the ship were spotted next to the WOA Dnipro office. They visited WOA’ s partner the Dnipro Historical Museums as part of their city tour.
“Viking” provides destination-focused itineraries designed for experienced travelers who have an interest in geography, culture and history. Each journey includes a shore excursion in every port, and an exclusive Viking Culture Curriculum program that provides deep immersion in the destination through performances of music and art, cooking demonstrations, informative port talks and carefully selected guest lecturers.
“Viking” was founded in 1997 in Europe to provide river cruising experience The company expanded into the American market in 2000, establishing US headquarters in Los Angeles, California.
Through rapid expansion, the company has grown to be The World’ s Leading River Cruise Line,. And with the launch of its ocean fleet in 2015, the company has also become the leader in small ship ocean cruising.

August, 11 Guests from California and Arizona at WOA Dnipro
Young American volunteers visited our Center to tell the patrons about their home states. Carter is from Orange County in California. Logan is from Arizona.They have recommended the tourists attractions to Ukrainian audience.
They also asked for some tips on the local life styles.We all had a good laugh explaining our guests why Ukrainians are afraid of draughts in public transport.

August, 11 American Theme in P. Zahrebelnyj’s Novels
Today’s session of the Gabfest speaking Club was dedicated to the anniversary of the classical 20th century Ukrainian writer Pavlo Zahrebelnyj. Dnipro city’s intellectuals promote the novelist due to the facts that in 1961 he graduated from the Philology Department of Dnipro National University.
We familiarized the Club members and our foreign volunteer with the American theme in P.Zahrebelnyj’s works. The Club members were offered a picture quiz that helped them to guess the plot of the novels.
We started with the novel "Lathered Grass" (1974) – it’s main character was a Ukrainian pipe plant worker who was selected as an intern at the UNESCO headquarters in New-York. In the 70's Soviet literature was full of politically-revealing reports about capitalism reality (on the basis of Soviet writers’ trips to the United States as Soviet delegations members at the UN sessions). P. Zahrebelnyj transformed this genre into an interesting, observational and analytical “story in letters” from the USA. The Club members analyzed the design of the book cover, translated important quotes into English and shared their opinions about the protagonist and his mixed feelings about the USA. The older generation club members were thrilled to read the quotes about the Communist party of the USA and its leader Gus Hall.
The novel "Southern Comfort" (1984) happens to have the title similar to the name of a famous New Orleans liquor ( which is sweet, fruity and strong). But the novel is a bold critique of the negative phenomena in the Soviet prosecutor's office and legal science (corruption, protection, ignorance). It was not approved by the "higher authorities" and its publishing as a book was delayed until 1988.
"Traceless Lucas" (1989) is a mixture of genres: science fiction, action and political novel. The main character is Lucas, an American with Polish roots. He is a talented basketball player who can tracelessly plan an attack in the game. This skill wins him a basketball scholarship at the famous Stanford University where he starts to research the possibilities for the human brain upgrade and triggers a dangerous political game.
The Gabfest Club members were amazed with the facts they have learned about Pavlo Zahrebelnyj books. He is better known as a historical novelist and an Ukrainian history educator.
Participants number – 31 person.

August, 15 "Field of Dreams".
"Field of Dreams" is a 1989 American fantasy-drama sports film directed by Phil Alden Robinson. It stars Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta and Burt Lancaster in his final role. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, including for Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In the same year review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes rates very high; the consensus states: "Field of Dreams is sentimental, but in the best way; it's a mix of fairy tale, baseball, and family togetherness." Participants number – 11 persons.

August, 18 – World Humanitarian Day.
World Humanitarian Day is held every year on 19 August to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world.
The WOA Dnipro’s English-speaking Club introduced the members to the leading humanitarian organizations and raised awareness about their work and risks involved. The group was familiarized with the sad history of the observance – the bombing of the UN Humanitarian mission in the Palace Hotel in Baghdad in 2003.
The group was familiarized with such organizations as UNICEF , UN OCHA, Red Cross Organizations and the difference between them.
We particularly focused on the USAID organization as the biggest American humanitarian aid institution. The group was asked to define the recent USAID projects in Ukraine and to tell about them in English to our foreign volunteer.
The topic was difficult, but was of great educational value for all participants.
Participant number – 32 persons.

August, 18 SPEED ENGLISH at WOA DNIPRO.
This afternoon the popular activity had a topic "Would you work as a humanitarian aid ?"

August, 22 – It Happened One Night.
This evening the Movie Club offered big-screening of the classical film “It Happened One Night”. It is a 1934 romantic film with elements of screwball comedy directed and co-produced by Frank Capra. A pampered socialite (Claudette Colbert) tries to get out from under her father's thumb and falls in love with a roguish reporter (Clark Gable). The plot is based on the short story "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams, which provided the shooting title It Happened One Night was the first movie to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay). In 1993, It Happened One Night was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Participants number – 14 persons.

On August, 25 – Ukraine’s Independence Day at WOA Dnipro.
This afternoon the Gabfest Club discussed the Independence Day celebration in Ukraine. We started with reading the greeting Note by the US State Secretary Mr. M. Pompeo and the video greeting from the Australian Ambassador.
The highlight of the session was the video greeting from the US Embassy in Ukraine. The Club members enjoyed the Ambassador’s speech and the staff’s performance. They had a challenging task rendering the   performed songs into English for our foreign volunteer Mr. Eric. We appreciated the efforts taken by the US Embassy team.
We discussed the results of the photo competition organized by the US Embassy and the events that took place during the Independence Day celebrations in Kyiv and in Dnipro. The group learned how to describe   ethnic traditions in English.
Participants number – 28 persons.

on August, 25 –  Speed English at WOA Dnipro.
The topic for the Speed English (Window on America center in Dnipro, Ukraine) was “My Independence Day Celebration”. The participants described to each other and to Native speaker Mr.Eric their celebrations in detail.
Participants number  – 28 persosns.

on August, 27 –  Excitement is back at WOA Dnipro.
"Window on America" Center ​​at the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Universal Scientific Library is always glad to meet its agile patrons - kids. After the summer holidays   WOA’s volunteer high school student Anna Motoryna renewed the sessions of the kid's English-speaking club "Grass-Hoppers".
She has prepared a special program to help kids remember the basics after a long break. The kids re-introduced themselves, watched videos, sang along. They have learned new words, played games to relax, did some drawing and coloring.
The children had a good time in the library. The parents  sat in  and had the opportunity to observe the educational sessions.
Participants number  7 persosns.

on August, 29 –   Jack the Giant Slayer at WOA Dnipro.
Jack the Giant Slayer (previously titled Jack the Giant Killer) is a 2013 American fantasy adventure film based on the British fairy tales "Jack the Giant Killer" and "Jack and the Beanstalk". The film is directed by Bryan Singer with a screenplay written by Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie and Dan Studney and stars Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy, and Ewan McGregor.
The film tells the story of Jack, a young farmhand who must rescue a princess from a race of giants after inadvertently opening a gateway to their land in the sky.
Development of Jack the Giant Slayer began in 2005, when Lemke first pitched the idea. D. J. Caruso was hired to direct the film in January 2009, but in September of that year, Caruso was replaced by Singer, who hired McQuarrie and Studney to rework the script. The main characters were cast between February and March 2011, and principal photography began in April 2011 in England with locations in Somerset, Gloucestershire and Norfolk. Release of the film was moved back in post-production to allow more time for special effects and marketing.
Participants number – 8 persons.

on August, 30 – Volunteering Thursday.
The young volunteer of Window on America Center in Dnipro - Anna Motorina - continues to help young and adult patrons of the library to learn English.
The summer vacations of the young schoolchildren - the members of the Grasshoppers club - are over, so our beloved Grasshoppers are back to Window on America Center and open to the new knowledge.
The adult patrons of the library will continue to look through English Grammar tables to refresh and deepen their knowledge on English Grammar.
The multimedia equipment of the WOA Center makes English sessions more active and intensive, music and videos make the English sessions more fun and entertaining. So both - young and adult patrons of the WOA Center are happy and inspired to continue to learn English.
 Number of the participants - 6 persons

on August, 30 –   The Military experts in DniproWOA.
This afternoon the Window on America in Dnipro hosted the meeting of the international military experts with the Ukrainian youth.
The guests of honor were:  Col. Q. Wofford, Defense Attaché (US Embassy in Ukraine) and Col. Algirdas Norkus, Defense Attaché to Ukraine, Moldova and Romania (Embassy of Lithuania).
The foreign officers have a Q@A session with Ukrainian FLEX alumni, University and high school students. The first part of the session was dedicated to the NATO procedures for Ukraine and benefits of NATO participation (the case of Lithuania).
In the second part of the sessionsession, the participants shifted their interest to more personal topics. The questions ranged from personal background of the guests to USA visa issues.
Some Ukrainian students demonstrated good command of English and asked a lot of tricky questions. The foreign guests were pleased to meet the young generation of Ukrainians and learn their attitudes towards military alliances issues.
The session was very informative for all participants. WOA Dnipro staff and the guests enjoyed the warm atmosphere of the event.
Participants number – 14 persons.

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