The Ukrainian professional philologist Dina and her Yakut fiancée Dima are working as interpreters in China. They came over to share their experiences in fluent English.
English is their second foreign language; they have learned it with limited access to native-speaking people. But they have encouraged the Gabfest Club members to practice spoken English and overcome the fear to speak English even in Ukraine.
Participants number – 58 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please
This afternoon the Gabfest Club (Dnipro Window on America, Ukraine) was attended by our foreign friends Mr. Armando from the UK and Mr. Jason from the USA. As a warm up the group has briefed the guests about the different names of our city and explained the history behind the numerous name changes.
The official topic of the session was “Chinese New Year”. We had a conversation about the Chinese horoscope, the rituals of New Year celebration (dress code and menu).The basic elements of the Chinese celebration were also discussed – the lanterns, the coins, the fireworks, the dragon dances and parades.
Our foreign guests told the group about the celebrations in the UK and in the USA and explained the presence of the big Chinese communities in their countries.
The Ukrainian club members shared their experiences of travelling to China.
The session was educational and funny.
Participants number – 54 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please
Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the Celebration of Chinese New Year. To start the ball rolling the group was offered several images to describe. The most interesting conversation was about the images with the artifacts of Chinese culture: coins, utensils, etc.
The conversation led us to the topic of the Chinese Zodiac. The Chinese animal zodiac is a repeating cycle of 12 years, with each year being represented by an animal and its reputed attributes. Traditionally these zodiac animals were used to date the years. In order, the 12 animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
The group was offered images from the DOUNB Library
books on Chinese Art .The task was to give the name of the animal and tell if it belongs to the Chinese zodiac.
The second part of the session was dedicated to the life of Chinese community in the USA. We have watched several videos about the history of celebration of the Chinese New Year in the USA, about the culture of the America-born Chinese. We made a list of popular Hollywood actors of Chinese origin.
The club members enjoyed the topic and were glad to share their experiences of contacts with Chinese people in Ukraine.
Number of participants – 27 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please
