Columbus Day Celebration in the USA

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the topic “Columbus Day Celebration in the USA”.
The group was offered a video about the controversial impact the Christopher Columbus’s voyages had on the indigenous people of the New World and the population of the European countries. However, this holiday continues to be an important way for all Americans to learn more about the Age of Exploration and the enormous transformations it provoked.
The Ukrainian members of the Club were asked to provide examples from the Ukrainian history when the same person is a hero for one social group and a villain for another social group. The most obvious example was the Stalin’s Cult of Personality.The Gabfest’s Australian volunteer Mr. Eric told the basic things about the discovery of Australia and compared the stories of James Cook and Christopher Columbus.
The second part of the session was a sort of farewell conversation with Mr. Eric. The Club members enjoyed his demonstration of curious Australian artifacts – cricket bat and ball, merino sheep wool samples, Australian currency and mint. Each artifact was illustrated with a detailed explanation. The Club members gave a round of applause to our Australian friend for his friendship and efforts to improve the English language skills of Gabfest club members.
Number of participants – 35 persons.
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Celebration of the Columbus Day in the USA

The "Window on America" Center (Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) staff was invited to visit local high school No. 22 and present a letter on US traditions and holidays. Due to the date of the school visit it was natural to select the topic “Celebration of the Columbus Day in the USA”.
The presentation was offered to three groups of students the 6th, the 9th and the 10th graders. All groups were offered the slideshows with fun facts about the Columbus trips to the New World. The senior students already new many facts about Columbus, but they appreciated the new vocabulary that was introduced during the presentations. The focus in the presentations for senior students was on the impact the Columbus’s trips had on the European countries and the population of America.
 

The junior students were excited with less complicated presentations that involved cartoon materials and were illustrated with songs about Columbus in English. The students had to demonstrate their auditing skills as the songs were offered without sub-titles or lyrics.
Both groups were interested in the video-illustration of the topic- a video about the Columbus Day parade in New York in 2013. The students were informed about the Italian community active participation in the parade. In year 2013 the highlight was a show of Italian cars in the streets of New York. The tricky task for the groups was to enumerate the logos of the car brands shown in the illustrative video.
The teachers were grateful to the WOA staff for a lecture that increased the students’ knowledge of American traditions.
Number of participants – 85 persons.
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Autumn Vacations with the WOA

Students of the specialized high school No.141( foreign languages study) had an opportunity to learn  more about the modern library – full of electronic books, catalogues and gadgets.
WOA Head Svitlana Usenko introduced them to some interesting facts from the US history, Columbus Day traditions. The children watched several slide shows, animated cartoons about Columbus’s life, video of the New York Columbus Day parade.
The visit ended with some fun activities – introduction of iPad gadgets and playing computer games. 
Participants – 13 persons (12  students + 1 teacher).

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А Ви, знаєте цю людину, чиїм ім'ям названо країну у Південній Америці?

З традиціями американських свят День Колумба і Хелловін школярів спеціалізованої школи з поглибленим вивченням англійської і німецьких мов № 141 познайомила керівник інформаційно-ресурсного центру Світлана Усенко.

Школярам було запропоновано переглянути інформаційні слайд-шоу про історію 4-х плавань Христофора Колумба, мультфільм про яскраві моменти з життя мореплавця,  відео про парад до Дня Колумба в Нью-Йорку, слайд-шоу про костюми для свята Хелловін та традиційні страви, якими пригощають дітей.

Діти дізналися багато цікавих фактів з історії відкриття нових земель європейцями, побачили на мапах маршрути плавань Х.Колумба.

На вшанування заслуг Х.Колумба одну з країн Південної Америки провінцію у Канаді, федеральний округ в США і Університет названо на честь Христофора Колумба.

Традиції свята Хелловін так вразили дітей, що вони фотографували і знімали відео на свої телефони, щоб переказати почуте батькам і друзям.

На закінчення зустрічі відбулося знайомство школярів з електронним пристроєм iPad і змагання в лексичну гру Futaba. Ця гра перевірила знання англійської мови і швидкість реакції.

Кількість учасників заходу – 32 чоловіки (28 дітей + 4 вчителя).

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U.S. Columbus Day

Today’s session of the GABFEST speaking club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was highlighted by the presence of our American friend, PCV Mr. Andrew B.
The official topic was "Columbus Day in the USA”.
We have watched a slide show and several videos about Columbus and the way he changed history of America. Mr. Andy commented on the demonstrated movies and started a conversation about the pioneers and their role in the society.
Moreover, Columbus Day is a day to celebrate the contributions to the US culture made by Italian immigrants. Pizza and pasta, opera, and Italian fashion are part of the daily life of Americans. It is also a day to recognize the strong ties of friendship between the two countries: Italy and the United States. We watched a video of the parade in New York on Columbus Day
The session was full of cross-cultural information and incorporated several learning activities for the students of English.
Number of participants – 19.
 

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Christopher Columbus, Psychology and "Mafia"

Young people are interested in science of Psychology.
This meeting of the American Teen Club by Information Resource Center "Window on America" was intense and interesting.
At the beginning the clubbers were introduced to the traditions of the U.S. Columbus Day holiday and watched a movie from the center collection «Christopher Columbus: The discovery of the world».
Participant of the "Work & Travel" program, a sophomore of National Mining University Maxim Gavrilov, shared his experience being in the United States. His story was accompanied with fascinating pictures. He was happy to answer all questions. After that, the main topic was introduced.  

Future Leader Exchange alumni Darya Gerasymova and Hanna Akastelova made a slideshow of psychological experiments and offered everyone to watch a video dedicated to the topic of happiness that can be produced by saying people you love what you think about them and share your gratitude. At the end, the youth learned the rules and played in a psychological game "Mafia".
Number of participants – 21 persons.

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