Orthodox Xmas 2019 and Tomos

The session of the Gabfest Club was dedicated to the Orthodox Xmas Celebration in Ukraine. We practiced to describe the Ukrainian Xmas cards and the menu of the Xmas Eve Supper.

The video of “The Nativity Story” reminded the club members the vocabulary for the topic.

The highlight of the session was the introduction of the vocabulary connected with the topic “Tomos of Autocephaly for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church”. This topic was illustrated with the relevant YouTube videos. The group was impressed with the speech of the Ambassador John E. Herbst. The Ambassador visit WOA Dnipro in 2004 for the opening of the Center.

Merry Christmas to all Orthodox Christians!

Participants  number – 28 persons.

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Xmas SPEED ENGLISH at DniproWOA

Speed English game allowed the Gabfest Club members to practice their Xmas conversations and share the experiences about Xmas celebration.
 (in Window on America Dnipro (Ukraine).
Participants number – 25 persons.
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Orthodox Christmas at WOA Dnipro

This afternoon the Gabfest Club (Window on America center ‪‎Dnipro‬, ‎Ukraine‬) had a big number of first-comers. The new people introduced themselves and explained why they need English skills. Several newcomers were fluent in English, some of them have interesting back grounds. So the introductions took a lot of time as the regular club members asked the first-comers a lot of questions.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
The official topic of the session was the Nativity story. We have watched several videos that told the Xmas story in a simple way and introduced the basic vocabulary. The group practiced to explain in English why the Orthodox Xmas is celebrated on a different date.
Speed English game allowed the Gabfest Club members to practice their Xmas conversations and share the experiences about Xmas celebration. After this conversation the club members will be able to speak about Ukrainian Christmas traditions.
The session was very educational and was enjoyed by all the participants.
Participants number – 27 persons.
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Orthodox Christmas celebration in Ukraine: MELANIA at WOA Dnipro

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (Dnipro Window on America center, Ukraine) was dedicated to the topic “Orthodox Christmas celebration in Ukraine”.
As a warm up we have used the Club’s Introduction ritual. Quite a big number of new-comers turned up for the first session in the year 2017. The group had a chance to ask new-comers about their background and their interest in English. The regular Club members explained the newcomers the history of the Club’s name “Gabfest” and major facts about the club.
The official topic “Orthodox Xmas celebration” started with tricky questions from the Club’s Moderator T. Gavryliuk. She asked the group to explain her choice of outfit – with ethnic elements (head gear, beads, embroidery). The correct guess did not come easy – the St. Melanie and St. Basil days celebrated on January 13-14 are not very popular among urban dwellers in Ukraine.

The next challenge was to explain why do we celebrate New Year twice in Ukraine. Almost all could give one reason (difference in religious calendars), and only few people gave additional explanations.
The mentioning of  St. Melanie day allowed us to introduce to the group the new First Lady of the USA – Mrs. Melania TRUMP.  Her portrait and five important facts were presented, translated and discussed.
Number of participants – 36 persons.

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Orthodox Christmas in ‎Ukraine

Today’s session of the ‪‎Gabfest‬ Club (Window on America center ‪‎Dnipropetrobsk‬, ‎Ukraine‬) took place a few days after the ‎Orthodox Christmas‬. It was a good opportunity to return to the basic elements of the ‎Nativity Scene‬ and re-introduce important terms to the learners of English. The club members were given a task to describe and explain important things about the Orthodox Xmas icons presented to the Club members.
The new vocabulary of Nativity terms was drilled as the words escaped the memory after the Western Xmas.
The second part of the session was a conversation about Ukrainian traditions of Christmas celebration. Once the appropriate article introduced the specific terms the conversation focused on culinary traditions. It’s a challenge to the English learners to describe Ukrainian dishes to foreigners in an adequate way. Our foreign volunteers Mr. Jason and Mr. Paul managed to understand the attempts of the Club members. After this conversation the club members will be able to speak about Ukrainian Christmas traditions.
The session was very educational and was enjoyed by all the participants.
Participants number – 21 person.
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Сommonly recognized Christian values

Today’s session of the GABFEST speaking club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) took place on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas. It was a good opportunity to focus on the basic elements of the Nativity and introduce important terms to the learners of English. We have read and translated a Wikipedia article about the Nativity of Jesus. The article was illustrated by the photos and videos of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem (Palestine).The illustration video was made by an ABC journalist of mixed background (Christian, Muslim and Jewish).

The new vocabulary of Nativity terms was   drilled and crossword puzzles were offered to memorize the words.
The second part of the session was a conversation about Ukrainian traditions of Christmas celebration. Once the appropriate article introduced the specific terms the conversation focused on culinary traditions. It’s a challenge to the English learners to describe Ukrainian dishes to foreigners in an adequate way. We had some fun listening to the attempts of the club members to describe Ukrainian Christmas dishes! Oleg tried to define “Shooba” - pickled herring filet under the coat of boiled vegetables. Helen tried to describe a salad called “Vinaigrette” in Ukraine, but it is better to name it “Beet and potato pickled salad”. Rita described the process of “Kholodets” preparation for Christmas lunch. The group had difficulty to find a nice menu description and came up with “Boiled meat in jellied stock”. Some introduced Ukrainian traditions were unknown to half of the group. 
After this conversation the club members will be able to speak about Ukrainian Christmas.
The session was wrapped up with an offer of a Christmas tea. It was most educational and funny!
Number of participants  – 19 persons.

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