A unique surprise gift for Dnipro WOA

"Window on America" Center Dnipro received a unique surprise gift. Last year we sent some small size souvenirs to be taken to the International Space Station by Colonel Breznik. Among those souvenirs was a 2017 calendar with the WOA Dnipro’s logo.
The Calendar visited the International Space Station and returned back to WOA Dnipro. Colonel R. Breznik issued us a unique “Certificate of authenticity” for the “space travelling” calendar. We were amazed.
Event participants number – 400 people.

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Music that builds bridges between cultures.

Patrons of the DOUNB Library and the "Window to America" Center are accustomed to various events that allow them to meet English-speaking guests of the city.

 But the meeting on October 30 was special - the US Embassy's diplomat Sean O'Hara visited us with an informal visit. Mr. O’Hara is a diplomat and cultural affairs attaché with the US Embassy in Ukraine, but he is also an amateur jazz musician. All afternoon Mr. O'Hara used the jazz language of his alto-saxophone, he learned to play it in school years. Besides he plays Hawaiian guitar and can perform a popular Ukrainian folk song "You tricked me!".

 Mr. Sean demonstrated a slide presentation which introduced the audience to jazz and its founding fathers – Ben Goodwin and Louis Armstrong; He performed selected musical fragments in which basic jazz elements (swing, syncopation and others) were demonstrated to the audience.

The real fun was an attempt to create a human jazz band (imitating the sounds of musical instruments). All the band members enjoyed the process, clapped their hands and smiled.

At the end of the session Mr. Sean answered the questions, told about himself, his life-long friendship with music and his diplomatic mission in Ukraine. He urged the group to monitor the ads and attend the show of the Broadway dance team that will visit Ukraine soon! Professional dancers can attend the casting and receive a chance to join the Broadway team.

The DOUNB Library director, Ms. Nadiya Titova city, gifted library memento’s to Mr. Sean to commemorate his visit to Dnipro city. A DOUNB Librarian Ms. Alexandra   performed for him a violin number – a popular rock composition.

The meeting with the American diplomat was arranged in partnership with the Dnipro Academy of Music at the American Art Residence of DOUNB Library. It was a pity that only few students could make it to the session. Student Katerina Dyomina sang a popular jazz piece.

The JAZZ event participant experienced no language barriers.

Mr. Sean talked to all the participants who came over to communicate with him. Several persons were complimented for their   good command of English. Knowledge of English these days is essential, especially now when Ukraine’s economic and social reforms are supported by the European Union, the USA, Canada, Australia .

Photo by Svitlana Usenko and Galyna Shevtsova.

Participants number – 63 persons.

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Holiday is approaching – Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, 2017

Today members of English Speaking club GABFEST in Dnipro Window on America center (Ukraine) had a wonderful chance to discuss «Eurovision Song Contest: challenges and advantages of hosting in Ukraine». Elizaveta Stepanishina successfully debuted as moderator – prepared an interesting video for watching and discussing, text for reading and translation, questions for discussion.
New members introduced themselves and shared their motivation for learning English with the group.
In the end of the meeting members of the club communicated in the Speed English format on topic «Travelling. Dreams we had and dreams that came true. Cities or nature. Landmarks. Seaside resorts»
All visitors have left the Library fulfilled with great mood and new skills and knowledges.
Moderator: Elizaveta Stepanishina
Pictures: Svitlana Usenko
Number of participants – 28 persons.
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CHINESE NEW YEAR at WOA Dnipro

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.

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Biblical Mountains and sacred mountains of Ukraine

This afternoon the Gabfest Club members (Dnipro Window on America center, Ukraine) were observing the International Mountains Day. The group was offered a slide show about mountains mentioned in the Bible. The club members learned a lot of new biblical terms and refreshed the knowledge of popular biblical stories: the Noah’s Ark and the flood, the Babel tower construction, etc. We mentioned such famous mountains as Ararat, the Sinai, the Calvary, the Temple and the Olive Mountains.
The spoken part of the session was dedicated to the sacred mountains of Ukraine. Our foreign friends
Mr. Jason and Mr. Stephen (USA) and Mr. Michelle (France) learned a lot about hills of Kyiv, Shevchenko memorial, Goverla mountain , popular cliff monasteries and castles, etc. They had a chance to recommend Ukrainian attractions connected with mountains and cliffs.
Number of participants – 31 persons.

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Students of all generations: Basic English 4.8.

Students of all generations attend the Basic English lessons in Dnipro Window on America center at the DOUNB Library. The Group was founded as a training site for people who never studied English or for those who need to return to the basics of the language.
This afternoon the Basic English group 4.8. has practiced reading the vowels and combinations of consonants. They are now able to talk about “About myself” in English.
Instructor: T. Gavryliyuk
Pictures: S.Usenko
All the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 35 persons.
 
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Activate English Group 4.8.

The Activate English Group at DOUNB library is an integral part of the EXPRESS-ENGLISH course offered to the Window on America Dnipropetrovsk readers in year 2016.
The year 2016 in Ukraine is the year of the English Language. The Activate English Group - 4 was created for people who have been studying English for several years, but are too shy to speak.
The objective of the course is to activate the passive knowledge and enable the students of English to express themselves in English no matter how small might be their vocabulary.
The participants of the group will be offered some revision activities to refresh their grammar skills. The vocabulary for the topics will be presented and illustrated with native-speaking videos to activate their comprehension skills.
The activation of the speaking skills will take place during the conversation pair practice.
The materials for the Activate English Group are compiled and presented by the qualified ESL teacher. They are based on original textbook by the reputable language house “Macmillan” and various free on-line resources for ESL study.
 All the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 31 persons.

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Presentation of Recourses. eLibraryUSA

Presentation of recourses for English learners: eLibraryUSA.
The Information and Resource Center "Window on America" was visited by the 3rd year students of National Mining University (their major -"Finance", the lecturer - O. Krylova). They had a pleasant surprise – the encounter with the WOA’s American volunteer Mr. Jason.
The students watched the WOA’s promotional video about the new library services, learned about the electronic services of DOUNB library to support the learning process. The young people observed with interest the Xmas tree-shaped book shelf. It showcased helpful materials for English learners - "winter" vocabulary, idioms, phrase verbs, books and films on DVDs.
The students were urged to join the most popular WOA’s projects: the English-language Movie Club on Wednesdays and the English-speaking club "GABFEST" on Saturdays.
Students received promotional materials that will keep good memories about the DOUNB library in the year 2017.
Participants number – 11 persons.

New American Friend and UN December Observances

This afternoon the Gabfest Club members at Dnipro Window on America center welcomed to the club a new-comer from the USA – Mr. Cole who arrived to serve in an American church mission. Mr. Cole told us about his home state Iowa and his first impressions about Ukraine. Cole shared with us some things that strike him as unusual in Dnipro and Ukrainian club members explained to him the local habits (not to whistle indoors, not to choose yellow flowers, not to talk to strangers in the public transport).
 

The official topic of the session was to observe important international dates: International Day for Abolition of Slavery (December, 2) – we watched the UN’s illustrative video about modern types of Slavery, introduced new vocabulary and shared stories about personal experience of working in the slave like conditions; International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December, 3) – since 1992 it has been celebrated annually around the world. The theme for this year’s International Day is “Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want”. We talked about types of disabilities and introduced respective vocabulary, the barriers for disabled people that exist in Dnipro city, shared the stories about inclusion of disabled people in social life in Dnipro. The highlight of the discussion was an illustrative video about Nick Vujicic. He was born without limbs, but became a successful citizen of his country.
Participant numbers – 55 persons.
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Basic English 4.7.: About myself” in English

Students of all generations: Basic English 4.7.
Students of all generations attend the Basic English lessons in Dnipro Window on America center at the DOUNB Library. The Group was founded as a training site for people who never studied English or for those who need to return to the basics of the language.
This afternoon the Basic English group 4.7. has practiced reading the vowels and combinations of consonants. They are now able to talk about “About myself” in English.
Instructor: T. Gavryliyuk
Pictures: S.Usenko
All the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 48 persons.

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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International Games Day - 1

Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, actively uses resources freely available on the American English web site recommended for English teachers and learners by the US State Department.
This year we were invited to participate in the “Activate Ukraine” event for the International Games Day observed on November, 21. WOA Dnipropetrovsk decided to present the event and the resources to the local long-time partner – high school No. 22 (with focus on English study). The school helped us to arrange game sessions for 5 groups of senior students.
 

Activate is a set of games that offer practice with vocabulary, grammatical patterns, and interaction skills in a learner-centered, low-stress environment. When playing the games students are motivated to talk informally and to think creatively.
As the students of school No. 22 are advanced students “Activate” games were offered for them as a warm up round for speaking skills practice. The activity was enjoyed by all students.
In the second round of games the WOA staff introduced board games from the WOA Dnipropetrovsk collection – Apples to Apples, Taboo, The scrambles States of America. The games popular among the native-speaking Americans were a challenge for the students as they required a big vocabulary, ability to describe the notions, objects, verbs as well as good knowledge of US geography. As a bonus for the fastest winning teams we offered a round of “Jungle Speed” game which urged the gamers to think and react fast.
The most enjoyed game for senior student was Apple to Apple – the game of crazy combinations.
At the end of the day the gaming session was offered to the middle students. They used WOA’s iPads to play word game “Futaba’.
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