Chinese New Year celebration at WOA Dnipro

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.

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Practicing English and celebrating St. Valentine’s Day

Collaboration of DOUNB and the youth public organization “Ukraine needs you” continues with flying colors. As usually Wednesday is the American Movie Club Day, this time the meeting of lovers of American movies at the information and resource center “Window on America” took place in a non-traditional manner. It was a festive educational and entertaining meeting devoted to St. Valentine’s Day. The meeting was prepared by Anna Motorina, a senior school student, who offered to watch 20-minutes video about the history of St. Valentine’s Day.
Those who were present enjoyed watching this festive and useful video and heartily participated in quizzes. The quiz loved by everyone most was “Guess the romantic tune from the movie”. The prize swiftly found its owner. After it everyone watched the romantic movie about searches of love “Hope Floats” and tried different techniques of making valentines cards. Everyone – children, youth and adults were involved into the process of creating a bright and amazing picture with valentines cards to share High Holiday spirits with the next patrons. 

The picture became the highlight of celebration of the St. Valentines’ Day and solemnly decorated Window on America Center.
The festive atmosphere of the meeting was warmed by hot tea with treats.
Number of participants – 16 persons.

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Fun St.Valentine’s Day

Today the staff of the Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk visited school No.141. This school is a long-time partner of the WOA Center as it has a focus on English study.

The «УкраїнаSpeaking» project was presented to the primary school students and they were urged to take seriously their foreign language study.
The aim of the WOA’s visit was to tell the children about a popular American holiday Valentine’s Day and its observance.
The children were offered a slide show about the holiday’s background and legends about Valentine.
Several sing-along songs were very popular with kids: they learned how to spell the word “HEART” and remember the pretty colors for Valentine cards.
 

To wrap up the presentation the WOA staff offered big-screening of the iconic Disney cartoon “Chip and Dale and Miss”. Children of all ages enjoyed the funny chipmunks’ love story.
The children were fascinated with the songs and stories, eagerly answered rather complicated questions and impressed the WOA staff with their interest in English study.
Number of participants – 235 persons.
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HALLOWEEN at Gabfest

This Saturday the Gabfest club ("Window on America" (Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) was visited by a private English-speaking Club from Novomoskovsk (a town 40 km away from Dnipropetrovsk). The visit of the teenage group was a pleasant surprise as the girls arrived dressed in Halloween costumes, with appropriated make-up and with carved pumpkin “jack-o-lanterns”.
Both clubs were lucky to have our two American volunteers – Mr. Jason and Mr. Kelly. Their presence motivated the club members to demonstrate the best of their English skills. The Novomoskovsk teenagers introduced themselves to the Gabfest club and demonstrated their costumes. The task for the Gabfest club members was to guess what was the name of each girl’s costume. The teenagers also recited rhymes and poems about Halloween and sang a Halloween song.
The second part of the session was dedicated to the introduction of the Halloween vocabulary to the older generation and watching of a Discovery Channel video about the history of the Halloween celebrations. It introduced some popular games (apple bobbing) and pranks (gate stealing, etc).
 

Wrapping up the session we allowed the club members from Novomoskovsk to put questions to our volunteers and to present the major attractions of their own town to them.
After the session the Gabfest Club activists had a Halloween tea party with assortment of local treats: chocolates, cookies and a pumpkin pie home-made by the Club member Valentina. All the participants liked the warm atmosphere of the tea party.
The session had many funny moments and was quite challenging for the Club members as it required knowledge of cultural trivia.
Number of participants – 38 persons.
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International Workers' Day - May, 1

On the eve of the May Day weekend the WOA’s Gabfest Club (Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) introduced the topic of Labor Day celebrations in Ukraine and USA.
Unlike the European tradition the American Labor day is celebrated in September. But it turned out that the origin of the International Workers' Day (May, 1)   is connected to the tragic events in the USA.
In the late 19th century, the Socialists and Communists have chosen May Day (May, 1) as the date for International Workers' Day to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago in 1886.
 

The group was introduced to the background of the Haymarket riot in Chicago. It began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour day and in reaction to the killing of several workers the previous day by the police. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they acted to disperse the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians; scores of others were wounded. Eight anarchists were convicted of conspiracy some of them were hanged. The topic was illustrated with a documentary about the events in Chicago.
In the second part of the session club members shared their plans for the May Day long weekend.
The most challenging task was to describe the difference between an American BBQ picnic and Ukrainian shashlik picnic.
Number of participants – 9.
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Christmas celebration in Ukraine

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club in Window on America Dnipropetrovsk was dedicated to the topic “Orthodox Christmas celebration in Ukraine”.
The session started with a challenging activity. The group was divided into four teams and was given a task to create a Ukrainian Christmas menu in English and present the menu to the Club. The task implied the knowledge of Ukrainian Xmas traditions – a lent 12 course dinner on Christmas Eve and meat 12 course dinner on Christmas day. All teams managed rather successfully with the task. The menu vocabulary was very helpful to the ladies.
 

The second tradition that was discussed was the Christmas folk theater performances - the so-called “verteps”. This year they were affected by the war with Russia – new characters appeared in the performances; the club members described the new characters and their symbolism.
The final element of the celebration was Xmas fortune telling popular among the unmarried girls. The Club’s ladies commented the information from the illustrative video and shared their own experiences and ways of Xmas fortune-telling. The session allowed the club members to sum up their knowledge of the Ukrainian Xmas traditions and prepared them for conversations about it.
Number of participants – 15  persons.
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Thanksgiving celebration with friends

Within the framework of the “U.S. Art Residence in Dnepropetrovsk" the head of the "Window on America" Center (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) Svetlana Usenko visited the local high school №39.
For the students of the 6th and 9th grades Svetlana Usenko conducted two lessons on the life and work of American composer George Gershwin.
At the beginning of the lessons the librarian congratulated the students with the Thanksgiving holiday which is celebrated today in the USA. The teacher Victoria Platonova, a longtime partner  of the DOUNB Library,  reminded the  children the main characters  of this holiday. They read and translated a philosophical quote about the importance of gratitude in the human’s life.
From the WOA’s slide presentation the students learned about the basic facts of George Gershwin’s life – his musical education, gradually developed music skills, cooperation with elder brother Ira, who wrote librettos for his musicals and opera.
The students listened to the best Gershwin’s tunes:"Rhapsody in Blues", Clara’s aria (the world known lullaby “Summertime”) from the opera "Porgy and Bess".
At the end of the lessons the students were informed about the diverse – printed, electronic, and most importantly free – resources for learning English. They were invited to join the American Teen Club on Saturdays at the WOA center. Participation in this club may help to visit the US as exchange students. Exchange programs “FLEX” and “Summer Work and Travel” require profound preparation from the interested candidates.
Students received a good start for the day, new cross-cultural knowledge and additional motivation to study English.
Number of participants – 60 people.

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The 180th anniversary of the DOUNB Library

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the topic “The 180th anniversary of the DOUNB Library”. The Library is the headquarters of the Club.
The WOA staff member Tamara G. presented a slide show about the history of the library. The focus of the presentation was on the foreigners’ role in the development of the Library in its early stages. The interactive presentation urged the group to remember and present in English the historical facts about Dnipropetrovsk and its history.
 
The group was impressed by the information about the library’s rare collection of the old books in English. Some of the old books were printed in the USA. It was very interesting to examine the old English textbooks from the pre-revolutionary and Soviet period.
The session was wrapped up during a tea ceremony with a delicious birthday cake for the DOUNB Library readers.
Participants numbers – 21 persons.

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Learn the Language - Learn the Traditions!

At WOA Dnipropetrovsk teenagers were introduced to the traditions of a favorite  American Holiday – the Thanksgiving Day.
The ATC (American Teen Club) moderator - the FLEX alumnae Dasha Gerasimova – prepared several relevant videos. The focus of all the videos was on the history of the holiday. The children learned about the Pilgrims who disembarked on the American coast (the territory of the modern Massachusetts state) and the lovely “Mayflower” ship that brought them over the ocean. After several centuries Thanksgiving is a US national holiday and the most popular family holiday. It is normally celebrated with an array of festive activities - sports events, concerts and parades (like the famous Macy’s balloon parade in New-York). The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday and starts the Christmas sales season in the USA.
Besides language activities Thanksgiving paper craft was offered to the group. The symbol of Thanksgiving is a Turkey bird. The children colored the feathers of paper turkeys and wrote thanks to different people on those feathers. The best crafted turkeys were used to decorate the WOA’s room.
The cult American cartoon “The Simpsons” was screened for the group; the part about Simpsons celebrating Thanksgiving made the teenagers laugh.
The second part of the Teenage Club’s session was a party with American snacks and soft drinks.
The book and image display from the WOA’s collection illustrated the topic of the TC session.Participants number - 14 persons.
Join the WOA’s Teenage Club and have fun studying American English!

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before Mother’s Day

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk,Ukraine) was dedicated to the introduction of important dates: Mother’s Day (9 May) and the International Day of Families (15 May).
Mother's Day in the United States is annually held on the second Sunday of May. It celebrates motherhood and appreciation of mothers and mother figures. Many people give gifts, cards, flowers, candy, a meal in a restaurant or other treats to their mother and mother figures, including grandmothers, great-grandmothers, stepmothers, and foster mothers.
We have watched several videos about the US mothers raising Olympians.  The story of gymnast Debby Douglas impressed the club members most of all. We have listened to the songs about mothers in English.
The video about American Ukrainian singer Kvitka Cysik   opened to the club members a new page in the American-Ukrainian relations.  The Ukrainian song “My Mother” performed by Casey Cysik was very touching. All the mothers present enjoyed the songs and beautiful slides with poems about mothers.The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed that 15 May of every year shall be observed as the International Day of Families. The day reflects the importance that the international community attaches to families as basic units of society as well as its concern regarding their situation around the world.
We have explored the UN's International Day of Families web pages. This year’s theme of the day is “Advancing Social Integration and Intergenerational Solidarity”. We have clarified the meaning of the term “intergenerational solidarity” and told private stories of the generation ties in Ukrainian families. The club members explained to our foreign club member Toby why we do not know much about our family trees.
The session was quiet but very educational.
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St. Valentine’s Day

Today the WOA Center was quite busy!
On the St. Valentine’s Day a group of 10 students from the secondary school #23 visited our facility.
The teacher Ms. Iryna Dubovetskaya has been at our Center before and decided to introduce it to her students as well.
First the children watched a slide show about the history and traditions of the St. Valentine’s day.
The Voice of America web page and its “English classroom” feature was introduced to the audience. We have watched and listened to the on-line lesson about Valentine’s Day. The lesson allowed the students to practice grammar in the context of Valentine’s Day celebration in the USA.
The American English web site was also introduced and the on-line video game “Trace Effects” was presented to the group.
The students sang along children songs about love and friendship.
The highlight of the session was the game “St.Valentine’s Post”. The children wrote Valentine wishes in English on the provided heart-shaped cards and exchanged them with the classmates.A “Voice of America”  Calendar  for the English language classroom was presented to the teacher as a token of  friendship between the Window on America Center and the secondary school # 23.
The visit was a lot of fun and we hope to see the kids again at other  WOA events.
The number of visitors – 11 persons.
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Christmas Party

The Club members of the Club decided to celebrate the forthcoming Xmas with a party after the official club session.
The party scenario was drafted. It included musical numbers performed by the library staff and club members. A group of the club members developed a menu with snacks that had traditional American ingredients and foods.On the day of the part, on December, 22 the table was decorated with tablecloths in festive winter colors- red and green. Funny party plates and cups were purchased to create the atmosphere.
The menu included canapés with salads: pineapple/crab meat and tuna/sweet corn. For Ukrainian club members this combination is very American. The highlight of the menu were Xmas cookies. We have managed to find the sweets that looked like American cookies: the chocolate chips cookies, shortbreads, etc.The Xmas dinner started with a greeting song performed by the librarian Irina. She has rehearsed a traditional American song “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” in the Doris Day version. Our American friend Mr. Joseph played his guitar and sang a couple of Xmas carols. Traditional Xmas songs of both cultures (American and Ukrainian) were played as background music.
The party created a strong team spirit in the club and was enjoyed by all participants.
The number of participants – 33 persons.

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