The Diamond Jubilee of the Queen’s reign

In order to popularize the Window on America center (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) activities among the city community today’s English Speaking Club session was held as a cross-cultural event.

The club members of and newcomers paid tribute to the British Queen who has two special days in June.

This year on June, 2 the UK celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen’s reign. On June, 16 the country will celebrate the official Queen’s birthday. Both events provide a great opportunity for the English language students to enrich their vocabulary and to get a deeper insight into British cultural traditions.

The club members had an interesting discussion in which they compared the democracy institutions with the institute of monarchy.

Once the official part of the session was over we had an enjoyable afternoon tea and watched video’s explaining the difference between the American and European table etiquette.

The session was a great success and had a big educational value.

The Book display about London was offered to the visitors of the WOA center.

The number of visitors – 23 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please 

The Book display

The Book display about London was offered to the visitors of the WOA center.

 

Shakespeare in Love

In June 2012 Great Britain has a row of Special Days. On June, 5, 2012 the UK celebrates The Queen's Diamond Jubilee – the 60th anniversary of Elisabeth II‘s coronation. On June, 16, 2012  the Queen's official birthday celebrations will take place.

The second week of June at the WOA Dnipropetrovsk  is dedicated to  paying  tribute to Her Majesty  as one of the most popular monarchs of the world.

The Book display about London will be offered to the visitors of the WOA center.

The Movie Club on 06.06 will present the American movie “Shakespeare in Love”.

The English Speaking Club session on June, 09 will be discussing the phenomenon of the British Monarchy and will give a deeper insight into world known British tradition – The Afternoon Tea Ceremony.

the Beginning of Summer Season

Today’s session of the Speaking Club at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk was dedicated to the Beginning of Summer Season. We had a list of questions about summer which helped the participants to speak about this lovely season.

 Among the topics discussed were:

·       summer characteristics in different locations of the world,

·       countries with everlasting summer,

·        summer perils,

·       summer entertainment .

Particularly useful was conversation about the summer festivals and events in Ukraine. This topic was a good opportunity to practice a conversation with foreign guests to Ukraine.

After the official discussion the new comers introduced themselves and several organizational questions have been discussed by the club members.

The number of visitors – 13 persons.

Have a look at more pictures, please

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

“Wednesday Movie Club”.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?  was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills at the Window on America center in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey", set in the deep south during the 1930's. In it, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.

Director: Joel Coen,

Writers: Homer (epic poem "The Odyssey"), Ethan Coen

Stars: George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson

The movie was a enjoyed by all!

Jewish American Heritage Month

On April 20, 2006, President George W. Bush proclaimed that May would be Jewish American Heritage Month. The announcement was the crowning achievement in an effort by the Jewish community to proclaim a month that would recognize the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to American culture. The resolutions passed unanimously, first in the House of Representatives in December 2005 and later in the Senate in February 2006.
Today’s English Speaking Club session at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk was dedicated to this topic.

 A slide show “The prominent Jewish Americans” was offered to the group. Our PCV friend Sam Sachs was a co-host of the session and commented on the information about Jewish celebrities. We specifically focused the attention of our PCV friends Sam and Kathryn on the Ukrainian roots of numerous Jewish American celebrities – Gershwin, Philip Kotler, V. Horowitz, L.Bernstein , Serge Brin, etc. A World and Olympic Champion in the lady’s single figure skating Oksana Baiul (now a US citizen) was born in Dnipropetrovsk. 
The second part of the session was dedicated to less serious topics. To refresh in the minds of the Club members the material from the lectures about Australia they were divided into 4 teams and offered word and crossword puzzles about Australia. The winner was the team of Jana Litvinova, the English Speaking Club President. They needed less time to give correct answers in all 3 tasks.
To conclude the session we discussed the plan of events for summer season and several world news sensations that involved a Ukrainian presenter and American celebrities Madonna and Will Smith.
The session attracted quite many new members and was rather educational to all participants.
The number of participants – 21 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please 

a group of the English language teachers

WOA center was visited by a group of the English language teachers who take an upgrading course at the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast' Teachers’ postgraduate Training Center. The visitors represented both the city and the provincial schools.

The group watched a slide show about the electronic services and free on-line resources for the teaching of the English language. (American Online English, Voice of America Special English, Game Goo, ESL Kidsworld etc.)

We hope that the visit was very educational for the teachers and will lead to further partnership and joint events for the students of English.

The Conversation

The film “TheConversation”  was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.

The Conversation is a 1974 American psychological thriller film written, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman.
The Conversation won the Palme d'Or at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, and in 1995, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

It’s a film about a paranoid and personally-secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writer: Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Gene Hackman, John Cazale and Allen Garfield