New Donations Display

Kindly visit the Window on America Center and see the book display!

At the Window on America Center Dnipropetrovs’k a new book display was arranged. It showcases the new donations from the US Embassy in Ukraine received in the last quarter of the year 2012. The donated books include:

* American English textbooks, dictionaries and several test guides;

* Classical and modern American fiction;

* DVDs of Oscar winning movies in English with English sub-titles

The highlight of this donation is a collection of memoirs by the outstanding modern US politicians – Barack Obama, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice .

Globetrotters

Today’s session of the GABFEST speaking club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was planned as a free-topic session, but due to the presence of several frequent travelers the first part of the GABFEST club session was dedicated to GLOBETROTTERS. The term “Globetrotter” was introduced and explained to those who have never heard it before.
Stories about travel in general and trips to Istanbul (Turkey) in particular were told by our today’s presenter – PC volunteer Patrick. He enumerated the parts of the world he had visited already and the countries he would like to visit in future. Patrick was asked to tell about his recent trip to Istanbul and share his impressions about the country. We have seen many photos of Istanbul and asked Patrick many questions about the trip. Other club members who visited Istanbul and Turkey added their impressions about this country.
Patrick was informed about the historical character of Roxolana, the powerful and influential wife of the Turkish Sultan born in Ukraine several centuries ago.
During the second part of the session   the following activities were offered to the club members:
Introduction speeches of the new comers and regular club members;
Talking to Toby, a medical student from Nigeria, about ways of life in Ukraine and his home country.
The session was attended but many club members in spite of the church holiday. Most of the participants found it informative and educational.
The number of participants – 25.

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Do You Know USA Geography?

The Head of the WOA Center S.Usenko had a meeting with the students of the Dnipropetrovsk secondary school # 141 which majors in the study of the English language. The students were offered to learn more about the geography of the USA and play a popular table game “The Scrambled States of America”.
Each child received 2 cards about a state in the USA and its capital city. The children had to listen to the game task and find the answer in their cards. The kids were very active – many of them raised their hands to give the answers, and the majority of those answers were “True”. The kids’ knowledge pleased the teachers and the WOA Head.
At some point the teachers also joined the game and had some fun!
Participants – 25 persons.
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Fargo

“Wednesday Movie Club”
At the Window on America center in Dnipropetrovsk the film ‘Fargo’ (1986) was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Fargo is a 1996 American crime film produced, directed and written by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.
The film earned seven Academy Award nominations, winning two for Best Original Screenplay for the Coens and Best Actress in a Leading Role for McDormand. It also won the BAFTA Award and the Award for Best Director for Joel Coen at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2006 it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and inducted into the United States National Film Registry. In 2012, Slant Magazine ranked the film #36 on its list of the 100 Best Films of the 1990s.
Plot: Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.

Director: Joel Coen
Writers: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Stars: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand and Steve Buscemi

TEACHERS’ TRAINING at WOA Dnipropetrovsk

DOUNB Library was visited by a group of the English language teachers who attend a course at the Training Center of the local Education Department.
At the Foreign documents Department of the DOUNB Library they were offered a wide choice of modern literature on teaching methods for TEFL.
The WOA center Head, Svitlana Usenko, made a presentation about books and films available at the center. She informed the teachers about the free resources available on-line and recommended by the US State Department. The topics for educational activities with children were suggested to the teachers.
The PC volunteer Patrick Kelly invited the teachers to attend the weekly sessions of the WOA’s speaking club where they can listen to the American English.
The guests were impressed by the range of the technical equipment available at the WOA center – several PC stations, multimedia projector, modern gadgets (Kindle and iPad), Rosetta Stone software, etc. All these resources can help anyone to study English.
The teachers enjoyed the New Year’s photo display about a town in North Dakota state – “Winter Wonderland in Fargo”.
The number of visitors – 10 persons.

New Year’s Resolutions

Today’s session of the GABFEST club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was very special – as a surprise we had many American guests.
Our Peace Corp friends introduced   to the club a new comer – Alex – who will be teaching at one of the local schools. The club members asked him many questions about his home town Boston and suggested numerous places in Ukraine for him to see.
PCV volunteer Brandon shared with us facts about his projects in Volnogorsk high school. The girls, Sam and Kathryn, told us about their New Year celebration in Ukraine.
The PC volunteers used the opportunity to demonstrate to the club members the differences in accents in different states – North Carolina, Massachusetts and California. The topic of favorite American foods was also touched upon.
The official topic of the session was “New Year’s Resolutions”. This American tradition was introduced to the club members. A New Year's resolution is a commitment that a person makes to one or more personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit.
A key element to a New Year's resolution that sets it apart from other resolutions is that it is made in anticipation of the New Year and new beginnings. People committing themselves to a New Year's resolution generally plan to do so for the whole following year. The club members were offered several images with most popular New Year’s resolutions. They ranged from short and funny to more complicated ones. The club members commented on the funny American New Year resolutions and practiced to formulate their own resolutions about New Year’s trips.
Our volunteer Mr. Joseph had a chance to say good-bye to the club members and tell them about his forthcoming trip abroad.
The session was very educational and proved to be very informative especially for the numerous newcomers.
The number of visitors –38 persons.
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Driving Miss Daisy

Mr. Joseph Battilega continues his project of introducing American idioms and difficult expressions to the Movie Cub members for the better comprehension of the film content.
At the Window on America center in Dnipropetrovsk the Comedy/Drama ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ (1989) was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Plot: An old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.
Director: Bruce Beresford
Writers: Alfred Uhry (screenplay), Alfred Uhry (play)
Stars: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy and Dan Aykroyd

Winter in Primitive Art

Today’s session of the GABFEST Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was planned as a Ukrainian Christmas session and its aim was to introduce relevant topics for the discussion.

To create a Xmas atmosphere the Club’s moderator has introduced the topic “Winter in Primitive Art”. This topic allowed to introduce to the foreign club members world known Ukrainian primitive artists.

We started the discussion with viewing several videos about the recent exhibition of Maria Prymachenko in Kyiv.  The peculiarity of the display was the 3D exhibits of Prymachenko’s creatures made from straw by a Russian sculptor.

Other Ukrainian primitive artists were introduced in a slide show “Winter in Ukrainian Primitive Art”. The works of Marfa Tymchenko, Ivan  Skolozdra,  Elysaveta Myronova  impressed the audience with their vivid colors and fantasy style images of humans and animals.

The American Primitive art was introduced to the club members through the works of a world known artists Grandma Moses. We have watched several videos about her life and enjoyed her works. The simple realism, nostalgic atmosphere and luminous color with which Grandma Moses portrayed homely farm life and rural countryside won her a wide following. She was able to capture the excitement of winter's first snow, Thanksgiving preparations and the new, young green of oncoming spring.

Gay color, action and humor enlivened her portrayals of such simple farm activities as maple sugaring, soap-making, candle-making, haying, berrying and the making of apple butter.

In person, Grandma Moses charmed wherever she went. A tiny, lively woman with mischievous gray eyes and a quick wit she rarely failed to do a little painting every day even at the age of 100 years.

The second part of the session was dedicated to the traditions of Orthodox Xmas celebration in Ukraine. We have explained to our foreign friends what are the typical Xmas dishes.

At the end of the session the numerous newcomers introduced themselves and listened to the introductions of the regular club members.

The session was very educational and was enjoyed by all the participants.

Participants – 23 persons.

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