Holocaust

January, 27 is the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. 

The WOA centre Dnipropetrovsk has invited an American historian Dr. Paul A. Levine from the Swedish Uppsala University to present the book “Tell Ye Your Children”. The book written with a co-author Stephane Bruchfeld tells about the Holocaust in Europe 1933-1945.The copy of the book was signed by the author and donated to the WOA Centre.

The Ukrainian audience asked Dr. Levine many questions about his research methods and other books about Holocaust. It turned out that Dr. Levine is the author of another book: “Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest: Myth, History and Holocaust “.

Paul Levine presents here for the first time the true history of Raoul Wallenberg, one of the most-famous heroes of the Holocaust. It is the first scholarly study of Wallenberg and Swedish diplomacy in Budapest during the Holocaust which both utilizes and contextualizes those Swedish diplomatic documents which best describe his historic mission. Analyzing Wallenberg's own correspondence and reports, it provides a new insight into his motives and background. The study explores and deconstructs the many myths which have enveloped his morally important and heroic story. Together, the two strands of the study explain what Wallenberg did to assist and save many thousands of Jews in Budapest.

We hope to get this book as a gift from Dr. Levin very soon.

Dr. Levine has Ukrainian roots and finds this trip very sentimental. The WOA visitors recommended Dr. P.A. Levin numerous places in Dnipropetrovsk where he can enrich his knowledge about Holocaust in Ukraine.

The number of visitors – 28 persons.

Have a look at more pictures, please 

Groundhog Day

At the Window on America center in Dnipropetrovsk Groundhog Day (1993) was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Plot: A weatherman finds himself living the same day over and over again.
Director: Harold Ramis
Writers: Danny Rubin (screenplay), Harold Ramis (screenplay)
Stars: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott
Number of the visitors – 20.
Have a look at more pictures, please

“small talk”

Today’s session of the Gabfest speaking club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) had no particular topic in order to encourage a “small talk” conversation skills!
During the first part of the session we had PCV visitors. Sam and Alex engaged numerous newcomers into introductory conversation. After that the conversation drifted into the discussion on bilingualism. The PC volunteers shared their experience of bilingualism in California. While the Club members briefed Alex on the history of bilingualism in Ukraine. Some suggestions for spring
sightseeing in Dnipropetrovsk were made to Alex.
The second part of the session was a drill – to tell about the most memorable events of the week. The first round was talking about positive events and the second round – about nuisances of everyday life.
To round up the session the Window on america staff and activists shared their impressions about the visit of US Cultural Ambassadors to the library.
The session was enjoyed by all the participants.
Participants – 28 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please

A WOA video tour and presentation

The WOA Center Dnipropetrovsk was visited by a group of students from the National Mining University.
The WOA Head Svitlana Usenko showed the video on the history of the facility.
The free  resources of the WOA Center were introduced to the group – the software  and on-line resources for the English language study recommended by the US State department. The donated gadgets iPad and Kindle were presented to the audience.
The students got interested in the information about the WOA’s English speaking Club which is often visited by the American volunteers.
Number of visitors – 10 persons.

American Writers - memorable dates of February

A new book and illustration display is offered to the visitors at the Window on America Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. 
The display showcases the prominent American writers born in February – H.Longfellow, Gertrude Stein, Sinclair Lewis, John Steinbeck, Sidney Sheldon, J. Safran and others. 
CDs with films based on the novels of the displayed authors are presented as well.

U.S. Cultural Ambassadors in Dnipropetrovsk

On January, 31, 2013 the WOA Centre in Dnipropetrovsk was visited by the US Cultural Ambassadors – Becky Bonner, Tamika Raymond and Nykesha Sales.

All of them are former professional women’s basketball players who came to Ukraine as part of a sports diplomacy exchange program. 

As cultural ambassadors they were happy to talk about any subject with WOA center audience.  This afternoon   the audience comprised people of all ages: school children and teachers from the nearby high school # 23, graduates of the National Metallurgical Academy technical translation faculty, activists of the WOA’s English speaking Club “Gabfest”.

The guests have introduced themselves, showed on the USA map their home states and towns.  They have asked who in the audience had been to the USA. It turned out that 2 persons in the audience visited the USA: the WOA Head Svitlana has been to Chicago in an Open World exchange project; the high school student Nikita has been to New-York with his parents.

After that the Q&A session started.

The guests were asked about their impressions about Ukraine and Dnipropetrovsk city. It turned out that the athletes find the Ukrainian cuisine delicious and particularly enjoyed our traditional beetroot soup “borsch”. The guests didn’t have time for sightseeing. But they have noticed beautiful historic buildings in the downtown and our tree-lined boulevards that impressed them even in winter.

The guests were asked about their way into basketball and told their respective stories. The range of questions about sport ranged from the healthy diet to obligatory doping control in professional basketball. To round up the session the guests told about their impressions of the Ukrainian kids who participated in their “Basketball labs” – professional basketball “master classes” in local schools.

The highlight of the Cultural Ambassadors’ visit was the autograph session and a group photo in the WOA Center.

The meeting with the US athletes impressed all the participants and hopefully inspired the younger generation to lead healthy life style and go in for sports.

Participants – 30 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please 

WOA Center Presentation

Today WOA Center in Dnipropetrovsk was visited by a group of students and teachers from the nearby high school # 23.
The WOA center Head, Svitlana Usenko, made a presentation about the history of the facility and the resources available at the center. She informed the group 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 teachers and students were invited 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 improve the English language skills. 

A new book display was also presented to the group. It showcases the new donations from the US Embassy in Ukraine. 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.
The WOA Head and the teachers made plans for future cooperation in February.
The number of visitors – 20 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please 

Lost in AmericA

“Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
The film «Lost in America» (1985) was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Plot: A husband and wife in their 30s decide to quit their jobs, live as free spirits and cruise America in a Winnebago.
Director: Albert Brooks
Writers: Albert Brooks, Monica Mcgowan Johnson
Stars: Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty, Sylvia Farrel

Learning techniques

Today’s session of the GABFEST Club session (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk) was dedicated to the topic “Learning techniques”. The focus of discussion was on the ‘Insight Learning” theory by W. Kohler, a professor of psychology widely known in the USA.
To start the discussion we have remembered the discoveries made by the Greek Archimedes (the “Eureka” story) and Isaac Newton (a dropping apple case).
Such terms as ‘insight”, ‘insight learning” and “Aha moment” were introduced to the audience. Insight, in learning theory, is an immediate and clear learning or understanding that takes place without overt trial-and-error testing. Insight occurs in human learning when people recognize relationships (or make novel associations between objects or actions) that can help them solve new problems.Once the basic terms were defined we watched a biographical video about professor. Much of the scientific knowledge concerning insight derives from work on animal behavior that was conducted by 20th-century psychologist Wolfgang Köhler. In one experiment Köhler placed a banana outside the cage of a hungry chimpanzee, Sultan, and gave the animal two sticks, each too short for pulling in the food, but joinable to make a single stick of sufficient length. Sultan tried unsuccessfully to use each stick, and he even used one stick to push the other along to touch the banana. Later, apparently after having given up, Sultan accidentally joined the sticks, observed the result, and immediately ran with the longer tool to retrieve the banana. When the experiment was repeated, Sultan joined the two sticks and solved the problem immediately. This result, however, is ambiguous, because it appeared that Sultan solved the problem by accident — not through insight.
We have watched and discussed several “National Geographic” videos about clever animals. The club members shared their own experiences about having an “Aha! moment”.
During the second part of the session the WOA Head Svitlana Usenko has presented the book display of the new  donations  by the US Embassy in Ukraine.
At the end of the session all the new comers introduced themselves.
The session was very educational and enjoyed by all the participants.
The number of participants – 32 persons.