“Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
The film Apocalypse Now (1979) was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills with staring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall.
Apocalypse Now is producer/director Francis Ford Coppola's visually beautiful, ground-breaking masterpiece with surrealistic and symbolic sequences detailing the confusion, violence, fear, and nightmarish madness of the Vietnam War.
Plot: During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.
In 2000, Apocalypse Now was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, for films deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Number of participants – 8.
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Master students of the Electrical Engineering faculty visited "Window on America" center. They got acquainted with various services this center offers to everyone interested in the language and culture of the USA.
One of the most useful was the opportunity to access one of the biggest electronic libraries e-Library USA. This electronic resource can be very helpful in their research and preparation for Master thesis.
You can both work and have fun at the "Window on America" center.
"Apples to Apples" is one of the various board games the Center visitors can enjoy. This simple game is a funny chance to use your imagination and learn new words and their combinations.
Learning can be fun with Window on America and the Department of Foreign Languages.
The number of visitors – 6 persons.
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Today the WOA Center was quite busy!
On the St. Valentine’s Day a group of 40 pupils from the secondary school #23 visited our facility with their English teachers.
The students watched a video about the history and traditions of the St.Valentine’s day, heard podcast about “valentine’s date” in Chicago. Learnt new phrasal verbs about love and friendship, reviewed a popular American songs.
The students prepared Valentine’s cards. The boys and girls looked forward to the game “St.Valentine’s Post”. At the end we have a friendly tea party.
The visit was a lot of fun and we hope to see the school students again soon
The number of visitors – 22 persons.
Today’s session of the American Teen Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) started with the introductions of the “УкраїнаSpeaking” project. The aim is to draw attention of the young generation to the importance of the foreign language skills.
The official topic of the Teen Club was Chinese New Year. The group was offered to describe several images with the artifacts of Chinese culture: coins, utensils, etc.
The WOA staff member T. Gavryliuk presented the Chinese Zodiac to the group in English. It is a repeating cycle of 12 years, with each year being represented by an animal and its reputed attributes. Traditionally these zodiac animals were used to date the years. In order, the 12 animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. The teenagers explored the provided table and shared the information about their birth year according to the Chinese Zodiac.
Besides, the group was told about the life of Chinese community in the USA. We have watched several videos about the history of celebration of the Chinese New Year in the USA, about the culture of the America-born Chinese teenagers.
The most anticipated activity was the word game “Apples to Apples”. The fans of the game Eric and Yegor presented the rules to the rest of the group. Marina as the only lady at the session was offered the role of the Judge. The boys introduced our UK guest Mr. Paul to this hilarious game of crazy comparisons. Both senior students and the medium school students enjoyed the “Apples to Apples” game.
Number of participants – 6 persons.
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Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the Celebration of Chinese New Year. To start the ball rolling the group was offered several images to describe. The most interesting conversation was about the images with the artifacts of Chinese culture: coins, utensils, etc.
The conversation led us to the topic of the Chinese Zodiac. The Chinese animal zodiac is a repeating cycle of 12 years, with each year being represented by an animal and its reputed attributes. Traditionally these zodiac animals were used to date the years. In order, the 12 animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
The group was offered images from the DOUNB Library
books on Chinese Art .The task was to give the name of the animal and tell if it belongs to the Chinese zodiac.
The second part of the session was dedicated to the life of Chinese community in the USA. We have watched several videos about the history of celebration of the Chinese New Year in the USA, about the culture of the America-born Chinese. We made a list of popular Hollywood actors of Chinese origin.
The club members enjoyed the topic and were glad to share their experiences of contacts with Chinese people in Ukraine.
Number of participants – 27 persons.
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“Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine had a session devoted to Groundhog Day in the USA.
A recent US comedy ‘Groundhog Day’ was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Groundhog Day is a 1993 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Harold Ramis, starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott. It was written by Ramis and Danny Rubin, based on a story by Rubin.
Murray plays Phil Connors, an arrogant Pittsburgh TV weatherman who, during an assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, finds himself in a time loop, repeating the same day again and again. After indulging in hedonism and committing suicide numerous times, he begins to re-examine his life and priorities.
In 2006, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". A stage musical version of the film is scheduled to premiere in 2016.
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Number of participants – 15 persons.
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To observe the anniversary of the 32nd US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the US President's Day the Window on America Center (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) presented to the patrons a book and portrait display 'Franklin Delano Roosevelt’.
A democrat and an outstanding personality, he is the only US President who was elected for four presidential terms. F. Roosevelt became president during the Great Depression in the USA. He started major industrial projects to revive the US economy and to reform social programs. These actions made him very popular among the US population.
Books and illustrations from the WOA’s collection show FDR in the family circle. His wife Eleanor Roosevelt was a very socially active First Lady. She encouraged her husband to build a political career, helped him to overcome illness and was always engaged in charity.
Today’s session of the Teen Club was attended by few brave boys – Eric and Yegor. The rest of the teenagers stayed at home due to the flu epidemic. At the beginning of the session the WOA staff encouraged the boys to share their tastes in winter songs. Eric suggested that we listen and translate the iconic winter time songs: “Happy New Year” by ABBA and “Santa Clause is coming to town” by different popular performers – from classical to rock.
A cup of tea with sweet snacks activated the brain cells and prepared the boys to a brain-storm - the teenagers were introduced to the WOA’s table games. The “Apples to Apples” game was explained in detail and the boys really enjoyed playing it from the first round.
At a later stage the teenagers were joined by our UK volunteer Mr. Paul. The group enjoyed playing the “Monopoly” game. The boys had a chance to practice their introduction phrases.
Number of participants – 3 persons.
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