Poster
and Book display:
About
US: To the American Independence Day
July,
3 – Activate English! at 4:00 p.m.
July,
4 – Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.
July, 7 – ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.
July,
10 – Activate English! at 4:00 p.m.
July,
11 – Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.
July, 14 – ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.
July,
17 – Activate English! at 4:00 p.m.
July,
18 – Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.
July, 21 – ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.
July,
25 – Wednesday Movie Club at 5:00 p.m.
July, 28 – ESC Gabfest at 2:00 p.m.
July – Display «Picture US».
Dnipro Window on
America center presented a new display. Now it’s a good time to boast a WOA’s
collection – a set of images “Picture US”.
We
have decided to use them for an image display at the center dedicated to the
American Flag Day and Independence Day in the USA.
The
pictures from the set may be a very useful tool for language teaching and
learning. They bring authentic American life to lessons and motivate learners
to produce language.
The
strong side of the pictures is the sizeable format – it makes them suitable for
use in large classes.
The
sturdy material will allow this wonderful teaching aid to survive hands-on
activities.
The display seen by 100 persons.
on July, 3 – Activate English group 9.7. at Dnipro Window on America center.
The DOUNB Library and the Window on America Dnipro
center offer the library patrons an “Express English” activity that will help
them to activate their passive knowledge of the foreign language and to
overcome the fear of speaking in English.
Ten two hour-
lectures are offered for the participants to improve their conversational
skills in pairs.
The professional EFL lecturer T. Gavryliuk combines
the lexical exercises with important cross-cultural information that will help
the English learners to understand their foreign counterparts better and to
avoid awkward situations in communication.
The
new topics was “My Job” and “Transport”.
All
the participants found the session educational and helpful.
Number of participants – 21 persons.
July, 4 – «Wednesday Movie Club» / «Кіноклуб по середах»:
On July, 4th - Wednesday Movie Club - Greetings
to the American Nation!
At "Window on America" Center Dnipro
the Movie Club session coincided with the Independence Day of the United
States of America. This day was very special!
The WOA Center was visited by a regional TV
shooting crew. They have made a video report about WOA Dnipro and its popular
activity- Movie Club. The Club runs for many years on the premises of the DOUNB Library. Movie
Club members combine “business and pleasure” - they improve their English
skills, watch films and enjoy the American Art. Watching films enriches
vocabulary, improves comprehension and
auditing of the English speech. The Club members discuss the films, their philosophical
messages, film directors’ skills.
The Movie Club members were interviewed by the
journalists. They have told why they like to visit the DOUNB library, how it
helps them. We hope that the TV broadcast will attract more people to our free
Movie Club.
This
evening the documentary “Over Washington D.C. The Capital of Our Nation” (2010)
was viewed and discussed. The film shows all the main architectural monuments
of the city from the bird flight height. Wonderful music filled the film with
emotions, good voicing made the text comprehension quite easy. After the
viewing, everyone could express their emotions and thoughts.
Participants number – 13 persons.
On July, 5 – LIBRARY OUTING and US Independence Day!
DOUNB
Library regularly arranges outings in summer. The Library staff goes into the
streets to reach out and remind the community about its summer activities and
rich book collections.
On
July, 5,2018 the Window on America center Dnipro staff was responsible for the
Library’s street event. The Library display was dedicated to the US
Independence day and showcased books, CDs and images about the USA, its history
and Independence Day celebration.
Many
passersby were attracted to the display by American tunes and the Cowboy Hats
of the WOA’s staff and volunteers. The potential patrons were offered quizzes
and fun activities. Some visitors tried to play displayed board games – “Apples
to Apples” and “Monopoly”. The WOA Dnipro favors were much appreciated as
prizes.
We
are grateful to WOA volunteers Serhiy and Maryna for helping us to held a
festive event in the summer heat!
Marina
Repan Today I’ve got a rare opportunity to participate in a WOA
event devoted to the Independence Day of the USA. It is a great pleasure for me
to talk to people, both adults and children, about Window on America Center,
about the Book Exhibition, about opportunity to learn English at the library,
about the regular events at Window on America Center. I used to have a job to
talk to people and give them explanations outdoors, so doing the same today was
no wonder to me, and now I’m still feeling excited and cannot help sharing my
feelings about today’s event and my participation in it.
on July, 7 – US Independence Day at WOA Dnipro.
During today’s session of the Gabfest Club we focused on the US
Independence Day. We watched several YouTube videos about the holiday
celebration this year, some fun facts about this date and great funny stories
connected with modern ways of celebrating the Fourth of July. The group was
reminded to send “Happy Independence Day” greetings to all friends and family
in the USA.
The Speed English activity had a slogan “Red, White and Blue challenge”
and required to name different objects in the national colors of the USA.
After the session the Gabfest activists had an Independence Day Tea and composed
their greeting to the American people.
Participant number – 32
persons.
on July, 10 – Activate English 9.9.: Transport.
This
afternoon the WOA Dnipro’s Express-English group practiced conversation about
transport.
For
the warm up activity they shared opinions about private and public transport.
The car owners told the group when do they use their cars in a big city like
Dnipro and where do they park them.
The
challenging task was to make a list of “do’s and don’ts” for foreigners in
Dnipro’s public transport. To wrap up the session the students talked about the advantages and disadvantages
of ships, planes and trains.
The home task is to learn the topics – “Check-
in at a Hotel and Airport”.
Participants number – 17 persons.
on July, 11 – Wednesday Movie Club: Jumper.
This afternoon the WOA’s Movie Club (at Window on America
center Dnipro, Ukraine) offered the big-screening of a science fiction
film.
Jumper is a 2008 American science fiction action
film loosely based on the 1992 science fiction novel of the same name written
by Steven Gould. The film is directed by Doug Liman and star Hayden
Christensen. The film follows a young man capable of teleporting as he is
chased by a secret society intent on killing him. The script went through a
rewrite prior to filming and the roles for the main characters were changed
during production. Jumper was filmed in 20 cities in 14 countries between
2006-07. The film received generally unfavourable reviews from critics, mostly
due to the many changes from Gould's novel, rushed plot and anti-climactic
ending.
WOA’s
patrons enjoyed the
warm discussion followed the film watching and touched the different aspects of
the film: the actors’ playing, the director’s work, the soundtracks and the
lifestyles of the fiction heroes.
On July, 14 – Dnipro & Mississippi – All You need to
Know.
On July, 7
Ukraine celebrated the International Day of the Dnieper River, the third
largest river in Europe. The focus of the Day was on the campaign for the
prevention of phosphate pollution in the Dnieper River basin. The Ukrainian
households are urged to use phosphate-free (P-free) detergents to prevent the
“blossoming” of algae in the river. The phosphate pollution impacts the water
quality and biodiversity of the river.
The Gabfest Club members (in Window on America
center, Ukraine) briefed our foreign volunteer Mr. Eric about the Dnipro River
Day and events in Dnipro to observe this day.
We always try
to find common things for Ukraine and US. So we discussed the recent article
about the similarity of GDP for US states and countries of the world. It turned
out that Ukraine’s GDP is comparable to the GDP of Mississippi state. We
watched a video about the state, the tourist attractions on the Mississippi
river, the troubles that the river faces in the 21st century. Our foreign
volunteer Mr. Eric told us about the major Australian rivers and the problems
they face.
The session raised awareness of the Club members
about the ecological challenges for the
main Ukrainian water artery – the Dnieper river.
Participants number – 27 persons.
on July, 14 – Foreign Volunteer at #DniproWOA.
The Window on America Dnipro’s patrons had an
opportunity to have a Q&A session with Mr. Eric. He was asked various
questions about his home country Australia. The questions were about tourist
attractions of Sydney and New Castle, Australia’s neighbor New Zealand, about
global events hosted by Australia – Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, local
festivals.
The WOA Dnipro patrons had a good chance to practice
their spoken English and learn a lot of new things.
On July, 16 – Guests from Indiana.
This
afternoon the Window on America center in Dnipro welcomed the Ukrainian family
that studies and works in the USA.
Ms.
Alina Nesen is professional IT specialist from Dnipro who now takes a PhD
course at the Purdue University (Indiana). Ms. Alina has been an active
participant in US academic exchange programs since high school – she started as
a FLEX program participant. The Education USA consultants helped her to find a
PhD program in Computer Science at the Purdue University. Alina was offered a
job at the University – she is a Software Engineering Project Coordinator. It’s
hard to combine work and academic research, but Ms. Alina enjoys work in the
avant-garde of computer science and software development.
Alina’s
daughter Sasha (14 y.o.) studies at an
American high school. She told us about the education system at her school and
compared the school systems in US and Ukraine. She shared some tips how one can
improve the English skills. Sasha thoroughly enjoys her American experience and
speaks American English almost as a native speaker.
We
look forward to see our Indiana students at the sessions of the Gabfest
speaking Club!
on
July, 17 – “Activate English!” Group’s Graduation at
Dnipro Window on America center.
This
afternoon the Activate English group had the final lesson. A pleasant surprise
was the most of students who have made it to the end of the course.
The
group was introduced to the phrases and vocabulary for international travelers.
They
practiced the topics “At the Airport” and “In the Airplane”. The phrases for
customs and immigration formalities were very useful for the learners.
The
course was based on the materials from the textbook published by McMillan
Language House and focused on the conversational practice for intermediate and
advanced level learners of English.
During
10 educational sessions the students practiced popular conversational topics,
studied new vocabulary and grammatical structures, learned about the basic
etiquette of the English-speaking countries, mastered the skills of “small
talk”.
The
most diligent participants of the Activate English group received WOA’s
Certificates of Attendance.
Well
done, guys! You are welcome at all WOA’s events!
Number of participants – 17 persons.
on
July, 18 – «Wednesday Movie Club» / «Кіноклуб по середах»: Who Framed
Roger Rabbit.
Window on America
center Dnipro, Ukraine, offered screening of the American fantasy comedy Who Framed
Roger Rabbit (1988) with
Bob Hoskins starring.
Plot: A toon hating detective
is a cartoon rabbit's only hope to prove his innocence when he is accused of
murder.
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Gary K. Wolf (novel),
Jeffrey Price (screenplay).
Who Framed
Roger Rabbit spurred a renewed interest in the Golden Age of American animation
and spearheaded the modern era of American animation, especially the Disney
Renaissance.
In 2016, the film was
selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the
Library of Congress.
WOA’s
patrons enjoyed the
warm discussion followed the film watching and touched the different aspects of
the film: the actors’ playing, the director’s work, the soundtracks and the
lifestyles of the fiction heroes.
Participants number – 18 person.
On July,
21 – Full insight to Australia
(insightful journey to Australia) at WOA Dnipro.
This afternoon the Gabfest Club session in Dnipro Window on America
center was very special and unique, because we spent it with a great pleasure
with our beloved and favorite Australian friend Mr. Eric as our moderator! To
have sessions moderated by an English native speaker is such a rarity,
especially with Eric, because his wish to reveal Australia and his amazing
Australian sense of humor made us more knowledgeable and entertained us! So no
wonder, that we made a best of this rare opportunity to dive into English
language realm and forgot for two hours, that we are in Ukraine. Eric loves his
motherland Australia so very much, that two hours was not enough for him and
for us as well. So he took us all to a wonderful journey to Australian nature
and Australian cuisine, inviting everyone to ask questions.
Our journey with Eric started from the city, in which he lives with his
family – Newcastle, which is in the state New South Wales. We loved watching
lovely pictures of view of this city, its beaches. Then Eric told us some
details about waterfalls, because there are many of them, and that the majority
of them are constant, and when it is too dry, they disappear, and when it is
rainy there is more than enough water in them. Eric had been to three
waterfalls, so he showed us the pictures of them with pleasure. Then we had an
insight to some deserts of different colors. Some of them are red because of
color of stone is red. Eric told us that there are ten deserts in Australia.
Some of them are named Great Victoria Desert, Sandy Desert, Simpson Desert. We
were so amazed that despite the fact that these deserts are hotter than in
Africa, there is life in them, and it was so wonderful for us to see that there
are so many flowers in these deserts, and the other wonderful thing is that
people work in those areas, and businesses thrive.
Then Eric revealed to us that there are some regions in Australia in
which it snows. The real fun was to see pictures in which kangaroos are
standing or jumping on snow, unfortunately we did not see penguins there, but
Eric says that they can be there, anyway we will see everything if we have a
chance to go to Australia. Also Eric told us that there are seals and sea
lions, and many other things, and while the club members were asking their
questions about Australian nature, he told that aboriginals live among the
other Australian live every other ordinary citizens. And while we were talking
about famous animals in Australia, Eric revealed to us how camels appeared in
Australia and became wild.
The next sphere for today’s research of Australia was its cuisine. As it
turned out that many people were interested in Australian cuisine, Eric gladly
familiarized us with traditional food of Australia. This part was pretty
fascinating as Eric presented the pictures of that food which were with some
explanations everyone was invited to read and Eric gave some comments to them,
which turned out to be so vitally important. For example, vegemites, peanut
butter are those which can be usually bought in supermarkets of Australia, as
they turn out too difficult and time-consuming to be prepared at home. Another
special food in the list of Australian cuisine is ANZAC cookies, which have
their history and loved by everyone in Australia since WWI, and people
traditionally eat on ANZAC day. Some special food Australian parents cook for
their children are called fairy pies, which are easy to cook, as these are
pieces of white bread with butter and sprinkles of different colors. And also
Australians turn out to love meat pies which are very convenient for
Australians to bring to eat on football matches, for example. And the others,
like French fries, popular like in any other country. And there is another
special reason for pride of Australians – Pavlova dessert. It turned out that
this dessert was designed in Australia after a famous Russian ballerina
Pavlova, but Australians or Aussies, how they love calling themselves and New
Zealanders, or Kiwis, have an argument between each other that they are the
creators of this dessert, and all the club members are extremely lucky to be
closer the truth of origin of the Pavlova dessert than everybody else in the
world.
After the session, when we familiarize ourselves with Eric’s help with
Australian cuisine, we proceeded from theory to practice – Eric invited us to
try some delicious food from the list of Australian cuisine to share with him
his love for Australia. Eric treated us with some tea – black and decaf,
brought from Australia, which we enjoyed while Eric gladly treated us with
amazingly tasty cheese, crackers with vegemite and peanut butter and fruit
cake, which is usually served in Australia on big holidays or weddings, and
thus this Australian tea party with Eric was a real celebration of holiday in
honor of Australia. Yes, Eric seriously planned to familiarize us with
Australia to the full extent to make us forget that we are in Ukraine, and we
must say – he made it! Hopefully next time he will familiarize us with
Australian food festivals on which we did not have much time today, but we have
a strong belief that they deserve it!
We are all extremely thankful to
Eric for the insight to Australia and terrific Australia-themed tea party, as,
like one of the club members noted, it was an unexpected and pleasant time to
see Australia from the inside.
Participants number – 30
persons.
on July, 25 – «Wednesday Movie Club» / «Кіноклуб по середах»:.
The members of the “Wednesday Movie Club” at Window on America center
Dnipro, Ukraine, who wish to improve their language skills had watched an
American comedy film «Father of the Bride» (1991) film starring Steve
Martin.
Martin portrays George Banks, a businessman and owner of an athletic
shoe company (called Side Kicks), who, when he finds out his daughter is
getting married, does not want to give her away. He eventually learns to live
with his new son-in-law and realizes that as long as his daughter is happy, he
is happy.
The film inspired a series of Hallmark commercials that featured the
smiling faces of the happy couple and sneak-peeks at the backs of numerous
greeting cards. It is number 92 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".
WOA’s
patrons enjoyed the
warm discussion followed the film watching and touched the different aspects of
the film: the characters’ behavior, the message conveyed by the film, the
soundtracks and the lifestyles of the film heroes.
Participants number – 8 person.
July, 28 – Stop Trafficking in Persons!
This afternoon the WOA Dnipro’s English-speaking Club “Gabfest” introduced the members into a global problem. World Day against Trafficking in Persons is held on July 30th annually in many countries of the world. People trafficking and modern day slavery is a massive worldwide problem with very few countries immune to human trafficking.
Introductions of the new-comers worked as a warm-up activity for the group.
The Gabfest Speaking-Club session was aimed to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking cases. Thousands of men, women and children end up in the hands of traffickers every year. They are being tricked and mislead to believe that they are being taken to work. The group was introduced to the ways that lure people into trafficking. The victims lose their rights and identity; they are used and abused.
The topic was illustrated with You Tube videos about rescue from human trafficking by US airlines personnel. The Club members were urged to be aware of the problem and report to police the suspicious cases of forced labor and begging.
Participants number – 25 persons.
This afternoon the WOA Dnipro’s English-speaking Club “Gabfest” introduced the members into a global problem. World Day against Trafficking in Persons is held on July 30th annually in many countries of the world. People trafficking and modern day slavery is a massive worldwide problem with very few countries immune to human trafficking.
Introductions of the new-comers worked as a warm-up activity for the group.
The Gabfest Speaking-Club session was aimed to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking cases. Thousands of men, women and children end up in the hands of traffickers every year. They are being tricked and mislead to believe that they are being taken to work. The group was introduced to the ways that lure people into trafficking. The victims lose their rights and identity; they are used and abused.
The topic was illustrated with You Tube videos about rescue from human trafficking by US airlines personnel. The Club members were urged to be aware of the problem and report to police the suspicious cases of forced labor and begging.
Participants number – 25 persons.
July, 31 – Book Donation from Krystyna.
WOA Dnipro’s active patron Krystyna donated a collection of EFL
textbooks to the center. She is a student of Information Science at one of the
Dnipro city universities.
The girl hopes that her collection will help other WOA patrons to improve their English language skills.
Thank you Krystyna! We are very grateful!
The girl hopes that her collection will help other WOA patrons to improve their English language skills.
Thank you Krystyna! We are very grateful!
