Today at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk the Gabfest Club (Ukraine) members celebrated the U.N. English Language Day.
English Language Day is celebrated each year on April 23 – the date when tradition says William Shakespeare was born. Shakespeare has been called the greatest writer in the English language. His plays continue to be published, performed in theaters and seen in films almost 400 years after his death.
Language Days at the U.N. aim to entertain and inform. The Language Days goal is to increase the awareness and respect for the history, culture and achievements of each of the six working languages among the UN community.
To start the ball running we described several posters created for this date. Our American volunteer Mr. Jason introduced some specific words to describe the posters –“thought bubble”, “Gothic font”, “playwright ” and others.
The group was asked questions about the U.N. official languages, the work of translators and interpreters at the UN and other places. The notion of a “social interpreter” was introduced and the club members shared their experiences of social interpreting in Ukraine.
The WOA’s Head Svitlana Usenko told the group about the Day of English flash mob in Ukraine. The US State Department and the national project “УкраїнаSpeaking” produced a poster with popular English phrases for service industry in Ukraine. This year the flash mob participants had to deliver the posters to Ukrainian waiters. The photos from the flash mob were demonstrated to the group. We talked about the reasons why the Ukrainian hospitality service workers need to improve their English language skills.
At the end of the session we watched and translated the slide show about the history of the English Language. Now the Club members understand why the spelling and pronunciation of the English language is such a challenge for learners.
The session was a “full house” and explained several cross-cultural issues to the participants.
Number of participants – 30 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please
Celebrating the U.N. English Language Day by distributing “English to Everyone” posters in Dnipropetrovsk!
Our Library, supports the Year of English in Ukraine!
Our Window on America Center in Dnipropetrovsk supports the Year of English in Ukraine!
On William Shakespeare’s birthday the DOUNB library staff and readers-volunteers took part in the flash mob aimed at promotion of English among the local hospitality establishments personnel. The posters which presented the Ukraine-English phrases essential for servicing the foreign visitors were distributed at the local restaurants and cafes. Printing of colorful phrase-posters was a courtesy of the US Embassy in Ukraine. Restaurant and café employees are interested in improving their English skills to provide good services to foreign customers. They are willing to cooperate with the DOUNB library.
DOUNB library and the "Window on America" Information and Resource Center support the” Year of English” in Ukraine and are offering free express courses of the English language to the library patrons.
The second enrollment to the “Express English” groups starts as follows: May, 17 – “Activate English” and May, 19 – “Basic English”.
