Conversation about Kobzar with DNMetAU students

03/20/2014 - To the 200th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko's birth

«Ira Aldridge  - Kobzar’s American Friend» for students NMetAU

 
 “Kobzar’s American Friend” presentation for Translation Students
The WOA  Centre was visited by a group of the 2nd year students from the National Metallurgical Academy; the students’ major is “Technical Translation”.
The WOA’s Head Svitlana Usenko introduced the WOA centre and its resources to the students. The WOA staff member Tamara Gavryliuk created a slide show “ Kobzar’s American Friend”.
Prior to the slide show the group discussed the role of Shevchenko in the Ukrainian culture and his importance for the Ukrainian nation.
The PP presentation reminded the students about facts of Shevchenko’s biography with the focus on his painting talent, introduced new vocabulary and art terms. The presentation highlighted the fact of Shevchenko’s acquaintance and friendship with an outstanding African-American Shakespearian actor – Ira Aldridge .The students’ attention was drawn to Ira Aldridge’s portrait by Shevchenko. They read and rendered into English the memoirs of the person who witnessed their friendship.
The 200th Shevchenko’s anniversary is widely celebrated in Ukraine and the information about his friendship with the outstanding American actor has both cultural and educational value.
Number of participants – 6.

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Partnership is not challenged by Distance

Dnipropetrovsk school No.141 is a specialized school with the focus on foreign languages study (English and German).The fact that the school is located quite far from the DOUNB Library (in the “Parus” residential  area – the western city suburb ) does not hinder its close ties with WOA Dnipropetrovsk;  we  have been partners for a long time.
For the 200th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko, the iconic Ukrainian poet and a talented painter, the WOA centre provided the school teachers with the educational material in English. The WOA staff member Tamara Gavryliuk created a slide show “Kobzar’s American Friend”.
 The PP presentation reminded the students about facts of Shevchenko’s biography with the focus on his painting talent, introduced new vocabulary and art terms. The presentation highlighted the fact of Shevchenko’s acquaintance and friendship with an outstanding African-American Shakespearian actor – Ira Aldridge.The students’ attention was drawn to Ira Aldridge’s portrait by Shevchenko. They read and rendered into English the memoirs of the person who witnessed their friendship.
The WOA’s presentation was demonstrated by the teachers of English to 216 persons (203 students, 13 teachers).

Friendly Visit

To the 200th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko's birth
«Ira Aldridge  - Kobzar’s American Friend» for school students. 

On March, 7 the staff of Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) were invited to school #39. Our long time partner, the English language teacher Victoria Platonova invited Svitlana Usenko to talk about Taras Shevchenko’s biography facts.
She conducted 2 lessons for the students of various ages (approx. 30 students, 7 grades). Svitlana Usenko informed the students and their teachers about the books and resources of the Oblast Scientific Library named after the Slavic apostles Cyril and Methodius.
All the participants of the event were acquainted with the "Window on America" Center. The Center will be useful to all English language learners.
Svitlana Usenko offered to the following interactive presentations with vocabulary tasks were offered to the attention of the students.

The following activities were offered to the attention of the students:
•    Slide show «Ira Aldridge  - Kobzar’s American Friend»
•    Slide show “Kobzar’s Testament Riddle”
The presentations were both educational (enriched vocabulary) and enjoyable .
Number of participants – 30 (teacher of English – 1, pupils – 28, librarian – 1).

Gabfest Club meets Kobzar

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the up-coming Taras Shevchenko’s 200th anniversary.  We were lucky to have American guests for this session – Mrs. Linda and Mr. Joseph.
The group had a chance to explain important details of Shevchenko’s art and poetry to the foreigners. The slide show about Shevchenko’s friendship with an American actor Ira Aldridge  was the highlight of the session. This unknown fact impressed both the group and the American visitors.
 The Club’s activists prepared recitals of Shevchenko’s poems - both in the original and in the professional translation into English. The foreign guests appreciated the efforts to present the poems in English.
 
The group was familiarized with a slide presentation “Kobzar’s Testament Riddle” that offered a new approach to the background of the classical poem “My Testament”. The local historian D. Synytsia analyzed the text of the poem and suggested his own interpreting of the facts. According to the researcher Shevchenko wanted to be buried in the vicinity of the modern Dnipropetrovsk city. In the slide show we took a fresh look at the poem’s text and found confirmation to D. Synytsia’s hypothesis. The new facts from Kobzar’s biography impressed the group. The group was thrilled by the Testament’s riddle that caused so much confusion and deprived the city of the nationwide Shevchenko Memorial.
To wrap up the session the group had an opportunity to ask questions to the guests about their background, their home states and impressions about Ukraine.
Number of participants – 24.
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Taras Shevchenko - 200

Today’s session of the American Teen Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) started with the introductions of the regular club members and the newcomers. The regular club members told the basic facts about the history of the Club and the history of the WOA Centre.

An informative slide show «Kobzar’s American Friend» was presented to the group. A set of quiz-type questions reminded the students the basic facts of Shevchenko’s biography with the focus on his talent of a portrait painter. This allowed to introduce to the students the personality of IraAldridge who ordered a portrait by Taras Shevchenko.

Ira Aldridge gained fame in the 19th century as one of the most prominent African-American Shakespearian actors and the first American actor to perform in Russia. In 1858 Aldridge made a tour of Russia and was introduced to Shevchenko in St. Petersburg. The memoirs of the witnesses informed the audience about the friendly atmosphere set in Shevchenko’s studio during Aldridge’s posing sessions. The painting by L. Picard illustrated the moment of friendly communication between two talented people with sad background of slavery and serfdom.

The unknown fact of friendship between the American and Ukrainian geniuses was a surprise to the audience. The club members enriched their vocabulary with new art terms, examined and described Shevchenko’s paintings and appreciated the art talent of the iconic Ukrainian poet.

Number of participants – 4 persons.

Taras Shevchenko - 200

"Ira Aldridge  - Kobzar’s American Friend" and "Kobzar’s Testament Riddle"
On February, 28 the staff of Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) were invited to school #22. Our long time partner, the English language teacher Valentina Shvydka invited Svitlana Usenko and Tamara Gavryluik to talk about Taras Shevchenko’s biography facts.
They conducted 4 lessons for the students of various ages (approx. 125 students, 6-8-9-10 grades). Svitlana Usenko informed the students and their teachers about the books and resources of the Oblast Scientific Library named after the Slavic apostles Cyril and Methodius.
All the participants of the event were acquainted with the "Window on America" Center. The Center will be useful to all English language learners.
 
Tamara Gavryluik offered to the following interactive presentations with vocabulary tasks were offered to the attention of the students.
The following activities were offered to the attention of the students:
•    Slide show «Ira Aldridge  - Kobzar’s American Friend»
•    Slide show “Kobzar’s Testament Riddle”
The presentations were both educational (enriched vocabulary) and enjoyable .
Number of participants – 135 (teachers of English – 10, pupils – 123, librarian – 2).

Have a look at more pictures, please