Little Women

“Wednesday Movie Club” - «The story that has Lived in our hearts For generations, Now comes to the screen For the holidays».
At the Window on America center in Dnipropetrovsk the film Little Women (1994) was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Plot: The March sisters live and grow in post-Civil War America. With their father away fighting in the Civil War, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy grow up with their mother in somewhat reduced circumstances. They are a close family who inevitably have their squabbles and tragedies. But the bond holds even when, later, men friends start to become a part of the household.
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Writers: Louisa May Alcott (novel), Robin Swicord (screenplay)
Stars: Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes
The number of visitors – 5 persons.

Encyclopedias

Mrs. Valentina  prefers the WOA center’s   encyclopedias!

She is absorbed into preparations for the lesson on natural disasters.

Excursion

On May, 22, 2013 the WOA Centre Dnipropetrovsk was visited by a group of students from the National Mining University. The students major in economics and financing.
The WOA Head Svitlana Usenko showed the video on the history of the facility.
The free resources of the WOA Centre 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 were invited to join the WOA’s popular Clubs:
-    The Movie Club
-    The English-speaking Club GABFEST.
The Movie Club allows the participants to check their English auditing and comprehension skills. Regular visits of foreign guests to the Gabfest Club allow to improve one’s English speaking skills.
Number of visitors – 16 persons.

People and homeless animals

Today’s session of the Gabfest speaking club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) started with the surprise.
Today we had a very interesting American guest – Mr. David Poehner, who came to Ukraine from the state of Oregon. He told us everything about his activities in our city, about the organization, which takes care of homeless animals, especially dogs. We talked about the difficulties in giving shelter to these animals, because they are abandoned and very few people take care of them. We discussed and compared the conditions of animals' living in Ukraine and West European countries, and it appeared to be almost similar. David Poehner showed us pictures of these animals .The Animal shelter is situated in the city suburb. Our guest asked if anyone of the people present at  the club’s session would like to join him in his activities.
We all enjoyed the meeting with such an interesting American guest and hope he will come again to our speaking club.
The number of visitors – 16 persons.
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Pianist

At the Window on America center in Dnipropetrovsk  Pianist (2002) – 134 min. was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Plot: A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II.
Director: Roman Polanski
Writers: Ronald Harwood (screenplay), Wladyslaw Szpilman (based on the book by)
Stars: Adrien Brody, Emilia Fox, Frank Finlay

Librarians at WOA

Mrs. Marina A.,  the  librarian from a provincial library in Dnipropetrovsk region,  is exploring the materials about the Florida state. She has a special interest in it – her friend has recently moved to this world famous  tourist destination.

The Head of the Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk Svitlana Usenko met the group of  librarians (Dnipropetrovsk district libraries).
She told about the DOUNB library electronic catalog, free resources for learning English and most popular activities of the Window on America center.
She informed the librarians about the free resources available on-line and recommended by the US State Department:
- Rosetta Stone software
- the software Trace Effects
- on-line resources (American Online English, Voice of America The Classroom…) for the English language study recommended by the US State department.
The donated gadgets iPad and Kindle were presented to the audience.
The number of participants – 6 persons.

Small Talk

Today’s session of the Gabfest speaking club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was a free-topic session. Consequently, club visitors had a chance to enhance their speaking skills.
The meeting started from an introduction speeches of the newcomers and regular club members. New visitor Lada S. shared her experience living in the US and was mentioned that it could help her become more fluent while having a chance to be in the environment of native speakers.
The conversation drifted into discussion of how important to learn new languages and weather new language might reduce or effect on knowledge of the old one. Though, learning promotes brain health, helps stay mentally sharp and improves its function as well as focus, concentration and creativity, it might also change the size of the brain that was a fact mentioned by a club member from personal experience.
The next «small talk» was about celebrity`s life and in the end of the session was a summarized discussion about happiness.
Being popular is a hard work and not for ordinary human beings who hardly might handle the chasing of paparazzi. There are many talented people who compose high-class music which remains for decades but show business dictates its own rules and there are many projects which were mass-market and money oriented. That`s why they lasted a moment and forever have been failed to remember.
Happiness is a state of mind which reflects positive attitude. The quote by an American journalist and a former government official John Homer Miller brings to light the simple rule which should be followed so that keep happiness inside “Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens”.
To recapitulate, the session was attended by club members in spite of the hot spring weather. All the participants interchanged their viewpoints in a meeting and find the discussion practical.
Number of participants – 8  persons.
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before Mother’s Day

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk,Ukraine) was dedicated to the introduction of important dates: Mother’s Day (9 May) and the International Day of Families (15 May).
Mother's Day in the United States is annually held on the second Sunday of May. It celebrates motherhood and appreciation of mothers and mother figures. Many people give gifts, cards, flowers, candy, a meal in a restaurant or other treats to their mother and mother figures, including grandmothers, great-grandmothers, stepmothers, and foster mothers.
We have watched several videos about the US mothers raising Olympians.  The story of gymnast Debby Douglas impressed the club members most of all. We have listened to the songs about mothers in English.
The video about American Ukrainian singer Kvitka Cysik   opened to the club members a new page in the American-Ukrainian relations.  The Ukrainian song “My Mother” performed by Casey Cysik was very touching. All the mothers present enjoyed the songs and beautiful slides with poems about mothers.The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed that 15 May of every year shall be observed as the International Day of Families. The day reflects the importance that the international community attaches to families as basic units of society as well as its concern regarding their situation around the world.
We have explored the UN's International Day of Families web pages. This year’s theme of the day is “Advancing Social Integration and Intergenerational Solidarity”. We have clarified the meaning of the term “intergenerational solidarity” and told private stories of the generation ties in Ukrainian families. The club members explained to our foreign club member Toby why we do not know much about our family trees.
The session was quiet but very educational.
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Star Wars Day

May 4 is considered a holiday by Star Wars fans to celebrate Star Wars culture and honor the films. It is called Star Wars Day because of the popularity of a common pun spoken on this day. Because the phrase "May the Force be with you" is a famous quote often spoken in the Star Wars films, fans commonly say "May the fourth be with you" on this day.

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