This Saturday the Gabfest Club members (Window on America center in Dnipro, Ukraine) had a big group of foreign guests – a guest from the UK Mr. Armando and our loyal volunteers Mr. Jason and Mr. Stephen.
The guest from the UK told the group about his home region in Northern England and shared his methods of studying English. Mr. Armando is an Italian national, but he has a permanent residency in the UK. His tips for self-tuition – listening to English-speaking radio and investing in a good dictionary – were appreciated by the club members.
To warm up the group we decided to tell about the winter holiday season in Ukraine. The club members had to explain the traditional celebration of Theophany in Ukrainian Orthodox church. The faithful club members shared their experience of submersion into ice-cold water.
The official topic of the session was “US presidential inauguration 2017”. The group was offered the images and videos of the President D.Trump and his inauguration ceremony. The group and the volunteers discussed the slogan of Donald Trump’s election campaign and his attitude towards the “Swiss cheese” border.
To wrap up the session the new – comers had a short Q&A activity with the foreign guests.
Moderator: T. Gavryliyuk
Pictures: S. Usenko
Participants – 45 persons.
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This afternoon the WOA Dnipro was visited by a group of the 7th year student from the local school No.141.The school is WOA’s longtime partner as its focus is the foreign languages study.
The group was offered a slide show about the life of Martin Luther King in Ukrainian and the MLK cartoon in English. The group has taken the topic seriously and learned the new terms “segregation”, “discrimination”, “civil rights movement” and others.
The highlight of the presentation was the translation of the famous quote “I Have a Dream”.
In the discussion that followed we covered the achievements of the US civil rights movement in the XXI century and the achievements of African-Ukrainians in different spheres of public life (sport, music, media, art).
Participants number – 19 persons.
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Tonight we, the Wednesday Movie Club members (Dnipro Window on America center, Ukraine) enjoyed watching an amazing drama film Flight.
Flight is a 2012 American drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film stars Denzel Washington as William "Whip" Whitaker Sr., an airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after it suffers an in-flight mechanical failure, saving nearly everyone on board. Immediately following the crash, he is hailed a hero, but an investigation soon leads to questions that put the captain in a different light.
Flight was the first live-action film directed by Robert Zemeckis since Cast Away and What Lies Beneath, both released in 2000, and his first R-rated film since Used Cars in 1980. It was the second collaboration of Denzel Washington and John Goodman, who had previously worked together in the 1998 film Fallen. It was also a box office success, grossing over $161 million worldwide and received mostly positive reviews. The film was nominated twice at the 85th Academy Awards, for Best Actor (Denzel Washington) and Best Original Screenplay (John Gatins).
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Participants number – 10 persons.
Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (Dnipro Window on America center, Ukraine) was dedicated to the topic “Orthodox Christmas celebration in Ukraine”.
As a warm up we have used the Club’s Introduction ritual. Quite a big number of new-comers turned up for the first session in the year 2017. The group had a chance to ask new-comers about their background and their interest in English. The regular Club members explained the newcomers the history of the Club’s name “Gabfest” and major facts about the club.
The official topic “Orthodox Xmas celebration” started with tricky questions from the Club’s Moderator T. Gavryliuk. She asked the group to explain her choice of outfit – with ethnic elements (head gear, beads, embroidery). The correct guess did not come easy – the St. Melanie and St. Basil days celebrated on January 13-14 are not very popular among urban dwellers in Ukraine.
The next challenge was to explain why do we celebrate New Year twice in Ukraine. Almost all could give one reason (difference in religious calendars), and only few people gave additional explanations.
The mentioning of St. Melanie day allowed us to introduce to the group the new First Lady of the USA – Mrs. Melania TRUMP. Her portrait and five important facts were presented, translated and discussed.
Number of participants – 36 persons.
This afternoon the Window on America center helped to host at the DOUNB Library a seminar for English language teachers.
The promotional WOA’s video about the new library services, learned about the electronic services of DOUNB library to support the learning process was presented to the big group of educators. They were invited to take part in WOA’s English-speaking club "GABFEST" on Saturdays and the English-language Movie Club on Wednesdays.
English Teachers received promotional materials that will keep good memories about the DOUNB library in the year 2017.
Window on America Center in Dnipro has got a new partner for educational cooperation in the city – the municipal Department of Education.
The Department’s Methodology of Teaching Center was represented by Ms.Kostenko, the methodologist for Foreign Languages teaching.
During the visit to WOA a lot of possible lines of cooperation were discussed.
Participant numbers – 95 persons.
Presenter, pictures: T. Gavryliyuk
The unique story of friendship RUST (2010), written and directed by Corbin Bernsen was presented for Wednesday Movie Club members (Dnipro Window on America center, Ukraine). This film is a mystery that will leave you seeking the power of grace, the beauty in sacrifice, and the hope of faith renewed.
Plot: A former pastor who walked away from his calling returns to his small hometown to discover that a mysterious fire tragically struck a local family. When he learns that his childhood friend ...
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
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Tonight we, the Wednesday Movie Club members (Dnipro Window on America center, Ukraine) proudly enjoyed watching an amazing comedy film.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Frank Oz and starring Steve Martin, Michael Caine and Glenne Headly. The screenplay was written by Dale Launer, Stanley Shapiro, and Paul Henning, it is a remake of the Shapiro and Henning script for the 1964 Marlon Brando/David Niven film Bedtime Story.
It is the story of two men competing to swindle an American heiress out of $50,000. Caine plays the suave, charming British con man Lawrence Jamieson, who believes in conning corrupt, rich people out of their money so he can spend it on culture and a lavish lifestyle. Martin plays his laddish, arrogant American rival, Freddy Benson, who believes in conning just about anyone in order to get a free meal. It takes place in the French Riviera.
WOA’s patrons enjoyed the film and the discussion that followed.
Participants number – 10 persons.
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New Year Surprise for WOA’s Volunteers.
A tour to a unique place in Dnipro was organized for WOA’s volunteers as a New Year surprise.
The WOA’s activist Sergiy, a future metallurgy engineer, helped to organize a visit to the local steel works. “Dniprostal” is a modern industrial plant that gives an insight into the process of electric metallurgy.
