Discussion Club "Dialogue". American Cuisine

March 27, 2010 at 2 p.m. we had English Speaking Club with Jun Blore and Edward Novick, Peace Corps Volunteers. There were 11 people, among them students from different universities and teachers. It was a session devoted to the theme “American cuisine”. The group talked about the most popular American food, the principles of influence on American cuisine by people coming from different countries, and about different food traditions in different parts of the USA. The attendants got a lot of information about American cuisine and its peculiarities, defined the differences in American and Ukrainian style of food. This session was interesting and important for the visitors, because due to this session they got the information about the USA and could deeply understand American culture. One of the attendants said an interesting quotation which became the quotation of the session “Tastes differ.”

"Virtual Library" is a Popular Resource among the Readers

After spreading the information about “Virtual Library” due to presentations, mass media and popularization of this resource among different categories of readers, it becomes very popular. More and more people try to find necessary information in the electronic database “Virtual Library”. It is a great opportunity for the visitors of Mykolaiv Window on America Center to find materials, that are not in printed variant or to fulfill the volume of the information with the materials which were found in the database.

Session of the English Speaking Club "Dialogue" devoted to the theme "Contemporary American Writers"

March 20, 2011 at 2 p.m. we had English Speaking Club “Dialogue” with Jun Blore and Edward Novick, Peace Corps Volunteers. This time we spoke on the theme “Contemporary American Writers”. There were 17 people among them students and teachers. We used the projector and screen, so the visitors watched the presentation to the theme and discussed the theme of the session during the presentation and after it. The group talked about contemporary American authors and their works. Among the list were such authors as Thomas Pynchon, Toni Morrison, Den Brown, Steve King and many others. Special attention was paid to the US contemporary authors, whose novels were adapted in feature films, such as Cormac MacCathy and his work “No Country for Old Man”, Amy Tan and her novel “Joy Luck Club”. This session was important and useful for the visitors, because they got a lot of interesting information about Modern American Literature, as a part of the US culture, and its representatives, whose names are familiar to everybody.

Working on TOEFL: English is the Language of Idioms.

March 20, 2011 at 1 p.m. we had meeting devoted to TOEFL, GMAT and SAT preparation. Jun Blore, Peace Corps Volunteer, who is working in Mykolaiv school No.22, helped students to cope with different types of tasks in the tests. There were 10 people, among them students from different universities of Mykolaiv region. Those people, who attend these meetings, are interested in the tests’ preparation, because they want to study in the USA. This session was devoted to work with English idioms. It is rather an important part of all the tests, especially TOEFL, because idioms are spread in English. The attendants made different activities, however the main one was finding right variants in the tests. This meeting was an important one for the visitors, because they got a lot of information about different English idioms and using of them in different situations. The quotation of the session became words of one of the visitors: “English is the language of idioms, that’s why it is so important to know them well and not to get into confusing situations.”

English Speaking Club “Dialogue”. Communication to the Theme "Life of American Students"

 March 13, 2011 at 2 p.m. we had English Speaking Club “Dialogue” with Jun Blore and Edward Novick, Peace Corps Volunteers. This time we continued our communication about “Life of American Youth” and also spoke to the theme “American Students’ Life”. There were 19 people among them students and teachers. The attendants were proposed to see the presentation to the theme and then to discuss it. Jun Blore paid attention to different aspects of the American students’ life, he told about the system of education, explained why students often change their major specialty, how students spend their time, he also told about his experience. The group talked about American students’ extra curricular activities and compared their with Ukrainian students’ activities. The attendants got a lot of information about the life of American students and learned what would they face if they decided to study in the USA college or university. This session was useful for the visitors, because it is important for the people who are interested in the life in the USA and who want to study in the USA to know all the discussed things.

Electronic Version of the Tests

March 13, 2011 at 1 p.m. we had meeting devoted to TOEFL, GMAT and SAT preparation. Jun Blore, Peace Corps Volunteer, who is working in Mykolaiv school No.22, conducted the lesson. There were 15 people, among them students from different universities of Mykolaiv region.The name of the session was “Tests’ electronic version”. The attendants spoke about different types of tests and prepared for taking the tests (TOEFL, GRE). Jun Blore proposed students to make different types of activities: finding the right variant and putting right words in the blanks, finding incorrect form of the word in the sentence. We used projector to show electronic variant of the tests on the screen, so everybody can see the tasks. This session was very useful for the visitors, because they got important information about the tasks, which will help them in passing tests and getting an opportunity to study in the USA.

Skype Connection with Lutsk Window on America Center

March 6, 2011 at 2 p.m. we had English Speaking Club “Dialogue” with Jun Blore, Edward Novick, Peace Corps Volunteers. It was a session devoted to the theme “Life of American Youth”. There were 21 people, among them students and teachers. It was not just a usual session, it was Skype conference with Window on America Center in Lutsk. They also have English Speaking Clubs on Sundays at the same time, so it was a great opportunity for us to get acquainted and have an interesting talk. First of all volunteers and all the members of the club introduced themselves and gave short information about them. It was quite funny and joyful, some of the members were shy, but everybody participated in the discussion. We spoke about different activities which are popular among American youth, different types of entertainment and fun, shortly we spoke about students’ extra curricular activities. At the end of the discussion we also touched the theme of All Women’s Day, so everybody of the members said what they thought about this holiday and what special meaning it had for them. The most important thing of this Skype conference is that Window on America Centers cooperate and it becomes possible for the people from different parts of Ukraine to communicate on different themes, to speak about the United States of America, to share experience and get new own, to help each other in understanding different things and to find new friends. The other important thing is that visitors got information about the way of youth life in the USA and compared it with the of youth life in Ukraine.

Working on TOEFL. Tricky Words

March 6, 2011 at 1 p.m. we had meeting devoted to TOEFL, GMAT and SAT preparation. Jun Blore, Peace Corps Volunteer, who is working in Mykolaiv school No.22, conducted the lesson. There were 14 people, among them students from different universities of Mykolaiv region. We named this session “Vocabulary: tricky words”. The attendants spoke about different types of tests and prepared for taking the tests (TOEFL, GRE), Jun helped them in this process. He proposed tests, where there were exercises on knowing the vocabulary, especially such tricky words, which have similar pronunciation, but quite different meaning. Jun Blore proposed students to make different types of activities: brain-storming, finding the right variant and putting right words in the blanks. We used projector to show electronic variant of the tests on the screen, so everybody can see the tasks. This session was very useful for the visitors, because they got important information about the tricky words, which will help them in passing tests and getting an opportunity to study in the USA.