Speaking about Mother's Day

 April 30, 2011 at 2 p.m. we had English Speaking Club with Jun Blore, Peace Corps volunteer. This session was devoted to the theme “Mother’s Day in the USA”. There were 10 people, among them students and teachers. Most countries including US, Australia, Canada and India celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May, however we decide to talk about it a little bit earlier. The group talked about the history and traditions of the holiday in the United States of America. Jun told when and how the celebration of Mother’s Day was started, about the way it is celebrated in the United States. Using a projector, the group also was watching a presentation about the history, traditions, and popular gifts of the holiday. The attendants got a lot of information about the celebration of Mother’s Day, about the way Americans honor all mothers and express gratitude for the hardships they bear in bringing up a child. It was very important session, because the visitors got full understanding of the holiday and its way of celebration in the USA.

Presentation of the Window on America resources

 

April 21, 2011 at 4 p.m. we had a Presentation of the WoA resources. The speakers were workers of the Window on America center. There were 10 people, among them teachers and students of the Mykolaiv National Pedagogical University. We were talking about the work and resources of the information and resource center “Window on America” in order to help students to orient in the whole spectrum of different services and resources. The workers of the center told visitors about books, DVD-collection, audio books and other resources. Special attention was devoted to the program Rosetta Stone, to test books TOEFL, GMAT, GRE and to electronic database “Virtual Library”. This session was very important for the attendants because they got useful information about the WoA Center, where they can get a lot of different materials about the U.S., find out about how to apply to an American university, use Center’s test preparation materials to get ready for required standardized tests and generally learn more about the United States.

Easter in the USA and Ukraine

 April 17, 2011 at 2 p.m. we had English Speaking Club with Jun Blore, Peace Corps volunteer. This session was devoted to the theme “Easter in the USA and Ukraine”. There were 16 people, among them students and teachers. The group talked about the history and traditions of the holiday in the United States of America and Ukraine. Jun told us about the special features of Easter celebration in the USA. Using a projector, the group also was watching a presentation about the history, traditions, symbols, and popular gifts of the holiday in the USA. Then the visitors discussed the differences in celebrations in the USA and Ukraine and compared the traditions of these countries. The attendants got more information about the typical way of Easter celebration in the USA. It was very important for the visitors because they got useful information about holidays and traditions of the USA by way of example of Easter, one of the most important holidays in the USA. The quotation of the session became: “Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life”.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQmgWeE_GFQ

English Speaking Club "Dialogue".Declaration of Independence of the USA.

We had English Speaking Club “Dialogue” with Jun Blore and his friend Thomas, a Peace Corps Volunteer from Lviv. It was a session devoted to the theme “Declaration of Independence of the USA”. There were 15 people, among them students and teachers. The group spoke about the history of creation of the Declaration of Independence, the process of adoption of the document, its main goal and importance in future development of the USA. The visitors spoke also about slavery and liberty, life and freedom, belief and happiness, and other universal values. The theme of the discussion was rather interesting and informative for everybody. The attendants were glad to speak on this theme, because they got known new things concerning the Declaration of Independence and got answers to their questions. The quotation of the session became one by Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.

Edward, we will miss you!

The part of the English Speaking Club on Sunday was devoted to farewell with Edward Novick. The time of his Peace Corps activity has ended, that’s why he should return home. All of the visitors said good words to the volunteer and wished him all the best. The coordinator of the information resource center “Window on America”, Nadia Tischenko, thanked Edward Novick for cooperation and successful results of the collaboration.

English Speaking Club "Dialogue". The Statue of Liberty as the Symbol of Democracy of the USA

 

We had English Speaking Club “Dialogue” with Jun Blore and Edward Novick, Peace Corps Volunteers. It was a session devoted to speaking about the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of democracy of the USA. There were 16 people, among them students and teachers. The group talked about The Statue of Liberty and its place in the history of the USA, named the facts they know about it and asked the information which was unknown for the attendants. A lot of different points were raised, and the visitors got answers to all the questions. They got more information about the Statue of Liberty and found out a lot of interesting facts about it. This information was useful for the visitors because they understood how much the Statue of Liberty is important for Americans as the symbol of freedom and new life.

Tests' Preparation: Numbers and Symbols

This session was devoted to work with numbers and symbols. The speaker was Jun Blore, Peace Corps Volunteer. It is not a simple theme as it seems at first sight, there are a lot of difficult moments in it. The attendants made different activities, tried to read and pronounce the numbers and symbols correctly. Jun paid attention to differences in naming and writing the dates in the USA and in Great Britain, explained how to name complex symbols and corrected mistakes. This meeting was an important one for the visitors, because they got a lot of information about English numbers and symbols, its right variant of naming and also about some differences in American and British English.