New Technologies in the USA

October 16, 2011 at 2 p.m. we had English Speaking Club “Dialogue” with Peace Corps Volunteer Jun Blore. This session was devoted to the theme “New technologies in the USA”. There were 17 people, among them students and teachers. The group spoke about the technologies in the USA, its development, popularization and extension around the world. Jun mentioned about a lot of inventions that have been made in America from the 50ies till nowadays. We also spoke about such world-known trademarks as Apple and Dell and such famous persons as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. I have presented our new devices: E-book and I-pads and the visitors were very expressed by them. The attendants were glad to speak on this theme, because they were interested in development of the technologies in the USA. This meeting was important and useful for the attendants, because they got known more information about the leading place of America in the world and got answers to the questions as to the theme. The quotation of the meeting became one by Clarke A.: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Columbus Day

October 9, at 2 p.m. we had English Speaking Club with two Peace Corps Volunteers Jun Blore and Andrew Brož and also with a guest from the USA, who was earlier the Peace Corps Volunteer, Edward Novick. This session was devoted to the American holiday, Columbus Day, which was celebrated on the second Monday of October. There were 24 people, among them students and teachers. We were speaking about Columbus Day, its traditions, history and special features. The visitors got answers to the questions concerning name of the holiday, discovery of America, and the way of its celebration in different US states. The attendants have also got the information that Columbus Day was not celebrated in all states of the USA. South Dakota's official holiday on this date is Native Americans' Day and people in California celebrate Indigenous People's Day. Special attention was devoted to the main idea of the holiday, which is to honor this day as an important date of the history of America. This session was useful for the attendants because they got the idea of American holidays on the example of Columbus Day.

Teacher’s Day in the USA and Ukraine

October 2, at 2 p.m. we had English Speaking Club with two Peace Corps Volunteers Jun Blore and Andrew Brož. This session was devoted to the theme “Teacher’s Day in the USA and Ukraine”. There were 12 people, among them students and teachers. We were speaking about school system of education in the USA and Ukraine, the differences between them and orientation of both systems. We got known that there was not Teacher’s Day in the USA, however there was Teacher Appreciation Week, which was in the first week of May. The visitors asked different questions concerning out-of-school activities and celebrations of different holidays in school. Special attention was devoted to the main idea of the American school which was to motivate learning and to make lessons creative and interesting. This session was useful for the attendants because they got the idea of American school system of education and understood the differences between American and Ukrainian school systems. I have also presented for the visitors our new resources: E-book and I-pads.