Tradition of Celebration New Year and Christmas

Welcome to English-Speaking Club. Last month we had a variety of topics discussed:

3.12 – What will our country look like in 100 years?

10.12 - Etiquette, tradition of celebration New Year and Christmas in the USA and Ukraine.

Every country has its own tradition of New Year and Christmas celebration. Today we got to know what people in the USA usually do on the New Year' Eve and on Christmas. The participants of our English-Speaking Club had a chance to share their own experience of celebrating these great holidays. They also told our volunteer David about their plans for this year celebration.

Conversation Circle

Because of the Christmas Holidays and the New Year celebration there were only three meetings of the Conversations Circle in December. The first meeting on December 4^th was devoted to the grammar of English, namely to the proper use of the English verbs. The second meeting took place on December 11^th and the members of the Club discussed topic “Intercultural Traditions”. They found out a lot of new things and exchanged views on the point of discussion. During the third meeting of the Club on December 18^th were discussed Christmas and New Year traditions both in the USA and in our country. Besides of the discussion took place a kind of celebration. There were much laughter, smiles and good spirits. Great results as for the end of the 2013 and the first part of the “academic year”!

Learning and Teaching English though internet resources

    On December 18, English teachers from Sumy and Sumy region attended a meeting at the Sumy Window on America Center. We told the teachers about the resources of the American Center, that might be helpful for the teachers in their preparation for their classes, spoke about the activities of the Center for patrons. The second part of this meeting started with the presentation on English language teaching and learning online resources. During the meeting the main eLibraryUSA databases, resources and tools for searching information were introduced to participants.

English Language Teaching and Learning Resources

   On December 11, 2013 Sumy Window on America center hosted a seminar for teachers of English . We carried out the presentation for teachers on online resources for learning and teaching English, focused on American English website, eLibraryUSA, computer game Trace Effects. Our guests trained to use Kindle and iPad and enjoyed the meeting. We invite them to come see our beautiful center again and participate in our programs.

Conversation Circle

In November there were four meetings of the Conversation Circle. The topic of the 1^st meeting of the Club on November 6^th was “Moustache and Beard”. The discussion was very joyful and vivacious. People exchanged views on the point, remembered good and not very good examples of using of moustaches and beards by famous people and their acquaintances. During the 2^nd and the 3^rd meeting on November 13^th and 20^th respectively were discussed topics “Home” and “American Football”. The last meeting of the month on November 27^th was devoted to the celebration of the Thanksgiving Day. The Peace Corps Volunteer Ashley told about its history and the way it was celebrated in the USA and by the Americans living in other countries. Members of the Club agreed to meet and celebrate it together. 

Mass media

Welcome to English-Speaking Club. Last month we had a variety of topics discussed:

5.11 and 12.11 – Leadership

19.11 - Discussing News

26.11 - Mass Media.

Today we've spoken about mass media and its influence on our life. The participants of our club tried to answer the following questions: What things should not news report on? What is censorship? When should the news be censored? Do you think that media focus too much on bad news and not enough on good news? The discussion was instructive and interesting and the participants were active.

Conversation Circle

October was the second month of the work of the Conversation Circle after summer break. During this period 5 meetings were held. The topic of the first one on October 2^nd was “Idioms and Adjectives”, during the second meeting on October 9^th members of the Club discussed theme “Food”.  “What do you like to do in autumn?” was the topic of the 3^rd meeting on October 16^th. It was real fun to learn how different people spent their free time during this rainy month. When the weather’s good people mostly prefer to stay outdoors, when it’s not it’s high time to visit cinemas, theatres etc. The names of the 4^th and the 5^th meetings of the Club held respectively on October 23^rd and 30^th were “Expressing likes and dislikes” and “Halloween”. During the last meeting of the month Ashley told about the history of the celebrating of Halloween and traditions used in the USA. Discussion was very intense and cheerful!