This week speaking club sessions were on Monday and Thursday with lots of activities, topics discussions and fun. On Monday we talked about money 💰 and what we are good at - saving or spending 🧐. We also learned some useful phrasal verbs and idioms.

                                  

                                       

On Thursday we discussed some everyday problems that happen all the time in our life + plus we learned how to give advice in English. 

Some great websites such as #bamboozle , #wordwall and #youtube make English practice exciting and interesting.

What animal are you?

Last Monday, January 31, Window on America Center for Future Leaders held a speaking practice with active members of English Club for adults. Also this day is known for International Zebra’s 🦓 Day so our meeting we dedicated to animals. We discussed some questions and then learned some useful idioms such as 'dog days", "have a cow", "kitty corner", "make a beeline for", "wild goose chase", "one-trick pony", "cold turkey" etc. And of course to practice them we make up our own examples. Another great activity we did was comparing ourselves with different things and the song “Everything at once” by Lenka helped us a lot.

English 123

Today’s children’s visit to the Kherson Library for Children was wonderful and exciting because we met kids from Private School who “traveled” around the library and got acquainted with different departments. They practiced their English, played games and watched short animated films at Window on America Center for Future Leaders. They tried themselves as actors at the Art Department while performing a fairytale “The Mittens”. They made a “Snowman” by themselves at the Periodical Room and of course they danced with “Just Dance” which was lots of fun. It’s a big pleasure for us to see happy faces of kids so we’d love to see them again.

"I have a Dream"

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American activist who became the visible spokesman and leader in the civil rights movement and becauseof him there is a federal holiday in the USA, which is observed on the third Monday of January each year. 

Thus, January 18 Window on America Center for Future Leaders held a meeting of English Speaking Practice which we dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We looked through the history of this holiday in the USA and discussed questions like “How can we fight against unfair treatment today?” and “What is freedom for you” which are still very important to think a out. We also watched a short video clip of Martin’s famous speech “I have a dream” and shared our own ideas to this topic. Most of people said that their dream was to have peace in the world and find some cancer and COVID 19 treatments.  

"Never Have I ever..."

 

“Never Have I ever” is one of the Window on America Center for Future Leaders Kherson favorite games which is fun and educational. Yesterday’s meeting of English Speaking Club we started with an icebreaker “This or That” and discussed some items we prefer most of the time and then we talked about different experiences we’ve had in our lives. After discussing some questions we played a hilarious game “Never Have I ever” that helped us not only revised Present Perfect Tense but we also could get to know each other better.

Christmas Movies

 

Who said that holidays are over 🥳? Last Sunday was the first meeting of Smart English Club for kids and teens which we dedicated to watching movies in English 🇬🇧. Kids came to the Library for Children and improved their listening and speaking skills while they were watching movies. For children aged 6-8 we chose a funny cartoon “Frosty the Snowman” where we learned some phrases and tried to use them in sentences. With teens we watched a famous Christmas movie “Home Alone” which was a way funny and interesting. We tried to make our participants feel comfortable so we set up some beanbag chairs and treated them with popcorn 🍿.

Work Hard. Dream Big

What is success? Is it wealth? Is it happiness or fame? Most people agree that it cannot be defined in one sentence, but instead it contains many things. Yesterday members of English Speaking Club joined Window on America Center for Future Leaders meeting from different places (the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Cambodia and Ukraine) to improve their English. The topic we discussed was about “Success and how to achieve goals”. Thus we answered the questions, read some quotes and explained their meaning. After that we looked through some success habits such as organization, relaxation, positive attitude, personal care, taking action, sharing to think over our lives. It was a nice meeting because people talked a lot and that was amazing 🤩.

Welcome Back

First meetings of English Club for kids and teens were held today at Window on America Center for future Leaders. We’re so excited to see kids who came to learn English and who made our day today. They are all so smart, friendly and funny. These meeting were dedicated to introducing ourselves and getting to know each other better. We watched some YouTube videos about greetings around the world, then we learned some more phrases to say hello 👋. Activities such as “Change your seat if…”, “Pass the ball” and “What’s in your name?” made these English practices fun 🤩.

Let's Talk English

Online meetings of English Speaking Club are always held on Mondays and Thursdays at 4pm. It's a great opportunity to improve English with native speakers, volunteers from the United States, Great Britain and Canada. 

This week Window on America Center for Future Leaders had two English Practices. On Monday, May 25th, we talked about "People around the world". And the first question we discussed was if we ever judge people on their looks and if we notice such things as tattoos, body piersing, makeup etc. After the discussion we learned some useful phrases like "to deal with someone", "to put up with", "get along with", "to butter someone up", "to sweet talk someone", "to comfort someone", "to keep to oneself", "to put someone down". 

Thursday meeting we dedicated to memories. Our visitors were given some introduction questions related to the topic and after that we played a game called “Positive , Negative and Crazy ” where the participants chose an option and the rest group gave them a theme to jog their memories. It was fun when people started to remenisce their past and tried to remember different parts of their life and share them with others.

Join our meetings and learn English with pleasure. 

Travel Around

Yesterday’s meeting which Window on America Center for Future Leaders had online was dedicated to traveling 🧳🚘✈️🗺. Active members discussed some questions and learned some useful phrasal verbs. 

Here are some of them 👇

- set off / hit the road;

- get around;

- deal with something;

- put up with something;

- see somebody off etc. 

To practice these phrases visitors were asked some questions and told about their last holidays. Also we played a game called "Name5" which was great because we all had to think about 5 different things (related to the topic) in a really short period of time. Our friends, volunteers from the USA, Great Britain and Canada helped us improve our English. Thus practice makes perfect every time 😉. Remember that and keep up learning.

English Speaking Practice

Last Monday and Thursday Window on America Center for Future Leaders gathered its members online from different countries to speak English and have fun 🤩. We were glad to meet people from Kazakhstan, Canada, Cambodia, The USA, Great Britain, Thailand and Ukraine. It was a memorable experience to get to know so many interesting people and improve our English! The game “5 words” helped us to speak a lot and ask each other different questions. In this game, our visitors had to describe their perfect day using only 5 words and after that the rest group had to ask questions regarding each word. It was a great way to get to know each other better. If you would like to improve your English and hear different accents join our online meetings every Monday and Thursday!

Discover America

Young readers of the Kherson Oblast Library for Children visited Window on America Center for Future Leaders yesterday to increase their knowledge about the USA. We played a board game “50-star game land: Discover America” which was designed by librarians. To find out more interesting facts about the United States children answered different questions on 5 categories such as nature, history, inventions, culture and disneyland. Besides questions visitors also looked at the US map and found different states on it. At the end of the game we also had 3 winners who got small presents - notepads and pens with WOA logo on them. Hope this game helped our readers to find out something new about the USA.  

Color of spring

We are always happy to see visitors at the Kherson oblast Library for Children named after Dniprova Chayka and last sunday Window on America Center for Future Leaders had 3 meetings of English Club for kids, teens and adults. Anna Reznik chose the spring topic for each group. Thus we all revised the spring vocabulary playing the game called assosiation and watching a video “What happens in spring?”. Then the little visitors did another activity called “Iceberg” where they jumped from “iceberg” to “iceberg” and called the words and phrases.

 Teens were working in groups and made up some short spring stories. 

And there was a boardgame “Name 3” which we played with adults and improved our speaking.

The Art of Photography

Photography has become really popular in the art world so Window on America Center for Future Leaders Kherson decided to discuss this topic yesterday during the English Speaking Club's meeting. We looked through some types of photography and discussed our favorite ones. 

We are really thankful to Connelly Molnar, our American friend for sharing his amazing pictures (he is very good at it 👌) and the opportunity to see beautiful places across the United States. 

We’ll definitely continue talking about this topic so don’t miss a chance to join our next meeting and share your thoughts.

What's in your name?

What’s in your name? That was the topic we discussed yesterday at Window on America for Future Leaders Kherson with visitors who joined online. We answered the questions related to the topic and then compared the names in different countries as well and explained why we like ours. We also learned some useful expressions started with “It’s...” (it's doesn't matter; it doesn't make any sense; it's doesn't prove a thing; it's none of your business; it's a lie; it's all the same to me; it's beside the point; it's new to me; it's out of a place; it's up to you; it's waste of time) and made up life situations using those phrases. And for a speaking game activity we chose “D-Icebreakers: feelings“. 

We are always happy to see new people on our practices so if you would like to become part of it - please do it. 

See you on Monday

Read Along

To spend Sunday with the whole family is very easy especially with the Kherson Oblast Library for Children. This day Window on America Center for Future Leaders  held 3 meeetings of English Club for kids, teens and adults. “Read Along” was the topic we discussed today with different questions about books 📚 and reading. All groups of visitors learned some vocabulary and did some activities to remember it. Also with the smallest visitors we read a story from "English ladder" sets.

With the teenagers we did "Madlibs" and then made up our own story. 

And with adults, after discussing some questions we also reviewed the grammar and how to talk about likes 👍and dislikes 👎.

English in Use

English is one of the most spoken languages all over the place so that’s very important to enrich vocabulary every day. Last Monday Window on America Center for Future Leaders Kherson gathered its members via zoom where we improved our speaking skills. To start off Anna Reznik prepared a boardgame “What do you know about…

? and we all tried to write down as many facts as we knew about bananas, English, Tokyo, jazz and the USA. After that we all had an opportunity to learn some of the really useful idioms and fixed expressions such as "hang on", "What's Up?", "go ahead", "never mind", "it's up to you", "get rid of it", "keep an eye on something", "get nowhere", "on the tip of my tongue" etc. And of course all the participants got they homework - to make up sentences using these phrases.

Can’t wait to have our next English Practice which is on Thursday. And as always it starts at 4pm.

Love Your Pet Day

On February 20th, pet lovers everywhere observe National Love Your Pet Day, so Window on America for Future Leaders Kherson held an online meeting of Speaking Club dedicated to animals and pets. Anna Reznik prepared some discussion questions and after that we learned some useful phrases and idioms. A lot of our visitors have more that one pet so they shared some funny stories about their domestic animals.

Whoever your pet companion is, we are sure you enjoy spending time with them. So don’t forget to show your appreciation to your pets 😊.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today, February 14th when lots of people are celebrating the Valentine's Day, Window on America for Future Leaders Kherson had two meetings of English Club for kids and teens. We were so happy to meet children at the library after a long break. And of course we talked  about “St. Valentine’s Day” holiday, learned some words and phrases related to it and played games such as "Bingo" and "Pictionary". 

Teenagers discussed some questions and worked with the presentation to know more facts about this holiday. We all had an opportunity to practice our English with each other and looking forward to our next offline meeting.

"On the Move"

To be “on the move” is one of the most important things in our life. And yesterday Window on America Center for Future Leaders held an online meeting of English Speaking Club where we talked a lot about "Active Lifestyle" and the importance of healthy living. First of all we reviewed the vocabulary of body movements and described the people on random pictures. Then we looked through some grammar rules of using adverbs of manner. At the end all visitors made up a story adding sentences one by one with the words they had learned before. Join us next Monday at 4pm and improve your English.