Who's the spy?

Who’s the spy 🕵️‍♀️?

Yesterday’s English Practice we dedicated to board games which are always fun and exciting. For this session we chose a game “Spyfall” - one of the favorite games among our visitors. We asked lots of questions to find out who the spy was whereas the spy had to guess the place. 

Let’s check your intuition: which place do think we chose for the game:

* a) supermarket 🛍

* b) passenger train 🚆 

* c) movie studio 🎬

Write your answers in comments below 👇 

"Let's Talk"

Winter’s back in our region full of snow and cold days and we decided to talk about this kind of weather and learn some phrases during the English Speaking Practice. Of course some of vocabulary was very familiar and our participants could speak  easily on this topic. But there were few phrases which our club’s members heard for the first time. It’s a big pleasure for us when after the class people learn something new and are always thankful. 

"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.  

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 🤩.

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. 

Movie Night

Last Thursday, Window on America Center for Future Leaders had another session of English Speaking Club where we all talked about Movies 🎬, Cinema and Food 🍿🍕🥤we usually eat there, Oscar Award and Film Genres. Our guests from different cities (Kherson, Odessa, Dnipro) and even countries (Cambodia, Kazakhstan) did some fun activities such as "Conversation Cards", Guess the movie by its famous quote" and "Create your own film plot using random story cards". 

It was a great 😊 practice because we all had an opportunity to improve our English with native speakers from the USA and Canada who are currently living in Ukraine.

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.  

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

Let's Talk about... the future

Another great session of English Speaking Club was yesterday where we continued discussing the future. But at the beginning our visitors made choices between two different items like tea or coffee, sun or snow, early mornings or late mornings etc. and explained their choices. After that we all got to know new phrases for taking about the future. Here’s the list of them :

- it will happen any minute now;

- it’s just around the corner;

- near future;

- in our lifetime;

- it’s a sign of things to come;

- I’m counting days until...;

- sooner or later; 

- I’ll get around to it;

- I’ll do it right away; 

- Time will tell. 

And then we did a fun activity “What happens next” trying to guess the end of the stories. Join us to practice your #english because there you can hear the language from the native speakers.

Time will Tell

Yesterday there was an online meeting of English Speaking club which was dedicated to our childhood memories. We answered some questions in order to find out more about each other and shared the most vivid moments of that time. We also looked at some "Time expressions"  such as “Time’s up”, “Time after time”, “Take your time”, “At one time”, “At the best of times”, “In no time”. The most confusing for them were “In time” and “On time” #expressions . But after practicing and using them in different sentences it all went perfect 🤗

Knowing Martin Luther King Jr.

On January, 18th the USA celebrated the Martin Luther King day or the MLK Day - a federal holiday in the United States. The MLK Day of Service is observed as a “day on, not a day off”. And the topic we chose to discuss yesterday was dedicated to this significant person. We tried to find answers to such questions as:

Why is it important to celebrate MLK Day?

What is the main idea of MLK speech?

What do you like to do for others? 

What is your “dream” for our country?

It is always very interesting to get to know about different holidays from other countries and compare them with ours.

The Beauty of Art

How wonderful life can be with art you just need to notice it everywhere. Yesterday Window on America for Future Leaders Kherson led the meeting of English Speaking Club via Zoom where we talked about “The Beauty of Art”. We learned some art idioms and art vocabulary and found out the difference between fine art , arts and crafts, visual art and performance art. We looked at some famous pictures of Da Vinci , Van Gogh , Salvador Dali etc. Of course we discussed questions related to the topic and did fun activities such as “Drawing dictation“ and “At talking activity”. During the first one, one of the participants should have described every detail in the piece of art work which he liked and the others should have drawn it. It was fun 🤩 especially when we compared the pictures then.

Time will Tell

The great start of a new year and english speaking club that was held on January, 4th. Window on America for Future Leaders Kherson met its visitors via zoom. As a "Warm up activity" Anna Reznik, the facilitator of the club chose “Two truths and a lie“ where everyone should have told about his celebrations of the New Year. Then we shared our New Year’s Resolutions with each other and discussed some questions ⁉️. After that we found out the difference between "Make and Do" verbs and learned some really useful expressions. Thank our American friend who helped us to improve our English. 

 

Let's reflected on 2020

On Monday, December 28th Window on America for Future Leaders Kherson had an English Speaking Practice where we gathered for the last time in 2020. We all reflected on year that passes and shared the most memorable moments of it with each other. But of course there was something that we all regretted in some way so we learned how to use "Wish: expressing regret". Firstly we looked at the grammar rules and then practiced them doing a "Photocaption activity". We also made up a story which is one of our favorites. It is a great way to improve our speaking. Thank all our friends from the United States, Kazakhstan and different Ukrainian cities (Lviv, Kharkiv, Kherson) for participating. See you all next year 😊.

Your Disabilitity is Your Opportunity

On July, 28th Window on America Center for Future Leaders had an online meeting of English speaking club, which was dedicated to famous people with disabilities, as July 26th marked the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

We started with three "Icebreaker" questions: What is one goal you'd like to accomplish during your lifetime?, What qualities do you think make a person's dream come true?, When you were little who was your favorite superhero and why? Then we named thirteen different types of disabilities and remembered famous personalities with these different types of disabilities, such as: Lewis Carroll, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Stephen William Hawking, Vincent Willem Van Gogh and our contemporary Nicholas Jemes Vujicic.

We also discussed the correct expressions for people with special needs, revised some vocabulary, and played the "Association" and "Describe the Word" games.

Sleeping and Dreaming

Is sleeping  entertainment or necessity? How many hours of sleep do people need at night? These and other questions were discussed during online meeting of English speaking club that was held by Window on America Center for Future Leaders on July, 14th. We started with an "Icebreake" to find out each other's different sleeping habits. 

Then our American volunteers taught us some “Sleeping Vocabulary and Idioms,” and we had a chance to practice them while discussing our opinions about sleep and dream. We also read and talked about some Cool Funny Quotes and tried to explain their meaning and find their equivalent in Ukrainian.

Treats and Summer Desserts

On July, 7 Window on America Center for Future Leaders had an online meeting of English speaking club where we talked about treats, sweets and summer desserts. We discussed some questions and revised the vocabulary . We also played the "Guessing" game where participants should have guessed the dessert by the way it’s cooked. So we had a really “sweet” topic today.

Play Board Games and Learn English

June, 18 Window on America Center for Future Leaders held an online meeting with active members of Speaking Club. This time we decided to play Board Games 🎲 and improve our speaking skills with American volunteers. First activity was “D-icebreakers” where Anna Reznik, the facilitator of this session, rolled a dice and participants should have answered that and more questions. After that we played a board game from "Activate: Games for learning American English" that is called “What someone does...”. We not just answered the questions but we also revised some vocabulary and tried to make up stories. Despite we had only 7 people it was really fun )))