Language: Do you speak slang?

Is it easy for you to learn foreign language? What difficulties do you usually have? 👇

Last meeting of English Speaking Club for adults was about languages and studying experiences. That was great to hear people’s funny stories when they use English and other languages. Then we looked through some slang words, which are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people. After that we tried to use them in different speaking activities. 

Overall the practice was snatched (any ideas what it means 😉).

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.

"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 🍿.

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 🤩.

English in Summertime

Summer is in full swing and lots of people are still enjoying their holidays so Window on America Center for future Leaders dedicated its meeting to "Beach Holidays". We were happy to meet people from different areas (Ukraine, Romania, Cambodia) who joined online and shared their thoughts about summer and discussed some questions. As usual we learned some beach vocabulary namely: coast, seashore, riverbank, harbour, tide, current, jetski etc. We also looked through some great idioms such as “to bring sand to the beach”, “to bury your head in the sand”, “to make waves“, “to swim with sharks“ and then participants tried to come up with different situations where they could use these phrases. Also we are really thankful to our native speakers from the USA, Great Britain and Canada for helping us improve our speaking skills. See y’all on Monday.

Let's meet summer

The last meeting of English Club this season was held at the Kherson Oblast Library for Children. Kids came to improve their English and revise the topics they’ve learned during the school year. With  the little ones we played "Jeopardy" and "Logical reasoning" games. And teens used their gadgets to work on the Kahoot Learning Platform". We also talked about summer and our favorite things about it. 

Also there was a Game Session meeting for the members of English Speaking Club. We met some visitors online (who currently lives in different cities) and in person. For that meeting we chose a speaking game called "This or That" where the participants had to choose one option they prefer and then explain why in 30 seconds ⏱. There were 2 options like dogs /cats; youtube /netflix ; phonecall / textmessage; music /podcast; apple / android; swimming /sunbathing etc. And at the end we played another fun game - "Spelling Bee".

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.

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.

Keep Learning English

Nowadays learning languages is an essential part in our life. Lots of people are learning at least one foreign language. Window on America Center for future Leaders decided to dedicate the last meeting of English Speaking Club to studying them. As usual we started with warning up questions and then we looked through some practical tips and discussed if they were really helpful. Among them are: 

* Have a reason that motivates you;

* Have a partner;

* Talk to yourself;

* Keep it relevant; 

* Have fun with it;

* Listen to people and watch them speaking;

* Immerse yourself etc. 

Thanks our native speakers we can improve our English and have fun with it.

"Nina and Eve's Adventures"

Another great meeting Window on America Center for Future Leaders Kherson had today with Irina Skybenko, an author of books for teens, who presented her new book “Nina and Eve at Schonbrunn Palace”. The young readers of the Kherson Library for Children joined this meeting via zoom and not only had a wonderful opportunity to get to know the characters better but also improved their English because Irina’s books are in English. We did some pre-reading activities and even made a short virtual tour around the Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna. Overall it was a really interesting and exciting meeting. So we are looking forward to the next session.

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

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.

Every Day English

An online meeting of English Speaking Club was yesterday and we practiced our English with each other. We played a game “Name 5” and revised our vocabulary in different topics such as "Jobs", "Movies and TV Shows", "Sports" and "Containers". We discussed questions and shared our favorite items. It was amazing 🤩 to meet active members from different places and can’t wait to see all of them next time. Join us every Monday and Thursday and learn English with pleasure.

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 🤗

Let's chat

English Speaking Club is continuing its online meetings for active members every Monday and Thursday. And yesterday we all gathered via Zoom and practiced our English. There is a tradition to start an English practice with "Icebreaker" questions which help people to get to know each other better. Then we had time to review some grammar rules and the difference of using “used to”, “be used to” and “get used to”. To consolidate the material we played a board game called “Tell me about ...”.

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.