English in Use

Do you have a person you can count on? Or is it hard as finding a needle in a haystack? Do you know any of these phrases? Yesterday the members of English Speaking Club gathered at Window on America Center for future Leaders in order to learn and improve their English. We all got to know some common phrases that are popular in the daily speech - here are some of them "24/7", "Draw the line", "Easier said than done", "Every cloud has a silver lining", "Fish out of water", "Pull yourself together", "Sick and tired", "Sleep on it", "Step up your game", "Tip of the iceberg" , "Break a leg", "Think outside the box" etc. So we all found out the meaning of them and discussed the situations in which they can be used. We were also really happy to see some visitors that joined us online and could also participate. And it is plain as day that learning English can be fun so we want you to be a part of our club.

 

The Countries We Live in

Yesterday Ukraine celebrated its holiday so this session of English Speaking Club Window on America Center for Future Leaders dedicated to the topic “The Countries we live in”. We started with an activity “My country” where all members of the club said one sentence about Ukraine one by one. After that we discussed our opinions about the two countries: the USA and Ukraine and then compared their lifestyles. And of course we had a chance to dream while we made up story about our perfect vacation. Overall it was a nice club where we spoke English a lot with American volunteers that helped us to improve it.

The Most Common Fears

Today Window on America Center for Future Leaders Kherson continued the topic about fears and emotions and had lots of fun activities. We came up with random questions and then we tried to think about situations that might have happened based on different popular GIFs . One of the creative tasks was drawing your fears this is where the participants drew pictures of their fears on paper. Overall it was really interesting and a very useful English practice where everyone improved their speaking skills with American Volunteers.

Emotions And Fears

Are you afraid of spiders? And heights? What feelings do you feel in an enclosed space? These and not just questions we asked today on online English speaking club of Window on America for Future Leaders Kherson.

After we voiced our fears by answering the questions from todays "Icebreaker", we moved on to a game called "Feelings" where we had six categories that we chose from by rolling the dice 🎲.

Throughout today's club, we've gotten to know each other and the fears of our participants!

Play and Learn

The motto of today's English Speaking Club of Window on America Center for Future Leaders was 'Play and Learn.' At the beginning of the meeting, we played a new Icebreaker game called "Strange Gift". Following that, we played another game "Name your Favorite", a really great board game from “Activate: Games for learning American English.” The participants not only said their favorite things, but they described them with only 3 words! To close our meeting, we played a game called "Taxi Driver" where participants role played different scenarios as taxi drivers from different countries, practicing English by small talking with the passengers! It was a blast, and we hope to see you next time!

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.

"Guess Who?" - a fun way to learn English

Do you think playing "Online Speaking Games" is a good way to learn English? Window on America for Future Leaders Kherson proves it every Thursday at online speaking meetings. And And yesterday, June 23, there was no exception because we all gathered on Skype to play another fun and useful games such as “The Yes/No ”, “The Draw My Picture ” and “Guess Who“ games. The last one was prepared by club’s members where they wrote 3 amazing facts about themselves beforehand. Don’t miss a chance to improve your English with native speakers.

Health and Wellness

Everybody is aware of a healthy lifestyle and what to do to be healthy 🍓🥦🥗🤸‍♂️. Yesterday Window on America Center for Future Leaders had an online session of English speaking club where we talked about Health and Wellness. We started with 'Talking cards' activity where visitors talked about: times they got hurt; a healthy lifestyle; their favorite way to exercise; the healthiest person in their family; and health problems they worry about. Then we revised some health vocabulary and tried to explain the meaning of unknown words. 

We also opened up the "6 Dimensions of Wellness" and discussed each type: Emotional, Environmental, Intellectual, Physycal, Social and Spiritual. 

Overall, we improved our english with native speakers🇺🇸 and had fun together!

Let's play and Learn English

Today there was an English Speaking club dedicated to board games 🎲 where we improved our English while playing games from “Activate: Games for Learning American English “. We also practiced describing and guessing different objects related to specific topics. Then we played “What do I know about?” board game where participants explained what they knew about different countries, animals, food etc.

At the end of a meeting everyone was able to ask any questions they had to each other. We had a great 👍 english practice and we all are excited to meet next week))) Join us on skype every Tuesday and Thursday.

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.

The US Independence

Every year Window on America Center for Future Leaders has meetings dedicated to "The 4th of July" and this year was no exception but it was in a different format - we had an online meeting of English Speaking Club where we talked a lot about the USA Independence Day. Thanks to american volunteers  who helped us to learn more about this holiday, its traditions and activities that are popular on this day! The participants also compared traditions of celebration the Independence Day in the United States and Ukraine. At the end we played "Taboo" game which was fun because we had to explain the words about America without saying any unmentionables words.

Social Media in our Life

On June, 23 Window on America Center for Future Leaders held an online meeting of English Speaking Club dedicated to "Social Media". Anna Reznik, the facilitator of this club's session prepared Conversation Cards where participants discussed different questions such as "What's your favorite thing about social media?", "What kind of information is in your profile?", "Do you think that what you see on social media is real or fake?" etc. We all agreed that people are addicted to different social media so we tried to find some good things about using them.

We also learned some of the most popular acronyms and slang words that are used in text messages.

 One of the fun activities we did was "Photo Captions" where our participants should have written the description to them. Thanks to American volunteers we could improve our English Speaking skills. 

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 )))

Let's talk about Exercise and Sports!

It’s summer time but English Speaking Club is continuing its work online and yesterday, June 16, Window on America Center for Future Leaders held a meeting dedicated to Exercises and Sports. We learned new English Vocabulary and Exercise Phrases and then discussed different questions. We also talked about "The Great Outdoors Activities" and shared our favorite ones.

 The participants also did a translation task where they had to interpret the story (which was told by one of the American volunteer) into Ukrainian language and then asked him following questions.

We are happy to announce that on Thursday, June 18 we'll have another session of Speaking Club where we are going to play Board Games and improve our English. 

Transportation in a Pandemic

On June 02, 2020 Window on America Center for future leaders held an online English Speaking Club dedicated to "Transportation 🚢✈️🚆🚖 in Pandemic time". We discussed different questions and found out if our participants’ habits have changed through the quarantine. Some of our visitors started to walk 🚶‍♀️a lot or ride their bikes 🚲. Then we had a “Debate” activity where we all were divided into two groups and said our arguments about advantages and disadvantages of using cars 🚘🚖. At the end we played a "Guessing" game where everyone got a card with the topic and then explained the meaning of 6 words in it. Thanks to our friends from the United States for helping us to improve our English. Join us next Tuesday on skype at 2 pm.

Food and Art

What do food and art have in common? To find out the answer Window on America Center for Future Leaders gathered on an online meeting active members of English Speaking club. As warm up activity we answered some questions about Food 🌮🍱🍣🍤🥡 and Art 🎧🎭🎨🎬. So we tried to find the connection of these two terms. We also shared some pictures of Food Art . To practice our speaking skills we played "Small Talk" where we gave different situation on the topic. 

#amspacesathome

Be Style - Be Cool

What style is yours? This and other questions we discussed today with our American friends and active members of online speaking club. We all tried to find out with our own style and described it with 3 adjectives. Then we could compare specific names of some clothes that are popular in the USA and Ukraine. At the end we played a funny game categories and revised our English vocabulary.

Let's talk about Europe

Another great opportunity to improve English was yesterday during the online speaking club where active members talked about European Countries. Every year Window on America for future leaders Kherson holds different events dedicated to Europe Days and that’s why this meeting was no exception! We discussed some questions, we dreamed about our lives and how they would be different if we lived somewhere else and of course we played board game “Let’s talk”, which was fun! And also we were glad to meet a new person, who is currently living in the Netherlands and is interested in learning English with us.