AMERICAN RESOURCE CENTER

At the Gogol Library discussion group I briefly talked about the opportunity to volunteer with the NGO Media Life. After a meeting with several other Kazakhstan-based NGOs, I have found that there may be several organizations for you to choose from to work with.
We will hold a round-table discussion about volunteering with NGOs. We will discuss why these organizations are in need of volunteer help, what these organizations are working to do to aid the Karaganda community, and how you can get involved
I can never stress enough the importance and value of social responsibility, and whether you have only an hour or two a week, or several to volunteer, you are taking an important step into improving your country and community. This is also an excellent opportunity to gain valuable work experience, learn new skills, and hone the skills and talents that you have.

Initially the idea was to provide a group in which women could talk about things they aren’t normally comfortable discussing in earshot of men . New goal is to establish a women’s social, service and discussion group.
The social aspect will be having an organized outing once or twice a month to the theatre, a concert, a museum, skating, etc.
The service part will be monthly projects such as: visiting orphanages, tutoring students(especially in the near-by villages), services to children and widows in the villages, etc. Discussions will be held twice a month, on topics related to women’s issues- both serious and light- hearted. The women here are highly self-motivated and active learners. Women’s Club is here for them to cultivate ideas for their personal future and the future for women in general. It’s a chance to make new friends, have cultural exchange, and practice their English!

English movie group participants have the opportunity to watch movies in the English language, and then discuss their perspectives of the movies with the group. Watching the movie in English provides students of the language an opportunity to hear new words and phrases, hear various dialects of speaking English, and challenges them to think and speak their ideas and perspectives in English.

Model UNO for high school students is a very interesting club where you can discuss global problems and look for ways of resolving them. This club even causes interest from English teachers and professional translators and therefore requires a certain level of English from other people.
The project goals are: to see students work as teams, to acquire knowledge about global issues and country perspectives, to overcome the psychological and language barriers in multilingual public speaking, and strengthen the connection of the American Corner with the students.

In the Current Events discussion group, participants study world events and different perspectives on these world events. The discussion group provides a great opportunity for students of English to practice reading out loud, to build their vocabulary in different technical areas, to become familiar with world events and develop their own perspective on them, and to practice thinking and discussing their ideas in English.

One of the most popular events in American Corner is Round Table where people can speak about the very different topics which they choose themselves by voting. All discussions are held in friendly, easy, unconstrained conditions which make it easier to involve into the conversation. Thanks to Peace Corps volunteers Blake C. Kent, Katie Roders, Marianne Midwinter everyone who wants to study, improve or just maintain their level of English can do it by attending American Corner. First of all I want to gratitude all Peace Corp Volunteers who arranged this Club and gave wonderful opportunity for everybody who is interested in learning of English language. Thank you very much for your attention to us, for all your efforts to improve our English, for your preparations to our daily lessons. You gave us unique chance to have real conversations with native English speakers, to feel "American atmosphere" during even one hour every day.