05.04.2013

Journey - is always positive emotions

I have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to spend six weeks working with the Foreign Language Department at the National Mining University. The English program at NMU is absolutely amazing. I am particularly impressed with the high quality of the teaching staff. The English teachers are outstanding in their knowledge of English and in their methodology in teaching the language. I have thoroughly enjoyed the workshops with them because it was a wonderful chance to exchange ideas with some exceptional teachers. They were very open to new ideas and full of enthusiasm for teaching.

The quality of the teaching is reflected in the high levels of English I saw in the students. The students were clearly very excited about learning English and their speaking ability far surpassed what I would have expected especially since many of the students were only in their first year. We covered many interesting topics in class. We discussed aspects of American culture such as attitudes toward work, money, and families. We also discussed various sayings and superstitions. We did activities including a values clarification exercise that required students to negotiate with each other and make decisions based on the group's values. We covered various business topics and did activities in marketing, in international trade, and in emerging technologies.

My only regret about my time here at NMU is that it is going by so quickly. Six weeks does not seem long enough to experience everything I would like to experience in the beautiful city of Dnipropetrovsk and at the National Mining University. I was very fortunate to have excellent student guides around the city which enabled me to understand and learn about the city and Ukraine. A special memory I will always have of my visit is the surprise birthday party I received. Students and teachers gave many wonderful Ukrainian gifts and best of all, some beautiful Ukrainian birthday good wishes.

I am grateful to many people who made my stay here possible especially the Fulbright Program in Ukraine and the administration of the National Mining University. A special thanks has to go to Svitlana Kostrytska whose hard work and boundless energy will always be an inspiration to me. I will always remember the spring I spent in Ukraine, and I hope we have established a link between my school and NMU that will flourish through the years to come.

Heidi Allen

Fulbright Specialist

New England Institute of Technology, USA