Category: Courses

This summer, Auburn University author and research professor Lee A. Farrow, delivered a series of presentations about the most famous U.S. National Parks for the American Center audience.

If you missed the events or would like to re-watch them, follow the links to our YouTube channel!

🎥 Yosemite, Death Valley, and Sequoia

Yosemite is renowned for its breathtaking landscapes and natural beauty: dramatic granite cliffs, waterfalls, crystal-clear rivers, groves of giant sequoias, and rich biodiversity (nearly 95% of the park is designated as wilderness). Sequoia National Park, as its name suggests, is famous for its massive sequoia trees, including the “General Sherman,” the largest tree on Earth by volume.

🎥 Yellowstone and Grand Canyon

Yellowstone, the world’s first national park (established March 1, 1872), is famous for its numerous geysers, geothermal wonders, diverse wildlife, and stunning landscapes. The Grand Canyon, one of the oldest national parks in the U.S., is recognized as one of the natural wonders of the world.

🎥 Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Arches

Zion features nine geological formations, showcasing unique stone deposits that span 150 million years! Bryce Canyon is a massive natural amphitheater along the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, shaped by erosion. Arches National Park boasts over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, including the iconic “Delicate Arch.”

🎥 Mammoth Cave, Great Smoky Mountains, and Everglades

Mammoth Cave National Park contains part of the world’s longest cave system. The Appalachian Trail, the longest continuous hiking route in the world, passes through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Meanwhile, the Everglades, 86% of which is designated as wilderness, offers visitors close encounters with diverse flora and fauna, including great blue herons, anhingas, double-crested cormorants, and American alligators.

Great news for all who have missed the insightful and captivating lectures of David Goldfield, the renowned American historian, author, filmmaker, and speaker from the American Center! On October 2nd, the professor will host a session for our audience on an intriguing and relevant topic: ‘The Woman Vote and American Presidential Elections.’

Before the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1920, American women did not have the right to vote in presidential elections. However, this did not mean that women had no influence on American politics. For example, we know that both Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison advised their husbands, John Adams and James Madison, who both became U.S. presidents. After the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, women began organizing and lobbying for voting rights, but it took more than seventy years for this aspiration to become a reality.

Many men thought that women would vote the same way they did. However, over time it became clear that this was not the case. By the late 1980s, it was evident that men and women voted differently. Understanding how and why this divide emerged, and why it persists today, helps shed light on the shifts in American politics and the key issues that influence presidential elections.

Join us on October 2nd at 7:00 PM (Minsk time) to learn more about the U.S. election process!

Register now

Recently, a program for beginner developers – Mentorship program for developers – was held in the virtual space of the American Center. The mentor of the course was Ihnat Kryshchyk – an experienced developer and architect with almost a decade of experience in software development. Currently, Ihnat works as a senior software engineer at the British fintech company “Third Financial”. We asked Ihnat to share the story of his educational and professional journey and to tell us about his course at the American Center.

On His Journey to Becoming a Software Developer

I was born in Minsk. In the ninth grade, I got my hands on a “Study Abroad” guidebook, and I became obsessed with the idea of attending university abroad. This led me to the Warsaw School of Economics (Szkola Główna Handlowa).

As for my career choice, it wasn’t a straightforward path. I got acquainted with the internet early, but it wasn’t until the appearance of Facebook and Vkontakte that I was truly captivated. After registering my profile on Facebook, I was so impressed that I immediately started reading forums on where and how to learn to create something similar. That very day, I went to Minsk’s Central Bookstore and bought a guidebook on PHP, Javascript, HTML, and CSS.

Of course, I “broke my teeth” on this guide and several other books. The internet was full of articles about thirteen-year-old geniuses “hacking the Pentagon,” and I determined that at seventeen, I was “too old for programming.” Some people advised me to study programming fundamentally at university, while others shared superficial tutorials. My hard-earned minimal successes seemed laughable to me, as “Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in a couple of weeks alone.” So I decided that I was not only too old for this but also more inclined towards humanities. And I went to study economics.

While at the Warsaw School of Economics, I was still drawn to more tech-related subjects, especially since I had some skills from high school, so I took a class in C programming. Nevertheless, I still had a long way to go before becoming a professional developer.

In 2011, I returned to Belarus. It was a year of economic crisis, and the rumors about IT professionals earning $2,000 back then kept motivating me to learn coding more and more. I got a job at Wargaming, initially not in a development position, and started familiarizing myself with the IT industry firsthand.

By that time, I had completed several online courses, and in one conversation with colleagues, I heard about Google stars launching the educational platform Udacity. There, I learned about half of what I needed to get a job. I learned the other half on course.by – a legendary community organized by two students from BSUIR. This experience was valuable not so much for the knowledge as for the community. During after lessons tea with cookies, we had a chat, and fixed each other’s bugs.

The community was truly outstanding, and ambitious, exceptional people came there, many of whom later built several companies (Flatlogic, CreativeIt, FriendlyData). With all this accumulated experience, I finally became a developer.

On Education, Mentorship, and the Importance of Both

I’ve always been interested in education because, in my opinion, sharing knowledge is the least violent way to change the world. I hope that mentorship is just my first step in this journey.

I often felt the lack of a mentor myself, whether it was someone who could tell me how to fix an error given by the compiler, or just smile, pat me on the shoulder, and convince me that I wasn’t too old for programming.

People face a huge number of questions on their career path, and often there are quite simple answers to these questions. And often these answers are not given by a mentor, but found by the mentee themselves. A mentorship program is rather an opportunity for the mentee to finally allocate time to formulate their problems and think about their solutions. The mentor only facilitates these reflections.

Programmers have a problem-solving method called “Rubber Duck Debugging.” The idea is that a programmer, to find a solution, explains their code or problem in detail to an imaginary friend (a rubber duck) and eventually finds the solution themselves. I think mentorship is exactly about helping to ask the right questions and facilitating the mentee’s search for answers. A mentor is like a “rubber duck on steroids.” And I enjoy being a part of that process. I got into this because I felt I already had a solid base of mistakes and their solutions to share.

What does mentorship give me? It helps systematize knowledge, improve leadership skills, develop active listening skills, and, of course, build valuable connections. Besides, it’s often easier to notice behavioral patterns in others that hold them back, and some of these patterns I share as well.

On the Difference Between Mentoring Women and Men

Some gender differences are certainly present, but the cultural context is also important. Compared to Belarusian men, Belarusian women tend to be more responsible, reliable, and hardworking. But they are less bold (which hinders creativity), afraid to step out of the shadows and take on leadership roles. Also it’s usually easier for me personally to establish a horizontal relationship with men, which is necessary for mentoring.

On the Stereotype That “Software Development Is a male profession”

We are different, but what to do with this difference, I suggest everyone decides for themselves. Based on my personal experience in school, university, and at work, I haven’t formed the impression that men handle this work better than women. However, I have observed that women often move from more technical roles to more humanized professions. It’s hard for me to judge what led them to this and whether there’s a genetic predisposition involved.

Impressions from Working with Participants in the Development Course at the American Center

I really liked that we quickly managed to create a trusting atmosphere. The women shared their stories a lot, and overall there was a lot of mutual support.

The main difficulty for me was the negative reality of Belarus. For self-development and growth, optimism is essential, but when there are few external reasons for it, optimism is easy to lose. Therefore, I had to put a lot of afford into convincing some participants that it’s worth working on themselves and that there is light at the end of their tunnel.

How to learn development?

I believe that “any education is self-education.” In each specific case, a good space, context for gaining knowledge and skills can be a university, books, offline or online courses. For me personally, to get hard skills, online courses work best, whether they are university-level (like Coursera) or more practical ones (like on Udemy).

For six months, the American Center has been hosting book club meetings. Participants discuss not fiction but books on leadership, strategy, and business development. The inspirer and host of the Business Book Club, co-owner of the e-commerce agency World e-Com Egor Ryasov, told us how he came to reading through dyslexia, why he loves American business literature, how he started leading the book club, and gave some advice to those who want to create their own.

About Himself, Education, and Work

My family is from the small town of Bogushevsk in Belarus. At a young age, I won a scholarship program and moved to study in the UK, where I graduated from Loughborough University in “Retail, Marketing, and Management” (one of the best universities according to The Guardian) with honors. While studying for my bachelor’s degree at Loughborough, I went to the USA through an academic mobility program.

I founded and co-own the e-commerce agency World e-Com, as well as several other businesses. I have been engaged in entrepreneurship as my main activity since 2020. Before that, I worked as a development director at a Finnish fashion company, as well as at international companies IBM and PwC. Thanks to remote work opportunities, I have been able to live in several countries, and now I live in Spain.

About the USA and Working with Americans

Besides academic mobility during my university studies, I have visited and even lived in the USA many times – I went on a tour of New England with a football team, ran the New York Marathon, and also participated in the Work and Travel USA program. Each of my visits to the USA was special.

For work, I have many American partners and clients; without them, it would be difficult for me to imagine my business and career. The American Center gives me a platform to communicate with smart and curious people on interesting topics, and I really like all the book club participants. Moreover, I see cooperation with the American Center as an opportunity to help the Belarusian community of self-developing enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, and to contribute to its development through the study of business literature.

About Reading and Dyslexia

Of course, reading is important. You live someone else’s life, immerse yourself in someone else’s thoughts, and develop completely new ways of thinking. But as for constant reading… I’ll tell you a secret about myself: I’m dyslexic*, so I always hated reading! I always forced myself to do it through willpower. I had to read the same page several times. Then I learned about special books for dyslexics and my life changed for the better. These are special books with uneven letters and large fonts.

*Dyslexia is a feature of information perception, characterized by a selective impairment of the ability to acquire various skills (for example, reading and writing). Simply put, people with dyslexia have difficulty “decoding” words.

On How to Read More

I am just as human and understand that there are many distractions around. There is always a lot to do, and even more temptations. You need to engage yourself, like with sports. I have a social media limit set on my phone – 15 minutes a day for everything. I also spend a maximum of 15 minutes reading news on Bloomberg Business. And in the remaining free time from work and household chores, I try to read books.

On Creating a Book Club

After graduating and while working at IBM, PwC, Mecaux, and other firms, I often avoided reading, especially non-fiction literature. Books for dyslexics are hard to find, and there is never enough time. But I decided to force myself to read daily finally. To avoid the possibility of “slacking off,” I took on responsibility in front of other people. This is how the idea of creating a book club came about, where you need to prepare for meetings, read material, and analyze it. This helps in remembering books. 

About the Business Book Club

I chose this field because it interests me the most and because it helps in development. I think all business books can be divided into two categories: more practical and more theoretical.

Practical ones help us learn from others’ experiences, from others’ mistakes, and form the vision needed in all areas of activity. Among the practical ones, I would like to note “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future” by Walter Isaacson and “Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike” by Phil Knight.

Theoretical ones form new ways of thinking, new theories, and structure experience in the mind. Among the theoretical ones, I would highlight “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey and “Skin in the Game” by Nassim Taleb.

On the Practical Benefits of Business Literature

I have read many books and am confident that they have helped me a lot. At the very least, I started thinking more broadly and gained new perspectives. Moreover, many things from books I applied in my career and business, especially those related to sales and personnel management.

No matter how much you read, you always need to remember that simply reading is not enough; you need to force yourself to apply ideas from these books in life. It’s like with sports – you won’t lose weight in one workout; you need to train constantly. You also need to train the brain muscle, specifically through the implementation of ideas from books.

About American Business Literature

I always try to read in the original language if possible. I have always liked American business literature the most. America made me fall in love with it because, in conversations, as in business literature, there is no embarrassment, everything is very frank. There is a lot of practical experience in the books, and business people talk about their feelings, anxieties, and doubts, so you fully experience the experiences of American businessmen.

About the American Center’s Business Book Club

The feedback from club participants is very pleasant to me. Many come and actively participate every week, lead interesting discussions, and open new perspectives on books that I thought I had already fully considered.

Not everyone reads the books, but it is not necessary because I tell the main ideas of the book in between discussions in breakout rooms. So come even if you don’t have time to read the book before the discussion!

Here are the books we have already discussed: “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey, “Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean” by Kim Scott, “Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It” by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz, “Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike” by Phil Knight, “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead” by Sheryl Sandberg, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter, “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, and “Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice” by Michelle Obama.

And here are the books we will discuss at future meetings:

1. “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention” by Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer;
2. “Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way” by Richard Branson;
3. “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb;
4. “Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time” by Howard Schultz and Dori Jones Yang;
5. “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert B. Cialdini.

Join us! You can register via the link.

Tips for Those Who Want to Create Their Own Book Club

1. Do not run a book club if you are not ready to read a lot of books and make detailed notes on them. Reading summaries will not be enough; participants will quickly see through you and nothing will work out. Reading and note-taking takes a lot of time. Be prepared for this!

2. You need to love the book club, just like anything else you invest in. Each time you prepare material and presentations, it takes a lot of time. If you don’t love it, nothing will work out.

3. Besides reading, you also need to successfully run meetings. To ensure everything goes well, you must give participants the opportunity to communicate and discuss ideas from the books.

4. Einstein is attributed with saying, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” I don’t know if he said these words, but it’s true. You need to understand the ideas of the books in great detail to retell them in simple words. So that meeting participants who have not read the book can understand its essence in a short time and participate in the discussion.

5. Participation in book clubs allows people to learn different opinions about books. Comparing lessons from books with personal experience in business and careers plays an important role for them. Therefore, it is very important to refer to your own experience in discussions.

“Medical English for Professionals,” offered by the American Center in Minsk, Belarus, from May to July 2024, is an intensive course designed for healthcare staff aiming to enhance their English communication skills for effective patient care, collaboration with international teams, and professional growth. 

This program covers practical exercises in speaking, listening, reading, and writing, and interactions with English-speaking healthcare professionals. From foundational introductions to advanced medical report writing and presentation skills, participants will gain a comprehensive toolkit for navigating the international healthcare landscape. 

Students who attend 60 percent of synchronous meetings and complete 60 percent of homework will be able to receive a certificate from the American Center Minsk.

Applications must be submitted by May 12, 2024.

What are the benefits of early multilingualism and how do young children learn languages?

Author: Angela Palmieri, Ed.D.

Date of Webinar: February 24, 2024

Introduction:

Multilingualism in young children has garnered increasing attention in recent years due to its profound impact on cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional development. This summary explores the benefits of multilingualism in early childhood and elucidates the mechanisms through which young children acquire multiple languages.

Benefits of Multilingualism in Young Children:

1. Cognitive Advantages:

– Enhanced executive function: Multilingual children often demonstrate superior skills in areas such as problem-solving, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control, attributed to the constant need to navigate between multiple languages.
– Increased linguistic awareness: Exposure to diverse linguistic structures fosters metalinguistic awareness, enabling children to understand language as a system with varied rules and patterns.

2. Linguistic Proficiency:

– Accelerated language learning: Young children possess heightened neuroplasticity, facilitating rapid language acquisition when exposed to multiple languages simultaneously.
– Expanded vocabulary: Multilingualism enriches vocabulary by exposing children to diverse lexical resources across languages, enhancing their overall linguistic repertoire.

3. Cultural and Social Benefits:

– Cultural competence: Multilingualism promotes cultural understanding and appreciation by immersing children in different linguistic and cultural contexts, fostering empathy and respect for diverse perspectives.
– Enhanced social skills: Multilingual children often demonstrate adeptness in communication across cultural boundaries, facilitating interpersonal connections and global citizenship.

4. Cognitive Reserve and Neuroprotection:

– Cognitive reserve: Multilingualism has been linked to a cognitive reserve, potentially delaying the onset of cognitive decline and providing resilience against neurodegenerative diseases later in life.
– Neuroprotection: The continuous exercise of linguistic abilities in multilingual individuals may confer neuroprotective effects, promoting brain health and resilience against age-related cognitive decline.

How Young Children Learn Languages:

1. Infant Language Acquisition:

– Sensory-motor stage: Infants initially acquire language through sensorimotor interactions, recognizing speech sounds and patterns through auditory and visual stimuli.
– Babbling and imitation: Babbling serves as a precursor to language production, allowing infants to experiment with sounds and gestures, while imitation facilitates early language learning through mimicry of caregivers’ speech.

2. Language Development in Early Childhood:

– Social interaction: Language acquisition is profoundly influenced by social interactions, with caregivers serving as primary linguistic models through interactive exchanges and verbal scaffolding.
– Input variability: Exposure to varied linguistic input, including multiple languages, fosters language differentiation and comprehension, enabling children to discern distinct language systems.

3. Bilingual Language Development:

– Code-switching and language blending: Bilingual children navigate between languages through code-switching and language blending, adapting their linguistic repertoire to communicative contexts and interlocutors.
– Language dominance and proficiency: Proficiency levels may vary between languages, influenced by factors such as language exposure, usage patterns, and societal context.

Critical Period of Second Language Acquisition:

The critical period of second language acquisition, often identified as occurring during early childhood and gradually diminishing into adolescence, signifies a window of heightened neuroplasticity and language learning aptitude. Research suggests that during this period, the brain exhibits greater flexibility in processing and internalizing linguistic input, leading to more efficient language acquisition. Factors such as accent acquisition, grammatical proficiency, and native-like fluency are often observed to be more readily achieved when exposure to a second language occurs within this critical period. While individuals can continue to learn languages beyond this period, the ease and proficiency with which they do so may diminish. Understanding the critical period of second language acquisition underscores the importance of early exposure to multilingual environments for optimal language learning outcomes.

Conclusion:

Multilingualism confers numerous cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional benefits to young children, shaping their developmental trajectory and enriching their understanding of the world. Understanding the mechanisms of language acquisition in early childhood provides insights into optimizing language learning environments and promoting multilingual proficiency from an early age.

Websites:
The Bilingual Brain: https://youtu.be/nzHY-muy2Mw?feature=shared
The Benefits of a Bilingual Brain: https://youtu.be/MMmOLN5zBLY?feature=shared
The Benefits of Being Bilingual: https://youtu.be/eAqVR4JQITc?feature=shared

Other Resources:
Foundations for Multilingualism in Education: From Principles to Practice
by Ester J. De Jong

The American Center Minsk is proud to announce the release of a unique digital book featuring works from its Contemporary Playwriting seminar. This collection, composed during a transformative seven-week course, includes eleven pieces ranging from excerpts to complete works. Embracing diverse styles, these plays cover universal themes such as love, grief, and art, showcasing the talents of emerging playwrights. This publication not only highlights the creativity of its contributors but also underscores the importance of playwriting in fostering empathy and community.

See the collection here

We’re delighted to present you our brand new website. Here you can find most recent information about the American Center in Minsk and our current activities.

For your convenience we’ve made it easy to find and attend online events. Make sure to check out the latest of them in our Events section.