Events

Due to the coronavirus /COVID-19 pandemic, ICAN, English Speaking Club, is running its meetings online.
Join us every Tuesday at 6.30 p.m. Minsk time (UTC+03:00). Buy your tickets here. Each ticket holder will receive a link to the video conference.

If you are an international student and cannot buy the ticket, sign up below this post.

+++ Requires preparation (see the links under the description) ++++

Reading is one of the best activities invented by mankind. Usually we read for information or for pleasure. But reading has a more important role to play. Reading develops the second signal-system, i.e. the ability to decode the little squiggles perceived by our eye into the sounds of speech and further on into imagines, experiences and emotions.
But that's not all. While reading, we build up our vocabulary, replenish it with new turns of speech, stylistic devices and other forms of expression. And once we need to explain, tell something, convince someone, share our thoughts and feelings - here we go! - we have all the necessary means of expression. There is no need for a well-read person to gesticulate helplessly, make faces and spew interjections - words come out smoothly and form an expressive speech.

On June 23, 2020 we are going to discuss Pygmalion, an all-time popular play by George Bernard Shaw. We will focus on the episode when Eliza Doolittle comes to Professor Henry Higgins's house and they make a deal.
There will be nothing wrong about swallowing the whole play, though: it is dynamic, full of witticisms and jokes, and pretty short.

You might be interested in watching the 1938 screen version  of the play and the legendary 1964 musical called My Fair Lady.

The play itself is here. 

The passage we are going to focus on starts with:

MRS. PEARCE [returning] This is the young woman, sir.

and ends with: 

Mrs. Pearce shuts the door; and Eliza's plaints are no longer audible.

Enjoy! Jot down the ideas that you find interesting to discuss, as well as witty expressions and colorful words. 


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The session will be conducted in English. We work in small groups, the number of participants is limited. Buy your tickets here. Each ticket holder will receive a link to the video conference.
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ICAN English Speaking Club is the best place in Minsk to practice communication in English. Join us every Tuesday at 6.30 p.m. Follow our updates on this site.