Sito in Italiano www.Charlie-Riznyk.com

About us

Hello Everybody. My name is Steven Riznyk and this is my project. Those who know me, you  know that I love dogs.  I have a much more ambitious project that I am working on for dogs,  but at the moment this is what I can do quite easily. The other project may take 1-2 years to achieve.  I have priced the classes at only 5 Euros so that they are affordable and people will attend. We cannot afford to have empty seats.

As for my background, I have an international law degree and am licensed in California; I am also a film maker.  Don't think of me as a lawyer as I don't see myself that way--I am a businessman with a law degree--I like to get things done, both effectively and rapidly. My classes will not bore you!

I live in Rome but work in the United States. Having even won a Supreme Court appeal, I think I am in a position to know English well enough to teach it.

I have had the pleasure of attending events such as those of  Extreme Language Exchange (www.ExtremeLanguage.net) & another great group, Friends in Rome (www.FriendsinRome.com) and of course www.expatslivinginrome.com for fun times with English-speaking people.   I am not working in competition with anyone...I am looking for a cooperative atmosphere. You can benefit a lot by attending these classes and then speaking english at the other venues.

What we offer is different than what we have and I suggest doing both types of events for faster learning; it's not one or the other. I feel attending our classes and the events of these three great organizations will be a great help to accelerate your english rapidly. If you know of any other groups, let me know and I will gladly post them for everybody as this web site expands.

Everything I do with this program regarding dog shelters will be with an open-book policy. There is nothing to hide and my companies do not operate that way. Any member of class, the press, the kennels, or the government can see all of our (ie financial)  books at any time. We will take in money from the students, deduct the cost of rent of the room, for example, and any other costs of operation, and 100% of the money left will be used for dogs. I will never make a penny from this, nor will any volunteer (if you want to volunteer to help me run this please send me an email Steven@Charlie-Riznyk.com.)  Volunteers,however, may attend classes at no cost.  I will also set up special social events for our volunteers.

If you want to read how I will run this organization,  please see the column to the right called "If you run a kennel". My goal is to see that homeless dogs have play time, a toy, food, and a roof.

 

PS Re volunteers...

We require web designers, developers (for an open-source forum for this group/calendar etc), and general admin, reception, etc.  as well as translation help so that we can make this the best possible value for money for all the students. To volunteer please send an emial to sr@TrastevereFilms.com with your phone number and explain what areas you prefer to help with. 

Thank you

Steven Riznyk

The Classes

It is a very good idea to attend week after week as we will be starting from the beginning and progressing on a weekly basis.  The first class starts Wednesday September 1st and runs to May 25th, 2011.   This class is for people who are able to have a simple  conversation in english. 

If you  do not know any english at all, send us an email at  registrazione

@Charlie-Riznyk.com and tell us you are interested in a beginner-level class.  If we have enough people interested we will start a second one for  people  who speak no english.

The classes we will have concentrate on conversational English. I, for example, have a grasp of conversational Italian and it gets me by until I have time to learn grammar etc. It has been extremely useful for me. Based on that philosophy, you will learn English in such a way that if you visit an English-speaking country you will be understood and can get your mission accomplished.

You will learn personal, travel, and business conversation. You will have the opportunity of practicing your English, your pronunciation, and having your way of speaking modified so you sound more like an English speaker (as Italians have a certain way of speaking English that tells  everybody they are Italian!).  You will find these classes fun, interesting, and you will hopefully meet new friends with whom you can practice your English.

You will notice improvements from class to class. The classes go in order so if you miss one class, please call a student to find out what you missed. We will also be emailing you something to look up, do, or practice on a weekly basis. You will not have a lot of homework so don't worry about the time requirement. For example, homework may include a one-paragraph introduction of yourself. You will enjoy the  process and make new friends.

This class is meant to be fun and educational. If it no fun, you won't want to come and neither will I :). We will have conversations and other participatory events so that you will build a confidence level in English. Each week we will have a theme (introductions/travel/parties) and you will have the chance to practice more. 

If any of you reading this want to spend time at a shelter playing with dogs once a week for one hour, you are welcome to come to our classes gratis. Simply provide a signature from the owner of a shelter proving that you spent an hour in the last week (ie they can sign their business card) and that card will get you in free. We

have 40 extra spaces for volunteers.  Please tell your friends about the course. I

anticipate at this price we will book up soon.

Do not be concerned about the size of the

class. When I went to college we had classes of 400 and we all learned a lot; you will too. You will learn also by listening to what the other students do as many of you may share the same difficulties. However, I need 200 students in order to earn 1000 Euros a week for the kennels. We will often break into small groups to practice what we learned. Our goal is to speak English only at the classes.Please only use Italian as a crutch if you have no other way of communicating; pretend you are in Los Angeles and everyone is English and you have no choices---because one day that might be the case.

A la prossima

Steven Riznyk


PS You can visit the group Charlie Riznyk on FaceBook and join it to discover various social events we are having for english- speaking people.

IF You Run A Kennel

Benvenuto. I have given much thought to this project and discussed it with a number of people. Here is how we will run this program and my philosophy about it.

My goal is to see that homeless dogs have a shelter, food, and time for play. We will only consider requests for grants from shelters that will guarantee:

1. That each dog has a toy in their cage, and

2. Each dog has at least 2 hours a day to play with at least one other dog or a group of dogs.

I studied Strategic Management at Harvard University and would be delighted to help you create a marketing program in order to help place the dogs in loving homes. I will help you organize days where you bring them to the city so people can see them on a weekend. I will help you do what you need but I cannot condone a lack of play time or 24 hours of solitary confinement for the dogs; this can atrophy their muscles apart from destroying their spirit. Please remember, in the end, this is not a business, this is about the dogs, and only the dogs. It is not their fault they find themselves in this situation.  They should not be made prisoners.

If you require any help with your programs in order  do anything else, I was a Fortune 500 consultant in Business Process Reorganization and I would be delighted to help you on weekends at no cost.

In order to receive a grant from us I require the following: an email to steven@charlie-riznyk.com with the name and phone number of a contact and the head of the kennel; I need to speak to both.  I need you to explain how much money you need and for what purpose. Explain in detail please. I will also want a guided tour of your kennel before I will make a contribution.

Please outline what kind of program you have in place for the dogs to have play time of at least two hours a day with other dogs. Also I need you to guarantee each dog has a toy in their cage. If you cannot afford toys, I will buy them for you.  In any case, please tell me your address, and how many dogs you house, a little bit about your kennel and what you are doing in order to find homes for the dogs (web sites or other marketing programs). I would also like to know how long the average dog spends in your kennel before you find a home for the pet.

Please also note that we are asking our students if they want to be volunteers at kennels to play with the dogs (ie not cleaning etc.). You must have a program in place to accomodate volunteers of this type. Please explain it to me...hours they can help you...who to contact...make it easy for me to explain this to the volunteers. Any requests that do not explain the information I have requested will not be considered. 

My plan is to earn 1000 Euro a week with this school. We will divide the money every month amongst the kennels that have applied. I will divide the money in proportion to the need of each kennel that applies; we are not picking favorites here. However, we do expect you to do what you say you will. We reserve ther right to visit your shelter without notice and see the results of our grant. Please do not ask for more money than you need so there is money for every dog who needs it (ie in other shelters). 

We will not be disbursing cash to your actual kennel but we will be providing the money to the supplier of food, toys, wood ,etc. Please find the best price/quality mix you can; do not simply conduct business with someone you know as we are both in this for dogs only. THINK ABOUT EACH DOG ONLY..again, this is NOT a business. It is only about dogs...man's best friend.

I look forward to helping all the kennels in Rome to the best of my abilities. I will do everything I can with what little spare time I have. I think my organizational skills, more than anything will help you as I do not have many spare hours to myself. However, I know a lot of people who will help all of us accomplish our goals.

My hope is that these classes become a regular event in Rome, and surpass me by many decades. I hope some day they expand throughout Europe,   so we can continue contributing to Man's Best Friend as our friend has contributed to us.

Cordiali Saluti

Steven Riznyk