Intensive English Center Journal - Spring 2015

IEC

Spring 2015 Our

Brid

ge

m o T to

w o r r o

Student Magazine

Table of Contents Then

▶ Hobbies Here & There ▶ My Life in Benin

▶ My Village in Burkina Faso ▶ How We Got Here

▶ China’s Dragon Boat Festival ▶ Jenadryiah Festival ▶ Learning Cultural Differences ▶ Children’s Day ▶ Anatolian Woman Art Exhibits ▶ A Day in the Life of an IEC Student ▶ The Edible Book Festival ▶ Music Convocation: Turkish Tunes ▶ IEC Cultural Trips ▶ Fun Around Campus & Town

Today

Tomorrow

▶ My Experience Living in the U.S. ▶ A Conversation Circle Interview

▶ Christopher Reigstad of the Write Place ▶ Alexandria Jundt, A Tutor for the IEC ▶ Our Experiences in the IEC ▶ Things We Learned While in the IEC ▶ Letters to Our Future Selves 1

2

Hobbies Here & There What are our hobbies?

Pre-Level 1

I do ort. y in p s da am a te ery Fri ple. I s i It ev eo ing. I do it ther p ted in t s e do ter m. tar is in stadiu sins an hite. I s nesota, y b the cou hob dw Min My obby in ith my lack an ere in fun. h w b h my vening ll. It is . I do it thy and l a e a the use a b i Arabi t is hea lhajri i d y onl in Sau ecause hman A a 2001 also, b Abdulr

My gym hobby with . I do i is a fun ti a m Now y frie n my f ctivity . I re , I d nds. o it I sta e time. do my i trea n Min rted in I do i hobby t n dm ill a esota 2013 i almos in the t al for nS nd Saa somet exerci audi A ways s dA i lhaj mes I e. I us rabia. e th run ri . e

o it time. I d nly e e r f y m or o home in relaxing. It’s f 2 in y m n i hobby is. It’s d in 200 I do my ecause I like th alone. I starte hobby. I y do it ay, b d for m n a every d n so I usually h ecause b d n n a u f n o i r s a one per . I use my br o my hobby fo bby is fun io d o the stud n and paper. I out love. My h pe ab n. also use create pictures my imaginatio I use I like to because Rui Wang

. ome h t a bby every o h y ch re do m . I wat orites a I . g v em laxin eo syst . My fa e r d s r n an and ste d actres . u f My hobby s y i o is a sport. bby inch TV is a go comed r I like it bec o it with my h a u e d se it is fun! e y friends. We I do M se a 60 na Joli ion an hawah always play a ball, a net, li outside. I n Iu and good s act ab Alk e ed nge hoes. I start Saudi Arab A . ed in 2013 in ia and I do Wah day it here in do it

every night Minnesota, with six pe too. I drink wate o p le . Sometime r after we p s, we lay because we are thir Aqeel Alzuri sty.

rass animal eats g is h T l. a im n a an al in the My hobby is ride my anim to e k li I t. e p ke it and it is my it. I like to ta h it w n fu e v a sh Ih n. Then, I bru park because ru y ll a su u e mer. W 2002 out in the sum ay. I started in d ry e ev l a . im an in Minnesota it and wash my o d ’t n o d I ia, but in Saudi Arab Ali Alawami

3

Read the paragraphs and guess. They are riddles! the etimes we play it in m So b. clu e th in t or tivity. I play My hobby is a sp week. It’s a group ac a ce on it do I t.

2004 gh gym at ni friends. I started in ith w it do lly ua us I and cold wawith nine people. orange ball, high net g bi a ed ne I . ia ab ends in Saudi Ar I love to play with fri e us ca be y bb ho y m ter to drink. I like with them. and always have fun Reda Qabel m. I do y g r o park ivity in the up act s. I o y r b g b f o o my h layer kind t. I do kend. It’s a has seven p o play r o p s a d net t ry wee bby is h team My ho ree time eve is sport. Eac eed a ball an it with my yf th th In it in m teams play ort in 2009. have fun wi d energetic.

I p o s an it is and tw laying this ecause uld be fast b t r times, use o e p o p s m h d o s s i e S th d. ers eca start to play ort the play 60 cm aroun to watch b e k i l I p n . it is s out s fu size ab d. Also, it i s. In th friend is medium n Our hobbies: Can you match them my ha xciting. ll e The ba s. I can hurt s i t i to us? rou anasef dange Ali Alm

There are extra answers!

4

Drawing / Cooking Riding Horses / Handball Writing Poetry / Soccer Motorcycles / Exercise Hunting / Basketball Volleyball / Reading Watching Movies / Photography

Getting Ready For The U.S.

This is how we got ready for the IEC and the U.S.

Level 1 B

Before I came to the U.S. I thought if I want to come here or not, so I told my father that I want to study in America, and he disagree with me but he thought about it and he agree with me in the end. I managed to plan my travel with my cousins to travel together. My aunt helps us a lot. So, we bought our tickets at the same time 8/18/2014. I packed my bags two weeks before my flight. I went to Dubai with my friend and we had a lot of fun together. I stayed with my family on our farm for two days. And when the time comes I said goodbye to everyone and we went to the plane and that was the biggest change in my life.

- Ahmed Almarzooq Before I came to America, I had a big party with my family. My mother cooked for us a big dinner. When we finished the dinner, my brother sent me to the airport but I felt sad because I didn’t speak one word in English.

It was snowing when I arrived to America. That scene surprised me because it was the first time that I see the snow in my life. My first semester was in pre-level 1, I felt happy because I met with new friends from another countries and we enjoyed in that semester. In the end I like to say thanks my family to give me advice to come to America. – Abdullah Alsaffar

Before I came to the U.S, I bought a ticket from Dammam to MSP and I stopped in Amsterdam. I went to the consulate to apply for my visa. I went around my hometown to keep it in my mind. I packed my bag two weeks before my flight. I stayed with my family for a long time because I knew that I will miss them. I came here on 12/17/2014. My brother in law picked me from the airport and brought me home.

- Ali Alhayiki

5

Firstly I finished master program three years ago in Istanbul Beykent Unıversity, Turkey. I wanted to start PhD program.

But I needed to learn English. Then I worked in the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. After, my teacher found this university for IEC. I left my job. I went to Ardahan for visit my family, and then I came back to Istanbul. I spent time with my friends and I got a visa. I came here in St.Cloud two months ago. – Semiha Temur

When I was in Saudi Arabia I decided to come to United States. So I sent my papers to the IEC. They sent me the I-20. After that, I took an appointment at the American consulate to get a visa. The people there were very helpful. I got the visa after a week. I booked a ticket for travel in December. Before I traveled I saw my friends and my family. I had a good time with them. My friends and my brother went with me to the airport and I said “Goodbye”.

- Hussain Almarhoon

About 8 months ago, I applied for the IEC and I was accepted. After that I bought a plane ticket from Saudi Arabia to the United State of America.

Before I came to the U.S, I packed up my suitcase, I had a small party with my friends and I said good-bye to my family and friends. Then I left to the airport. And when I arrived in the U.S, I saw my brother was waiting for me in the airport.

– Sarah Aldubais

6

When I came to US it was an exciting experience for me. First my friends drove me to the airport. Second they stayed with me until my plane left. Before I left, I took a picture with my friends and felt sad. Then on the plane, I ate some fruit. Next I fell a sleep. Finally I spent the rest of flight watching movies.

– Alhassan Aloraiedh

My Village in Burkina Faso

By Raïssa N. Ouédraogo (Level 4B) Hi! My name is Raïssa and I come from Burkina Faso. My lovely country is located in the West Africa where the official language is French. In parallel to the official language, we have more than 50 ethnic languages.

The best place to always speak your own ethnic language is when you go to your home village. Going to the village was my favorite time when I was child because my grandmother lived there. Each vacation, my parents dropped me in the village where I can stay for 2 months. At the village located some miles from my town, there are a lot of activities that we can do and most of them are pleasant and relaxing. For instance, the most of the girls like me have the responsibilities to draw water, cook and go in search of fruit called shea. Shea is a very nutritive product. We eat shea as kind of dessert and its oil is used for cooking, body using and even in the production of some drugs. Shea is one of our wealth resources. Additionally in my village, there is a real, natural, and beautiful surrounding that we can see anywhere in my village. There are a few motorcycles, so less pollution and a few buildings, so a lot of trees. Everything in there is natural and just beautiful. It is a very nice place to live but the development of the world leads us to go away and I’m not sure and feel fear that in some years when I will go back, my natural village isn’t going to stay like it is now.

7

My Life in Benin

By Fatou BioSawe (Level 4B)

I have travelled to a lot of countries, but coming here was my first time. The United States and my country are very different. I am from Benin, a little country in West Africa. We are just about eleven millions. My country could be a city in the United States or a very a small state. There are so many differences, but I will focus on the lifestyle and on the family relationship.

First of all, because I came in the winter I had my first snow. I was excited, but then I started to miss my Africa’s sun. In fact it has never snowed in my country. The weather is sunny every day. The weather is approximatively about 86F. Yes I know right you would like to live there just because of the weather. Another fact is that we don’t use the same currency. In my country we use FCFA, and 100 CFA is about $ 0.16. With 100cfa you can buy one French baguette compared to here, in Walmart you have to pay $1 especially when the bread closes to its expiry date. According to certain testimonies, the United States is a stressful country. Especially when you are not a US citizen. Every time sometime will remind you that you are a foreigner. If you want to do something you have to provide a lot of documents. For example just to get my state ID, they asked me for my i-20, my i-94, a birth certificate, my passport…I mean with the time I will get used to it. I don’t even have a choice though.

On the other hand, in the United States is like “every man for himself God for all”. People here are every individualists. That is the contrary in my country and also in most of Africa’s countries. In America, your parents expert you to leave the house when you are close to eighteen. You are no longer their responsibility. In my country you can stay with your parents even if you are 23 years old. It is up to you and it is not weird for anyone. You live with them until you decide to leave because you want to be in your own charge. However your parents continue to pay your school, to support you financially until you work or at least have a degree.

Moreover, in general, Africa’s families are large families. All your cousins live in the same house with your parents. The fact is that when somebody in the family has a good situation, he takes care of others. He can take care of his nieces or nephews by putting them in school, and bringing them to stay in his house. And the family gets bigger. Even when you come to the house you won’t know who are the biological children and who are not. And respect reigns in all the house. We have this strong notion of families.

8

It is not to say that the United States is a bad country, not at all. If it were the case I would not have come here. Well, you know, as we say, home sweet home! We are not so rich, we are not so developed, but we are so happy!

China’s Dragon Boat Festival

By Qian Mao & Shuai Li (Level 3B)

Dragon Boat Festival is an official festival to commemorate a famous politician named: Qu Yuan in ancient China on May 5th of the lunar calendar, and he is also a great patriotic poet. People have Dragon Boat Rice and eat Zongzi during this festival.

Legend has it that Qu Yuan’s country was not that strong and defeated by an enemy. He did not want to be captured, so he jumped into the river to commit suicide to show his loyal and love to his country. The people who known Qu Yuan jumped into the river, and they wanted to find his body, they took the boat on the river to search his body. Some people they threw a kind of food which made of glutinous rice to avoid his body ate by fish. This is the origin of dragon boat rice and this special food named: Zongzi.

All at all, Dragon Boat Festival is an important festival in China. We get together with our family and friends. If you have a change to come to China in May, you will have an good experience in Dragon Boat Festival.

9

Image Source: http://cultureofchinese.com/traditions/festivals-customs/the-custom-of-dragon-boat-festival/

Jenadryiah Festival - Saudi Arabia

By Abdullah Al Madath, Abdulrahman Alnajrani, & Mohaned Alfaraj (Level 3B)

1

Image Source: 1) http://tours-tv.com/en/Jenadriyah; 2) http://juandelaquacha.blogspot.com/2009/03/gahwa-coffee-tent-at-al-jenadriyah.html; 3) http://tvaraj.com/2013/04/18/men-deemed-too-handsome-and-irresistible-to-women-deported-from-saudi-arabia/

0

Jenadryiah Festival is the most popular event in Saudi Arabia. Saudis started celebrating the Jenadryiah in 1985. It begins on 12 of February every year and goes for two weeks. This event celebrates the founding of the nation. Saudis wanted to keep their traditional alive through the Jenadryiah event. More than a million visitors come to watch the traditional activities there. Jenadyiah’s activities start with people gathering to dance to the traditional music with fireworks. Visitors can join the dance with them. Visitors can also walk around the historical old village and buy souvenirs. There are camel races too. Saudis will keep the Jenadryiah Festival celebration going for many generations. If any of you has a chance to visit Saudi Arabia during the month of February, we recommend that you visit the Jenadryiah and join the celebration.

Turkey’s Children’s Day & National Sovereignty

By Fahriye Ozturk, PhD. (Level 3B)

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of Republic of Turkey entrusted the country to young people and became the only leader in the world who presented a festival day for the children. April 23, declared as ‘Children’s Festival’ by Atatürk became not only a festival celebrated

by Turks, but also the children all around the world. It will be celebrated the 95th year of April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Background:

April 23, 1920 was the day Turkish Grand National Assembly gathered for the first time, establishing the foundation of new state.

April 23 is the day when the nation started to use its power to govern; that is, Turkish National Sovereignty day. The date when Turkish Grand National Assembly was founded started to be celebrated as the day of National Sovereignty after the first year. In the year 1929, Turkish association for protection of children declared 23-30 April as the Children’s week and the first day of the week as the Children’s day. These two days were united under the name April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day on 23 April 1935. Turkish Radio and Television Institution (TRT) started celebrating April 23 Children’s Day as April 23 Children’s Festival by moving it to international arena after UNESCO declared the year 1979 as the Children’s Year.

What do people do?

Many people in Turkey commemorate the first gathering of the Grand National Assembly, which took place on April 23, 1920, by attending local ceremonies or laying wreaths at monuments of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Because, Ataturk reportedly dedicated the Turkish Republic to children, children take seats in the Turkish Parliament and symbolically govern the country for one day. Children’s festivals take place throughout the country. The state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) brings children, aged eight to 14, from different countries around the world to Turkey. These children stay with Turkish families for a week and participate in children’s festivals, which culminate is a gala-performance on April 23. National Sovereignty and Children’s Day is an official holiday in Turkey.

The most common symbols, which are commonly seen on National Sovereignty and Children’s Day in Turkey, are: 1) A globe or a circle, symbolizing the world; 2) A group of children of the entire world holding hands, symbolizing unity; 3) The Turkish flag, symbolizing Turkish statehood.

1 1

Image Source: http://napps201314.iics-k12.com/files/2014/04/23_s.jpg

Level 3A Final Debate

Ali are you teaching now?

Anatolian Women Art Recpetion Visiting Scholars in the IEC

IEC Cultural Trip to the Stick Shack

Three friends of Level 3

1

Exploring the Anatolian Women Art Reception

2

Dr. Schwartz & Visiting Scholars Anatolian Women Art Recpetion

Some Classes of the IEC

Level 1 B

Level 4 B

Friends All Across the IEC

Level 3B

Level 3C

1 3

Level 5

Friends & Classmates

Level 2 B

4

Level 3 A

Level 2 A

1

Level 1 A

INTENSiVE EN Spring

1 5

CENTER 2015

1

6

GLiSH

A Day in the Life of an IEC Student Ali Albarqi, Mohammed Alfaraj, Naif Alhajri, Tiffany Xu, Moustafa Alaskar, and Karam Samkari (Level 2B)

IEC is intensive English center it helps the international students to learn English language. First of all, our life such a hard work intensive to study the English language. However, in the morning we have reading, writing, structure and listening and speaking class. Those are really difficult classes for us because we are second language learner, but the teachers are very nice to us.

In addition we have afternoon classes which are conversation, vocabulary, literature. Also sometimes we have cultural orientation. Actually morning classes start from 9:00am to 12:00pm and also our break starts at 12:00pm and ends at 1:00pm also afternoon classes start at 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Every day we have a lot of homework after classes that we have to deal with it. Some of those exercises have to done it outside home for example we have to talk with Native American and write down their opinion this happens most of the time with the conversation class. The worst thing in the IEC is the homesick but we always meet new people from other countries to practice.

Tiffany came from China. She likes to listen to music and watch movies. (Not Pictured) Ali came from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His hobbies include playing volleyball. He also likes to listen to music. (Not Pictured) Mohammed came from KSA. He likes to talk with new people to improve his English.

Learn English Daily with Friends

Karam Samkari

Naif came from KSA. He likes to play soccer and to travel.

Moustafa came from KSA. He likes to play soccer and watch movies.

1 7

2015 Edible Book Festival Level 4-A Literature Class

The Woman in White By: Wilkie Collins

The Edible Book Festival is a yearly competition held at the Miller Center Library where people make edible art that relates to a book. The festival takes place every year and this year was on April 14th. You can enter the competition at four levels.

1

8

You can submit as an individual, group or SCSU organization. We entered the competition with a wonderful creation about our literature book the ‘Woman in White’ by Wilkie Collins. We worked hard with our teacher Ms. Megan Wisbar and the presentation was quite amazing. We had fun and enjoyed the process of creating an edible item for this year’s festival.

Cultural Observations This Semester From Level 5

IEC has contributed a lot to our social life by creating activities such as going to the mall and other local places to visit for students to enjoy. Also, I have observed cultural differences among both the U.S. and other nations such as Koreans and the Arabs. Finally, the IEC has provided us a unique team to support us educationally.

-- Gokhan Caliskan I primarily noticed many cultural and social differences between the U.S. and Turkey. I had a chance to meet with people from all over the world. Despite these great things that I observed, I realized that three months is not enough to improve my English skills. I wish I had it at least for one year. -- Mehmet Efe Not only students of IEC are multicultural, it is teachers are also multicultural. Being in a small class with other mature students made this short time period pass very quickly. The university and the IEC have provided many oppurtunities to socialize and have fun times with cultural excursions, concerts, and movie nights.

-- Mustafa Altunsoy I moved to America eight months ago. Even though I have been learning English since middle school, my speaking and listening skills were very poor because English was just a subject to study in South Korea so I could not practice it much.

But after moving to America, I started using English to survive. In the IEC, I have learned about how to adjust to the university well. I learned more about presentations skills, writing and reading. -- Eunhee Choi

1 9

Teachers, Students, and Friends

Level 1 B Studying in the Sun

My Experience of Living in U.S. Ahmed Almarhoon (Level 3C)

Living in the U.S.A is hard for international student at first. Most student do not adjust to a new culture or new laws because they find everything so different. For example, the tax, communication, and driving in the U.S.A are all very different from situation in their home countries. However, with time I have been able to adjust to these things.

I have been here in the U.S.A for one year and a half. This time has been really hard for me. However, I have been living with my cousins and they have helped me a lot became they already knew the cultural norms. I have to study hard and work hard because I want to get a better education which is going to lead me to have a better job in the future.

Maple syrup anyone?

0

Level 1 A & B

Friends & Classmates

2

Friends & Classmates

The Write Place Conversation Circle Yue: Hi Dr. Sinem, where are you from?

Sinem: I’m from Ankara, Turkey, the capital city.

Yue: Are you a visiting scholar?

Sinem: Yes, I came here to improve my English skills in IEC, St. Cloud and open my Art & Design exhibition in the university.

Yue: Thank you for inviting Level 3A class and me to your Art exhibition yesterday (March 31).

It was an amazing exhibition of silk screen printing technique presenting a theme of Anatolian women from ancient time till 19th century.

Sinem: Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.

Yue: Do you enjoy being here in St. Cloud State University?

Sinem: Yes, very much.

Yue: What do you think about the Conversation Circle?

Sinem: It is a great place to help us practice speaking English. We talked about everyday topics and shared our different culture. Sometimes, we play games together, Taboo game, Yes/No game, number guessing game.

Yue: What is your favorite game? Why? Sinem: I like Yes/No game so much. (People ask each other Yes/No questions. The players have to think about a sentence instead of simply answer YES or NO. For example: Do you have cell phone? They need to answer with a complete sentence.) Because it made me to think more. It was very interesting.

2 1

Conversation Circle - Fun With Friends

An Interview IEC Student Dr. Sinem Sanli, Associate Professor, Faculty Art & Design, Gazi University Yue: Have you had experience learning English with international classmates before the IEC? Sinem: No, I have not. This was my first time. There are some international students in my University in Turkey, but not in my department.

Yue: What do you learn from your IEC classmates?

Sinem: I learnt different cultures, lifestyles, languages. I met new friends.

Yue: If you can make a change, what would you like to change for Conversation Circle?

Sinem: More games, more practice. Two and half month ago I did not understand the Ted Talks.

Now I felt better with the help of turkish transcript online.

Yue: Have you been to a culture night at SCSU? Sinem: No, I don’t know. It would be very interesting experiences for me but I did not know that.

Yue: There are cultural nights every semester such as Japan Night, Somali Night, China Night, Saudi Arabia Night, Hmong Night, Nepal Night, Sri Lanka Night, etc. Usually it’s every Saturday night.

Sinem: I will go. (excited) Yue: How do you like the IEC? Sinem: It’s a very good language school and cultural exchange place. Very helpful, but I only have 10 hours class time per week, very limited.

Yue: What is the biggest difference in St. Cloud, MN compared to your city Ankara, Turkey?

a sy r up e l p a M

? nyone

Sinem: First, it is very cold here. You need to wear warm hats, gloves, boots, coats. Second, people are friendlier here. Third, the technology is more convenient in use in the classroom and library.

There are more study rooms, learning resources, such as books, articles, computers etc. There are more student activities on campus here.

2

Level 1 A Speaking Class

2

Level 1 B After Final Presentations

An Interview with Christopher Interviewed by: Mei Wu, Hae bin Lee, Q : How are you?

A : I’m good.

Q : Where are you from?

A : I’m from Minnesota. I was born here.

Q : How long have you been in the conversation circle?

A : This is my fourth semester so I have been here for 2 years.

Q : Are you happy in here?

A : I love it. It’s great.

Q : Why did you decide entering graduate school?

A : I like learning and I think this is a place to learn more about English. Reads more things like that.

Q : What do you know about IEC? A : From what I understand, IEC is a place for students to learn about English. So it’s an immersion

program. I heard it’s hard. I heard it is very good also.

Q : Do you have another job?

A : I’m working at write place to help students with the papers.

Q : Is it voluntary or do you get pay?

A : I get paid to do it. It’s a good job. I don’t want to leave.

Q : What do you learn from international students?

A : Lots of things. This is why I’m here. I learn a lot of things: how cultures work, what kind of

music they like, what kind of food they like. That’s fascinating to me. It’s good to meet new

people. You guys are awesome just so you know. I meet lots of friends here.

Q : Where are they from?

A : Mostly they are from China and a couple of Koreans too.

Q : What’s your hobby?

A : I have so many hobbies. I like working with the metal, working with leather, working with wood.

I love wood. I use wood to make things. I like to play instruments. I like to play guitar, piano, limited erhu. I can bring it if you guys want. I play it sometimes. I love Medieval things. Knights, dragons, castles, I love that stuff, like the Lord of the Rings.

2 3

Reigstad - The Write Place @ SCSU Ali Almarzooq, & Site Yin (Level 3A) Q : Have you ever been to another country?

A : Canada. Canada is the only one.

Q : And other states?

A : I have been Colorado, Mexican, Wisconsin, Idaho around the Minnesota.

Q : Florida?

A : No Florida. I wish. I want to go to California. North Dakota, South Dakota, a little bit of Montana.

I have been there when I was very young.

Q : What do you do in your free time?

A : Hang out with friends. That’s fun. I like reading books. Reading about dragons.

Q : I think you like making somethings.

A : I love to make things. I built a guitar once I built the furniture in my apartment. I like that. I like

to play video games. I should study but I play games a lot.

Q : Is your major English?

A : Correct. I try to do lots of reading too. I try hard.

Q : Which country would you like to visit?

A : China. There are lots of place I want to go. England. I want to go to England. I want to see castles.

Q : What’s your favorite sports?

A : American football. I think soccer is cool but American football is the best.

Q : Have you ever been to culture night on campus?

A : Yes, I went to Nepal Night. I didn’t go to the others. My schedule was busy.

Q : How do you help us improve English?

A : Practice. Lots of practice. It’s helpful to hang out with English speaking friends. It helps you hear

the rising and falling of English speakers’ voices. Watching TV helps you a lot. It also helps

increase vocabulary and grammar. It’s really good to hear things. That helps a lot.

Q : Do you know other language?

A : I speak a little Germany. Just a little bit. A little bit of Korean and a little bit of Chinese.

Q : What do you want to be in the future?

2

4

A : I want to be a teacher. I want to teach Literature, teaching stories about dragons.

An Interview with Alexandria Interviewed by: Hassan AlQasim, Ravong Seng, 1. Why do you volunteer to help international students?

She helps volunteer to help international students because she plans to go to graduate school for applied linguistics and wants to teach non-native speakers. She wants to teach in Minnesota or overseas.

2. Have you ever received culture shock or language shock from international students when they talk to you? If so, what was that?

Yes, when she first started working as a tutor. She didn’t know anything about cultures at all and she didn’t know what do or expect. She knew many of the students spoke different languages and had a language barrier. She works with new cultures every day.

3. What was the most difficult conversation you have ever dealt with international students?

Probably conversations involved in religion and sexuality. Once had to explain to Middle Eastern students that she had to explain surrogacy wasn’t prostitution. Middle Eastern students refer mother as prostitute because she slept with other man’s husband.

4. Which cultures are you most familiar with? If so, where did you learn from?

Somali

Study in the Library?

2

Friends & classmates at the reception Anatolian Women Art Exhibit

5

Jundt - A Tutor for the IEC Junwei Chen, Zhong Zhang, Mustafa AlGhawas (3A) 5. Do you have any strategies to share with international students how to win at college?

No strategies, just to do your best and enjoy yourself while at college. Talk to a lot of native speakers and be comfortable.

6. What are some important things you usually do when you have free time and what is the most important thing you will do first?

Doesn’t do important things in free time. She likes to spend time with her boyfriend and cats. She also likes to read a lot. Her number one thing is to spend time with her boyfriend and cats.

7. What is your dream job?

She would like to teach at a college. She would like to publish a book and open a community center that gets away from current education structure.

8. What’s your most significant childhood memory?

She was at a park in front of the library when she was a kid and she heard someone speak another language. She was fascinated and she heard Chinese women and she likes what they were saying.

9. What is your favorite music? What do you like?

She listens to a lot of music, especially rock. Aerosmith

6

Sights around campus

2

Level 1 B Students and teacher

What We Have Learned in the IEC

From Level 2-A

IEC Improved Our Listening & Speaking Skills

The IEC taught us the things that will help us in our life, like buying and selling things or contacting with other people around the world. We Also learned how to listen to other people and understand them when they are talking to you in simple English. And how we answer in simple words about their question or something they are talking about. We also learned how to watch some videos and pay attention. We learned how to talk about something we watched. In IEC they trying to let you speak only one language and it’s English, so you are practicing all the Did The SCSU Change Your Sense Of Values? time without feeling that you are doing it.

“Coming to scsu changed my sense of value. I didn’t think – Ali & Mahamad that I’ll go to college, and always thought that it’s hard when I was in high school, but now I think that I can do it.

Now I’m a lot closer to my dreams. I am hoping and I wish to finish this level and the next levels next semester – Ali Albahrani “When i was in Korea I thought I could never talk with English people because their culture is hard to understand and also thought that English was too hard. But it’s different here. When I start to study in the IEC, I was forced to use English and study hard. And also I can understand their culture. The best select in my life in come to SCSU I think.” - Seong Su Park

How We Improved Our Vocabulary How did the IEC help us to improve our vocabulary? In every class we learn different vocabulary in different ways. For example: collocation is a useful way to learn more vocabulary such as use it in different way like: makes it easy. We also learn how we can use the word in different places like to change the verb to noun. It’s easier now than before we came IEC. We learn how to find words in the dictionary very quickly. We hope in next level we learn more vocabulary for preparing our self for college.

- Lama Al-qahtani, Thra Kwas

How Did Our Writing & Reading Skills Improve?

2

We used different ways to improve our English practice in IEC. They used many good teachers help us learn. Especially in our writing class, the teacher is nice, she`s used many activities to teach us. For example she give us any homework to do after each class. Also we did journal every day in class. Then the reading class helped us to improve our reading skills, in this class we learn to pronounce the words well. Our reading teacher read a short story to us each class. In conclusion, we think IEC teachers used the best and easy ways to improve our reading and writing skills. This is the principal reason to improve our English skills. - Kassoum & Loay

7

Structure 2 A Recalls Some Experiences To the tune of Hank Snow’s song “I’ve Been Everywhere”

We were getting ready for graduation, looking for the end When a classmate sat down beside me, a freshly made friend – This semester’s been a long one, I hope we got it right With so much experience now, it’s really gone outta sight!”

The he asked me which has been the most impressive, The one thing I’d claim has made me the biggest fan And I said, listen friend – it’s only the beginning for me living in this land!

I’ve been everywhere, man I’ve been everywhere, man Crossed some deserts bare, man I’ve had some mountain air, man Of travel I’ve had my share, man, I’ve been everywhere: We’ve been to Chicago, Fargo, San Francisco, But not a disco Minnetonka, Minnesota, North Dakota, Bismark Waite Park, Kingsman, Madison, Portland Los Angeles, St. Paul, St. Cloud and Kentucky However, there, I’ve forgot which city Of phrasal verbs there’s been Catch up, keep up, make up Never give up Drop off, put off, cut down But not to mix up Go over and go through, get by Teacher won’t let us slide So don’t forget to hand in so as not to fall behind ‘cause if you tune out in class you’re sure to give your grade away

8 2

Sights around campus

Friends & Classmates

We can’t wait to see what our future will bring!

Thank you for taking the time to read our student magazine and going on the journey with us.

Our pictures were from students & staff of the Intensive English Center as well as St. Cloud State University.