elc insights november/december 2014

on a semester well-‐spent!

November – December 2014

ENGLISH LANGUAGE CENTER INSIGHTS A Newsletter for and about our Students and Faculty

As we wrap up another semester, we hope that each of you will reflect on your own growth. Whether your gains can be demonstrated by your expanded vocabulary or by the

cultural perspectives you have developed, each opportunity that you took will pay off for a long time. As you move into

the next phase of your development, take some time to appreciate your own bravery. You came to a very strange

place to learn English alongside some very cool and motivated people! Moreover, you managed to make

friends from other cultures while facing the many obstacles created by this American culture and this cold climate! You

tackled the whole shebang and you did it with grace, fierceness, and style! Minnesota may have given you some

cold hands this fall, but you never got cold feet, and you managed to keep a warm heart through it all!

Idiomatic Language-‐ pay off: positive result; the whole shebang: everything; get cold feet: scared to do something

Cold Hands, Warm Heart Written by Katie Subra

Learn more about one of your favorite ELC Teachers

Teacher Feature p. 2

Read the polished prose of some of your hard-‐working classmates

Student Writing p. 3

English Language Center Fall 2014

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1) What is the most rewarding part of your job? The most rewarding part of my job is the relationships that I am able to build with people from all over the world. I've never traveled outside of the U.S., so I cherish the opportunity to find out about the world outside of my little bubble. 2) What is your favorite place in Minnesota? My favorite place in Minnesota is the Zumbro River, which is a small river that flows through southeastern Minnesota. I spend many summer days on the river with my friends and family. We have picnics on the beach, swim in the warm water, and spend the whole day just kicking back and floating several miles down the river. 3) Do you have any words of wisdom to share with the ELC students? My advice for ELC students is to play with the language and don't be afraid to be wrong. Making mistakes is a great way to learn and you can have much more fun trying to figure things out when you aren't worried about being perfect.

Teacher Feature: Meet Tammy Brians

We will celebrate the end of the semester with an ELC Dinner at Jefferson’s Grill in downtown Winona. Join us for good food, good company, and the presentation of student awards!

December 10

ELC Spring Semester Orientation begins. New students must report to the ELC Office at this time.

January 7

The ELC Spring Placement Exam will take place for new incoming ELC students.

January 9

Fall Semester begins. Stay tuned for more information about academic requirements and activities. Conversation Partners Nights will resume in February.

January 12

Save the Date

International and domestic students enjoy a early Thanksgiving dinner


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It’s amazing how much variety of customs you can find in the world. There are about 195 countries and 6500 spoken languages; one of the most spoken ones is English. When I was younger, my dream was to come to the USA. I wanted to live here; I’ve always liked American culture. My mom used to tell me I was “one of them”. Since I’ve been here I have noticed how different two parts of the world that are not so far away from each other can be. First, the languages have different levels of difficulties. Spanish has more tenses with time than English, I believe Spanish has 30 more tenses with time, so it’s even more difficult to learn Spanish, or that’s what I’ve heard. On the other hand, English has a lot of words that can simplify talking which makes it the easiest language to learn. Additionally, there are differences in the behavior in people. In my country, people tend to be warm. They love to make conversation with people all the time. We usually say hello with a kiss on the cheek. In the USA, people are less

Two Cultures Written by Andrea Guerrero

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open to random conversations, or at least it’s what I’ve seen. But, when you get to know people they are very friendly. Also, the food is pretty different. In here, you can find a lot of pre-cooked food; for example, the cheese comes in packages. In contrast, Venezuela is more of a home-cooked food country. Indeed, we don’t have any of those packages that the only thing that you need to do is put it in the microwave for a few seconds. Likewise, exist differences on the environment. My country unfortunately is not very clean, but it balances with the beautiful beaches and tourisms places. However, I consider U.S.A one of the cleanest countries in the world, as well as you can find many ways of entertain yourself. To sum up, even though all this differences, like people, places, the language and food, that the last one is one of the things that affected me the most; I really appreciate both of these countries, either people or food, they have their own way to make you fall in love with them.

Conversation Partners Night


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Ut Sed Est

Maecenas purus

International traveling alone would be not only cheap but beneficial

Written by Yong Seog Lee (Jayden)

[Many people enjoy traveling and experiencing other cultures. What are some of the beneficial effects of international travel on an individual? “To travel is to take a journey into yourself” said by Danny Kaye, famous American movie actor. Some people might think going somewhere new is just for having fun and taking a rest. Of course, it’s part of traveling. However, from Kaye’s point of view, traveling alone can be a good way of making someone focus on himself/herself more than taking a rest especially going as a group. Likewise the definitions of traveling described above, there are a few great values of taking a trip alone: change to adaptable person, getting new idea, refreshment. One thing you can feel good about taking international trips is that you might be able to be become more adaptable and open-‐minded person. Even though the world has been changing a lot to become more standardized where there are more chain shops, famous brands, worldwide mass media and multi-‐national foods, when traveling you can enjoy the originality of regional community shops. When you first visit these shops will be unfamiliar for you, of course you can be shocked, but once you get used to seeing it, you will soon respect it. This is because it’s the way of their life just like how you live in your hometown. And finally you will begin to realize that people have their own distinct lifestyles bringing color into each place you go In addition, you can get brilliant ideas from the country you decide to go. Innovative, profitable or useful things can be often spread fast domestically, however sometime there may be limitation. But, if you get out of the limitation that you already got used to and get closer to something new in your trip, you can learn many things. This is because it’s originated by their own culture, religion, and mindset etc.. It is especially better to travel alone. It makes you focus more on what you feel during your traveling than if you have some company. Moreover, another significant role of taking a trip is that journey can be a refresher from your exhausted life. Everyone have their own duty in their usual life. Studying can be for students, works can be for employees, household and infant care can be for housewives and so on. They are parts of our life but they can sometimes make you irritated and exhausted because it repeats all the time. Traveling would be a great break at this moment for everyone from the consistently repeating life. The travel can make you experience new things,, and it surely will give you momentum for you to do these things again in your daily life. To illustrate, I took a trip alone right after I finished my military duty. It was the middle of cold winter, but I decided to travel because I wanted to know about myself, and I thought it was an excellent choice. I traveled what I wanted time by time and feeling by feeling, and come to think of it, it’s because I was really tense to get into a new society different from the army. Therefore I acted freely at that moment. Additionally, I had met a lot of people there and tasted their own food. The trip let me know how I was hasty boy, because I planned the trip without specific plan. Like my own example, I think traveling alone would be very helpful for people to know and have a good memory.

Surely, Going on an international trip can be hard in some senses. For some people, determining whether to start traveling or not is harder. But, as a consequence, no matter what purpose you set for your trip, it will do a great role on your life. From one’s personality and maturity to individual accomplishment that whether it’s about career or personal break, it seems that it’s worthy to start to travel, which makes your life colorful and energetic to live.


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Ut Sed Est

Maecenas purus

Traveling Domestically VS Abroad Written by Qussem Julaih

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” These words were spoken by Augustine of Hippo. Many people prefer traveling abroad more than traveling domestically. Traveling abroad is more helpful to improve knowledge in life. Also people can have more benefits from traveling abroad than traveling domestically. Traveling has always been a really good option to relax during vacation. There are many differences between traveling abroad and traveling domestically, like learning about the history of peoples and other countries. Also you have new knowledge about another culture and how the people live. Also you have new experiences in life. All those help any person to improve his knowledge and discover new things in life.

Some people will assume traveling domestically could teach them history of their own country and more knowledge about it. However, traveling abroad will give you more information about another country. Additionally, some people argue that language use could be no problem at all. There are several ways to solve the barrier of communication in different countries, such as by using dictionaries or body language. But it also helps you to learn a new language. From here, anyone can share his culture and the history of his country.

Traveling abroad gives you a new experience about where the people live, how the people live, and what the differences between your country and another country are. Traveling abroad gives you new ideas to develop your country. Also it exports the education between the countries.

If anyone is traveling domestically he/she will not feel the differences between the cultures, unlike the one who is traveling abroad. Traveling abroad is better than traveling domestically because you could learn about the traditions in another country. This gives you an idea about the traditional costume and why the people were wearing this traditional costume and what the causes are. It is not like if you read it from a book. Additionally, traveling abroad makes you taste the original traditional food. But when you traveling domestically you are going to have the same food that you are used to eating every day. And traveling abroad shows you the cooking style in another country.

In concluding, I think traveling abroad is more beneficial for the person because it gives him more new knowledge in his life than traveling domestically. It helps people to learn about the different culture, history and have new experiences in the lifestyle.

ELC Student Qi Li performs a duet at the Chinese Moon Festival

ELC Students prepare to be scared silly at the Onalaska ‘Shed of the Dead’ Haunted House


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Comparison of China and America Written by Yiran Zhong

What are the differences between America and China? Different countries and different ethnic groups in the course of historical development are changing because of the economic, technical and even political aspects. Chinese culture is a typical representative of Eastern culture, and American culture is a fusion of Western culture. Dietary habits, religion, and the environment are all points of comparison between China and America.

Firstly, there are different ways of dietary habits between Americans and Chinese. For their way of eating, Chinese prefer to use chopsticks; however, Americans usually use a knife and fork. In addition, in China, when some people go to a restaurant, they will share food together. After eating, the person who invited others should pay the bill. In America, people usually separate food and the bill. Moreover, cooking has many differences. Chinese prefer to eat cooked and hot food. The chief can cook one thing in many different ways. Unlike Chinese, many Americans prefer to eat raw and cold food.

Secondly, there is huge difference of religion between Americans and Chinese. According to Docin website, there are 9 Americans who believe in God out of every 10 Americans. The reason is the government encourages people to believe religion. Religion in America is part of important culture. Because of the religion, Americans have a special responsibility to help people. In contrast, there are many famous religions such as Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, among them, most people believe in Buddhism. However, Chinese government claimed that advocating science and opposing religions is important. Therefore, the religions in China are more like history now.

Thirdly, environment also has many differences. China is the most populated country in the world. For this reason, the population density is very big. People need more space to live, so Chinese building’s quantities are far more than American. According to Statistics, only Shanghai has approximately 3000 more buildings with more than 30 floors. Furthermore, the housing price is more expensive in China. In contrast, Wisconsin doesn’t have any buildings and people who live there much prefer living in houses instead of apartments. Also, because of the population problem, the covering of American forests are more than Chinese, and American air quality is better than Chinese.

As we have seen, America and China are totally different countries. Dietary habits, religion and environment make them have their unique cultures. Learning about the three ways could help you know America and China better, allowing you to travel to either place more easily.

Thanksgiving dinner beverage servers Ibrahim & Junha

Expert pumpkin carvers Cheick and Mohammed

Thank you Sunday Zhang for your years of hard work and support in the ELC! We’ll miss you and hope you come back to visit us!!

Tammy Brians, Andrea Guerrero, Qussem Julaih, Yong Seog Lee, Katie Subra, Susan Webber, Yiran Zhong

elc insights november/december 2014

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