Summer Newsletter

Hello everyone! I hope that everything is going smoothly and that you are all enjoying the hot Baltimore summer! We have 44 students this summer coming from all over the world, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, India, Ecuador, China, Colombia, Brazil Vietnam, Chile, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan. It has been an exciting program and I am sure that everyone is making excellent progress and having a great time with other students. This is the first issue of the Summer 2015 Newsletter making the 21st year of the Summer ESL Program at Hopkins. This year, we are offering 10 courses taught by experienced, dedicated, and caring faculty. We also offer various extracurricular activities throughout the 5 weeks, including Lunch Conversations on Mondays and Fridays from 12 to 1 p.m. It has been very popular, and I

see so many people enjoying conversations with teachers and friends in the conference room. Please continue to take advantage of other fun activities our program has planned. I look forward to seeing you during the upcoming activities. I know that this program is only one of the paths you will take on your journey of studying English. I hope that the learning experience you encounter in the program will be deeply engraved in your mind and create a valuable foundation for furthering your English language skills. The 5 weeks will fly by, but your English will have improved tremendously in every aspect, and what’s more, you will have made many friends from different parts of the world. With warm regards, Yuki Johnson, Ph.D. Director of CLE

Students smile for the camera at our bi-weekly Lunch Conversations on July 6th, 2015.

Dates to Remember:

July 17 Inner Harbor

Outing

July 20, 24, 27 Remaining Lunch

Conversation Group Krieger 522

12-1pm

July 28 Class Pictures at

Gilman Hall 10:15am

July 31

Certificate Ceremony and Lunch

Great Hall in Levering 11:30am—1:30pm

July 17th, 2015

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Hopkins ESL: www.facebook.com/jhu.esl

Hopkins CLE:

www.facebook.com/cledu.jhu.edu

Yuki Johnson, CLE Director

Summer 2015

For many ESL Students, June 29th was a day of firsts. Some were taking their first steps onto the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. Others were taking their first steps into the United States. Whether students traveled from the medical campus, or all the way from Beijing, it was every student’s first encounter with the Hopkins Summer ESL Program, and with each other. After a busy morning of placement testing, we held a Welcome Day Pizza Lunch on the Brody Learning Commons Pavilion. As faculty, staff, and students gathered around the boxes of pizza, names were learned and introductions were made, over the simplicity of being in a new place. Students headed to the shaded tables, forming small clusters under the white umbrellas. I watched as new students approached, asked to join a table, and were quickly ushered in. Although every student was placed in an unfamiliar setting, the friendliness and warmth towards others was an incredible sight to see. I thought to myself, what an amazing group of students!

Summer ESL Pizza Party by Ilana Malkin, Student Assistant

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Our Orioles, Our Life by Liben Chen, ESL student

Many ESL students and their teachers watched the Orioles baseball game at Camden Yards on a beautiful Saturday afternoon on July 11. These international students with diverse cultures were extremely participating and enthusiastic about this miraculous sport, which represents the United States. These young people were chatting, screaming, eating their favorite snacks and learning the ins and outs of the game. Many students have never watched baseball game before; however, with detailed and comprehensive explanations by the teachers, they got a better chance to digest the rules and soak into the American culture behind this sport. Although the Orioles lost 4-7 due to Danny Espinosa's three-run jack in the

Taking a lovely break outside Brody Learning Commons for the pizza party!

Liben Chen (far right) with ESL students at Camden Yards! Go O’s!

Camden Yards was totally packed for the game! Amazing!

sixth inning, it was still an intensive and watchable game. For example, Manny Machado's amazing diving stop and Caleb Joseph's two-run home run were remarkable and arousing. Additionally, the song singing and little Oriole hotdog and crab games were also entertaining, especially for those who came to watch baseball the first time. This leisurely sport provided us with an ideal opportunity to hang out with our new friends and share our life pleasures. Indeed, our passionate students and teachers had a wonderful time of understanding and feeling the essence of the greatest city in America.

Summer 2015 Common Ground by Ilana Malkin, Student Assistant

As a long time food-lover, I have always connected with people over meals. From elementary school lunches, sitting in the cafeteria while talking with my friends, to my freshman year of college in the dining hall, binging on all the unhealthy foods my mother told me not to eat, I have made laughs, friends, and many memories over the meals in my life. This remains true within the ESL Lunch Conversations. The conference room, although empty at first, quickly begins to fill with students of all nationalities, ages, and backgrounds. Beibei Xu brings a ramen bowl from the Bamboo Cafe, while Erika Ito eats a chocolate chip muffin she’s brought from the local supermarket, Eddie’s. As the students break open their lunches, I realize that there is one goal gathering this diverse group of students together: gaining a mastery of the English language. Over food, we are able to discuss the different motivations bringing us to the Hopkins ESL Program. Whether it is for a post-doctoral residency at the medical campus, or a higher TOEFL score, we find common

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ESL students and faculty members share stories and laughs during Lunch Conversation Group held Mondays and Fridays from 12-1pm in Krieger 522.

Believe it or not, the end of the ESL Summer Program is quickly approaching! July 31st is our last day and the day of the Closing Ceremony which will be taking place in the Great Hall in Levering at 11:30am. The Closing Cere-mony is not just a goodbye for our students, faculty, and staff but it is also a chance to reflect on the incredible progress I am sure that all of you have been making in your classes. You are encouraged to invite friends and fam-ily members to join us at the ceremony to celebrate all that you’ve achieved in the program! Please let me know if you would like to invite guests to the ceremony so that we can make sure that we have sufficient seating available. During past ESL Closing Ceremonies, we have showcased the incredible talents of some of our students and this is an invitation here for you to please contact me at esl@jhu.edu if you would be interested in performing music, dance, or any other talents you may have! Also, I am sure that many of you have been taking photographs of your time here, trips, and classmates during these whirlwind past few weeks. If you have any special moments you wish to share with us during the ESL photo slideshow which will be presented during the ceremony, please e-mail me your photos. Last but not least, for those of us whose skills are perhaps more culinary than artistic we will be holding a potluck lunch as part of the Closing Ceremony! Please feel free to cook and prepare a favorite dish to share with your classmates during our very last gathering. Best of luck to you during the remaining half of the program!

ESL Closing Ceremony by Julia Friedrich, Academic Program Assistant

ground in our interests, our life experiences, and our collective determination to learn.