LCI says zài jiàn to Wang Tao

Associate Director Elsie Paredes (right) gives a few parting gifts to Wang Tao.

Wang Tao, a visiting scholar from the University of Science and Technology of China, wrapped up her six-month stay in the United States with a presentation Tuesday afternoon at the Language and Culture Institute. Her talk focused on the importance of "learning by doing."

A professor in the English department at USTC, she observed LCI and Chinese language classes during the spring and talked about the USTC at a meeting of the University Council on International Affairs.

During the summer, she held a seminar on Chinese culture and education and also worked as a co-investigator on research regarding the experience of Chinese students at the LCI in Blacksburg. They set up a focus group, held a group interview, and collected raw data.

Having visited a number of universities across the country, she said she appreciated the tranquility of Blacksburg -- and liked seeing so many squirrels on campus and around town.

A field trip to the National Portrait Gallery

Among the portraits on display at the National Portrait Gallery is this one by artist Chuck Close of President Bill Clinton.

Students and staff from the National Capital Region took a field trip recently to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Read about their trip and see some photos below.

Elaine de Kooning's portrait of President John F. Kennedy.

By Shatha Alamoudi

Last week we had a beautiful trip to the National Portrait Gallery with some students and teachers.

We started to move from the institute at 11:00 a.m. We took the Metro there. The weather was amazing; it was cloudy and good for the trip. 

We arrived the museum at 12:11 pm .We saw a lot of pictures, such as Brad Pitt, Rosa Parks, George Washington, and others. 

After we finished the trip, I went with my Professor Shamsaei and my friends to have lunch. Then I came back home. 

It was a beautiful trip and everybody had a good time.

The Great Hall

By Reenad Alhussein

On Jun, 2, students from Virginia Tech went to the National Portrait Gallery. We learned a lot of information about American art. 

We listened to an educational tour guide. She told us many ideas. The field trip was great experience. However, it was too short to see everything in the museum, but other way is to do any thing we want. 

In addition, the museum has old and new art. That is great for all ages of people, so it is a good place to go with family and children. In addition, it has a perfect map, so you can walk around the museum easily. 

I would like to go again and see everything. People will not be bored at the museum. Also if people finish, they can see the gift shop and buy special gifts from the museum. 

Finally, the museum is near Chinatown, so people can go to museum and have fun in Chinatown.

Gilbert Stuart's 1796 portrait of George Washington is known as the Lansdowne portrait because it was a gift to the Marquis of Lansdowne, an English supporter of American independence, from Senator and Mrs. William Bingham of Pennsylvania.

See photos from the Summer Picnic in Blacksburg

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Posted by Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute on Friday, June 5, 2015

Radford students celebrate at first annual spring cookout

Students, teachers, and staff at the Language and Culture Institute at Radford University cheered the end of spring classes and the arrival of summer at the first ever LCI@RU spring cookout.

The picnic was held at Radford's Bisset Park right after students finished their writing test. It was a good stress reliever, joked Associate Director Charlene Dandrow.

Attendees were treated to grilled hamburgers and hot dogs as well as a variety of other picnic classics. They played Frisbee, badminton, and soccer.

See more photos below.

Students root, root, root for the home team

The Washington Nationals take on the Philadelphia Philles at Nationals Park in Southeast Washington.

The following was submitted by LCI student Alejandro Ortiz:

On April 18, I had the pleasure to share a baseball game with the Virginia Tech students and some professors. Maybe a baseball game is a mundane activity for more than one American; nevertheless, it was an appealing proposal for a foreign student such as me.

As an Argentinean, I am used to attending soccer games, but baseball games ... maybe in some Hollywood movie!

First, the most attractive thing for me was how people from different ages were sharing the show. Moreover, it was really interesting to see how each was wearing something to be identified with his or her team. Even the fact that both team fanatics were sitting together with other team fans peacefully was astounding.

Surprisingly, I realized that most people go to the game to socialize more than to see the game. That is undoubtedly good!

To cut a long story short, it was a nice step to experience the American culture and understand the way they live.

Professors Guennadi Bratichko, Lily Jaffie-Shupe, and Christine Bobal show their support for the Nationals.

Amani Alghuraydh, Turki Alhenaki, and Maram Sulaiman contributed to this story:

The baseball game plays a vital role in the sports world. In a baseball game, each team consists of at least nine players. There are many teams in the USA.

First, we went to a baseball game. We were excited because this was our first time to see the game. There were a lot of fans. The game was between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. There were almost 25,000 fans at the game.

Finally, all the fans were sad because the time lost game. Next we left the stadium at 4 p.m. We went to a restaurant. Then we walked to the Metro, and it was crowded. I think we got a new experience. We will go again.

Virginia Tech welcomes 10 Humphrey Fellows from 8 countries

Khim Ghale, a journalist from Nepal, talks with Blacksburg Councilwoman Leslie Hager-Smith during a reception for the Humphrey Fellows at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center.

Khim Ghale has worked as an editor and district bureau chief for the largest Nepali language newspaper in Nepal. But like his colleagues in the United States and elsewhere, he is anxious about the future of journalism.

As a Humphrey Fellow, Ghale will spend a year in the United States developing his leadership skills and studying ways to marry modern technology and traditional journalism. First, though, he'll spend the next four months with nine other Fellows improving their English at the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute.

Read the full story at VT News.

Former LCI students' award-winning project offers hope for Haiti

Former Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute student Junior Beauvais

The mayi tchaka Junior Beauvais eats when he returns to the rural Haitian village where he was born tastes nothing like the flavorful corn and bean stew his grandmother used to serve.

The recipe hasn't changed. What has, he says, is the quality of the corn and beans.

For generations, farmers in the mountainous village of Fondwa, a narrow strip of a community about two hours southwest of Port-au-Prince, provided food for their community by growing heirloom corn, peas, and sorghum.

Starting in the 1980s, though, the region has been flooded by genetically modified seeds distributed for free by nongovernmental organizations. Taking advantage of the cheap seeds, Haitian farmers quickly sold off their heirloom seeds and planted the modified ones.

According to Beauvais, this switch has had negative long-term consequences. The modified seeds, unsuitable to the terrain, aren't nearly as productive as the heirloom varieties. Crop yields have dramatically decreased, wrecking Fondwa's economy and creating health problems and malnutrition. In addition, the hybrid crops don't produce seeds that can be saved, forcing farmers to buy more each season.

Those who have tried to switch back to the heirloom seeds, however, have found that they are nowhere to be found. Beauvais had an award-winning idea to change that.

Read the full story at VT.edu.