Bridges to the University: Arabic Lessons
Raed Al Azzam, in the centre, was interested in doing something more than studying, playing soccer, and visiting with friends. " I'd like to do something; my friends are all working; but restaurant work doesn't appeal to me -- I'd like to give Arabic lessons, but I am not sure where to start..." Two weeks later, Raed and Nawaf Alqahtani gave their first Arabic lesson at the University, and proceeded to give another four after that, once a week. They showed an amazing flair for teaching; not surprising, considering their mothers are teachers and they come by it naturally. They began by teaching the alphabet, then continuing on to simple verb conjugations, and practising with simple sentences, questions and answers. Their students didn't want the lessons to end. "It is an absolutely fascinating language," said one. "The way the guys teach, it's not a hard language at all

With exams starting, the lessons were suspended temporarily, but not before students, staff, and faculty were begging the guys to teach five days a week. They could have spent all their time teaching and not studying! One of the highlights of the lessons? Teaching Arabic to theTeaching English as a Second Language Student Association! The prospective ESL teachers had a wonderful refresher in what it is like to have to learn a new script, pronunciation and grammar system! They felt it was one of the best lessons they had ever learned. Thanks, guys, for teaching more than just a language!

UFV Students involved with Sardis Sec-Nankai Exchange

Our Students from Beijing Concord, Tang Luowei, Weinan Lu, Yang Liu, and Huang Wangzi were very happy to play a part in helping the local high school, Sardis Secondary from Chilliwack, make their exchange with Nankai School of Tianjin China, a complete success.

In January, they prepared a presentation on Old Beijing/New Beijing and showed it to 50 students, teachers, and parents at Sardis Secondary in Chilliwack, and followed up with a Mandarin language learning and dictionary usage exercise.

Later, they came to meet the Nankai students hosted on exchange, and gave a tour of UFV to the Nankai students and their teachers. After the Nankai students returned to China, our UFV students went to the Sardis Secondary classroom and assisted in a Mandarin lesson, to help these high school students from Chilliwack prepare for their Spring Break trip to China.

When the Sardis students returned from China, they invited our students for a potluck dinner and slideshow to tell them all about their trip.

Click here to see Mr. Bernard's blog on the China trip, and to see photos and movies of their experiences in China.

Bridges to the Community

Bridges to the Community are being forged this month! This new program sees International students going into school classrooms in Chilliwack and Abbotsford and making presentations on their language, culture, food... the sky is the limit. Shown here is Bharuttee Deehoo, a TESL student from Mauritius, giving a presentation, in French to the Grade 6 French Immersion students in Sardis Elementary School, in Chilliwack.

The students got to hear about another country where they speak French, and Bharuttee, a French Teacher back home, got some experience in a Canadian French Immersion classroom!

The Children all enjoyed the presentation: they were able to hear a different accent, and had to use their French in a novel situation; excellent learning experience for Immersion kids!

Click here to watch a video of Sega Music from Mauritius

Gorgeous beaches on Mauritius!

World Culture Wednesdays

Kepsah Chicken, Manti, Mauritian Dalh Puri; all of these exotic dishes, fascinating cultures, and interesting conversation are part of University of the Fraser Valley International's World Culture Wednesdays, usually held at University House on the Abbotsford campus, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, but not always! Sometimes our students can't make it on that day, and then we do Tuesdays, Fridays, other days... it is always a good idea to check with us here or at UFV International to see which day we are cooking this week 604 854 4544 is the number;

Keep posted! We will be posting the pictures and the recipes soon!

Shown on the right is Aniisah Moedeen, from Mauritius, holding a home-made lemon pie. Next week? Mauritian and Arabian foods!

Week of March 16 - 21? Canadian smoked salmon and hot cross buns! (Date and time TBA) Tuesday the 17th is BBQ on the Green! Check with Student life for details!