2011 Spring - Star Magazine

8/6/2019 2011 Spring - Star Magazine

1/8

I I v g I h g g I I P R I g 2 0 1 1

www.internat ional.unt .edu/iel i

Established in 1977,IELI is one of the

largest languageprograms for learning

academic English inthe U.S.

IELI Spends a Day

at Circle R Ranch

ast Friday, II students and sta missed teir class

es. Wy did tey do tat? II oranized a day of fun foall students at Circle R Ranc in Flower Mound. Our tri

to te ranc was ery enjoyable for tree reasons.

e rst reason tat made te trip outstandin wa

te weater. It was not ery ot in te beinnin of t

day, and it became sunny and warm later in te day.

ranc was an open area wic a lot of people enjoyed

For example, some students played soccer, olleybal

ot into te maze, and spent most of teir time out

doors. e weater elped to make te trip wonderful.

lso, our day at te ranc was a free day. tudent

met new friends and ad a cance to practice nlis

wit oters outside of class. For example, student

talked to eac oter durin lunc. eacers and stu

dents ad fun cattin and playin ames toeter. I

oter words, tey ad a ood time because tey ad no

classes.

ery trip sould ae ood actiities, and tis is

wat we ad on te ranc. ll of us ae our own inter

ests, so tere were a lot of actiities oered. For exam

ple, tere were sport actiities for te people wo like

sports, suc as basketball, olleyball, and soccer, a dance

oor for te people wo loe dancin and music, and

competitie ames like te e and water balloon tosfor te people wo like excitement. erefore, all a

fun because tey found wat tey liked to do.

In sort, our trip was successful because te weate

was ood, we ad no classes, and we could participate

in a ariety of actiities. We ope to ae more fun day

like tis in te future.

By 3.5 Writing Class

Fun and Games at the Ranch

Students competed in potato sack races and three-legged races at Circle R Ranch.

Students made their way through a giant

wooden maze while some played volleyball.

Many people brought family members with them

to the ranch, which was fun for sta and students.


2/82 II R I PRIg 2011

Do you buy a lot of bottled water? Did you know that only 0.5% of the plastic water bottles are

being placed in a recycle bin? If you didnt know this, you should read Catherine Foxs article titled

Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap in this monthsNational Geographic Kids! magazine.

Our class read it, and we learned about the benets of recycling and drinking tap water. When peo-ple buy bottled water at the grocery store, they are not thinking of the negative effects water bottles

could have on the environment. Manufacturing bottled water is not easy. It takes lots of crude oil to

make them. Can you picture millions of bottles lled with oil? The amount of oil used to make them

is big enough to make around one million cars run for a whole

month. Moreover, water bottles can release chemicals which

could harm human cells and cause illnesses in the future. There-

fore, people should drink water from the faucet. If that does not

convince you, you should think about recycling. Water is the main

reason for life, so dont kill the coming generations. Start drinking

tap water! Recycle in your daily life.

C

IELI Ranch Day/1

Father-Son Ranch

Day/2

Tap Water/2

IELI Tour/3

One Day Without

Shoes/3

Cybersyn Story/4

Chinese Superstition/5

Arabic Folk Tale/5

My Favorite Food/6

Advice to Combat

Homesickness/6

Things I Miss From

Home/6

Alumni Corner/7

Flag Parade/8

International Week/8

IELI STAR magazine is

a semester publication

showcasing IELI students

writing.

Intensive English Language Institute

1155 Union Circle #311067

Denton, TX 76203-5017

http://www.international.unt.edu/ieli

The Intensive English Language Institute is a division of UNT-International.

Thank you to all the students, teachers, and staff who contributed their time

and talents to making this semesters STAR: Abdullah Almadlouh,Evan

Arnold, Fatimah Al-Saif, Gillian Grant, Hanadi Alamoudi, Joanna Spice,

Karen Lioy, Kristen Kershaw, Malik Ahmad Mallak, Marco Arancibia, Pa-

tria Lopez, Saummer Al Shaikh, Sayedali Alhadded, Sokinah Alkhattam, Tam

Taylor, Yang Yun, Younhee Lee, Yu-Ting Huang

STAR Editor: Meghan Merchant

IELI Director: Dr. Fernando Fleurquin

IELI Assistant Director: Carol Ogden

Father and Son Day at Circle R RanchBy Sayedali Alhaddaad

Level 2 Writing Kuwait

A few days ago, our writing class teacher

gave us a paper to sign that we will go to a

ranch. This was the rst that I heard about the

ranch trip. I enjoyed this trip for three reasons.First, I enjoyed it because my son was very

happy. I went to the ranch with my wife and son,

who is six months old. In fact, it was the rst

time that I took him to a place like the ranch.

He was laughing all the time, and many peo-

ple were playing with him. Many people took

photos of him.

Second, there were many entertaining activi-

ties. For example, many people were playing

sports, doing some competition games, and talk-

ing with other people. In fact, the best thing that

I enjoyed was the egg game. I didnt play the

game because I was carrying my child, but I waswatching my friends while they were playing

the game. To play this game, you should have a

partner. First, you throw the egg, and your part-

ner should catch it.

Then your partner

will throw it, and

you should catchit. You do that

for many times at

greater distances. It

was really enjoy-

able.

Finally, I really

enjoyed the farm. It

was very clean and

beautiful. In fact, everything, the picnic tables,

swimming pool, volleyball and soccer courts,

and the animal barn was in the right place. In

addition, you can move very easily through the

farm.In conclusion, the ranch day was very fun. In

my opinion, this trip was the most beautiful trip

for me this year.

Sayedali and his son

Drink from the Tap and Help Save the EarthBy Saummer Alshaikh

Level 4 Writing Saudi Arabia

University of North Texas

Information Science Building, 211

307 S. Ave B

Denton, TX 76203


3/8www.international.unt.edu/ieli 3

People might know about

pain, but they never quite feel

it until they live it. Most of us

have heard or seen poor people

who dont have food to eat,

clothes to wear, and places to

live. Believe it or not, people

in many countries think only

about what food they want to

eat. Some people get confused

about what they want to drink

while other people just hope

their water isnt contaminated

or unclean. It would be a good

idea if we start thinking about

that. Just imagine if you were

one of those people. How can

we, who have so much, help

those who dont have any-

thing?

You might think there is

nothing we can do to change

the world. But, you can be aperson that does something.

You can follow the example

of Blake Mycoskie. He went

to Argentina and saw barefoot

children who couldnt go to

school because they didnt

have shoes. His desire to help

led him to start a company

called TOMS. TOMS is a

company based on the idea of

one for one. You buy a pair

of TOMS and a pair of TOMS

goes to a child who doesnt

have shoes.

Last year, more than

1,000,000 shoes were given to

barefoot children all over the

world. This man came up with

a simple idea that could help

these children, and he achieved

his goal. Blake Mycoskie came

to UNT last week, and I heard

he gave an inspiring speech.

Unfortunately, I couldnt go

to his speech because I had 5

tests, and I had to stay at home

and study.The good thing was that

Karen, my Communication

teacher, told us about an oppor-

tunity to participate in the giv-

ing process by donating shoes

to the shoe collection program

at UNT. I could participate in

this program by giving one

pair of my shoes away to send

to someone in need. I also

participated in the TOMS One

Day Without Shoes campaign.

This day was for all people to

go barefoot to feel what its

like not to have shoes to wear.

Although I only took my shoes

off for 2 hours in Karens class,

I dont think it was enough. I

would have taken my shoes off

for the whole day if there had

been someone to join in with

me and support me. Because

none of my classmates took

off their shoes, I felt a little

different from them, so I put

my shoes back on when I left

class. I have gone barefoot

in the past, but it was also by

choice. When I was a child, I

used to play soccer with my

friends without shoes because

we thought that

was comfortable.

Also, when I

play dodge-ballwith my friend

Casey, we take

off our shoes.

Dont ask me

why. We just

enjoy doing that.

However, this

isnt the same as

not having shoes

to wear ever.

I should have

done what other

students did when they took of

their shoes all day and walked

around campus barefoot to

show their sympathy for all the

barefoot children of the world.

Still, this one-day experi-

ence helped me to see that I

want to help people. It made

me realize that most of us here

have a better life than many

others, and we should share

what we have with those less

fortunate. Next year lets all

join together to participate in

One Day Without Shoes. For

more information on how you

can participate, go to http://

www.onedaywithoutshoes.

com.

{IELI Student Life}

Yesterday we walked around the second oor of the ISB. First,

we met Meghan, the Student Counselor. Her ofce is across from

the IELI Main Ofce. Mahdi introduced our class to her.

Next we met Dr. Fleurquin, the Director of IELI. Laura intro-

duced our class to him. Then we met Osama, a student assistant

at IELI. Ammar introduced us to him. Then we met Evan, the Lab

Manager. Abdullah introduced us to him. Then we met Angela.

Shes in charge of lab classes and ASC. Finally, we met Shana in

the hallway. Ryan introduced us to her. We are all new students,

and were happy to meet all of the IELI staff.

ILI tudent Participates in ne Day Without hoesBy Abdullah Almadhlouh


By 0.3 Communication Class

New Students Take a Tour of IELI

You can be a personthat does something.

Abdullah and his teacher Karen with the shoes their clas

collected.

Pre-1 students meeting Angela, the Lab Curriculum Coordinator.


4/84 II R I PRIg 2011

C

hile is a country

about 5,000 miles

from the U.S.A. in

the southern hemisphere. Youmay have heard about its long

and narrow geography, its fa-

mous wine, the 8.8 magnitude

earthquake that struck Febru-

ary 27, 2010, or the 33 miners

rescued alive after 2 months

underground. However, you

might not know that for a brief

moment in its history, Chile

could have been the South

American version of Silicon

Valley.

Beginning the Project

The story started when

Chiles President

elect, Salvador Al-

lende, took ofce in 1970. He

was a physician and socialist

militant whose policy was

nationalization of industries

and collectivization. As a re-

sult, he was faced

with three huge

challenges: 1) to

manage resources

to deal with the

new companies,

2) to process lots

of information in

order to know the

social economy

on a daily basis,

and 3) to give quick outcomes

to the people. It was a tough

task because Chile and most

countries of Latin Americawere dominated by a bureau-

cratic culture. The government

had to manage from 200 to

300 new nationalized compa-

nies through the Production

Development Corporation of

Chile (CORFO). Its General

Assistant Manager, Fernando

Flores, a clever 27-year-old

engineer, was assigned with

the new challenge. He remem-

bered that in 1965, while he

was a student, he was fasci-

nated by a couple of books

written by Dr. Stafford Beer,who was a British professor

at the Manchester Business

School. He was considered an

exceptional scientist who had

worked in operational research

and management cybernetics.

As a result, Flores traveled to

England to visit and invite Mr.

Beer to work in Chile. Stafford

Beer accepted; consequently,

a revolutionary project called

Cybersyn took ight.

Stafford Beer conductedCybersyn (Cybernetic Syn-

ergy) based on his Viable

System Model (VSM), which

could diagnose and control

any organization. Cybernetics

can be understood as the way

man represents the behav-

ior of nature, such as plants,

animals, and human beings,

in a machine or organization.

Also, Beer dened

cybernetics as the

science of effec-

tive organization;

he was the rst to

apply it to manage-

ment. The VSM

was an organiza-

tional management

model based on the

biological organi-

zation of the human nervous

system. Thus, a new national

communications network

supported by telex machineswould connect Chilean voters,

workplaces, and the govern-

ment. This system was able to

create daily and dynamic re-

ports on the industrial produc-

tion of the country. It was simi-

lar to the Internet service we

use today but several decades

ahead of its time. Nobody had

tried anything like that before.

The project offered the pos-

sibility of generating autonomy

to public companies while

allowing the implementation

of social policies. Cybersynwas composed of Cybernet,

Cyberstride, Cyberfolk, and

the Operations Room (OR).

Cybernet was a network of

telex machines implemented

in factories throughout Chile.

The statistical information of

each company was transmit-

ted through teletypes once a

day to the central ofces of the

Chilean Computing Enterprise

(ECOM). Then, a team of

engineers would process and

send the data to the OR. The

room was a futuristic meeting

place with screens and interac-

tive chairs with buttons that

looked like todays videogame

controllers. The President

would receive information

about issues, such as, trans-

portation, supply, building, or

health, by summarized indica-

tors of the previous day. The

decisions were communicated

back to the companies through

ECOM and its Cyberstride

software. It was consideredvery fast in the 70s. There-

fore, many companies, such

as Sony, Mitsubishi, Pegaso,

Ericsson, and Fiat visited Chile

to learn about it.

Cyberfolk was a system

that would give the people

the opportunity of democratic

participation in the decision-

making process. They would

have real-time connection

from their homes with gov-

ernment decision-making

groups. Nowadays, this system

would be similar to a commonelectronic voting system that

can be seen in TV shows like

Americas Got Talent or

Who Wants to be a Million-

aire, but in the 1970s this was

almost science ction.

The End of the Project

I

n the end, the economic

system of Chile declined.

In fact, there were supply

shortages and hyperina-tion which caused a strong

polarization in the country.

A military coup overthrew

President Allende. As a result,

the democratic and visionary

project Cybersyn was nished.

Allende died, and to this day,

the real cause of his death is

still under investigation.

Chiles Best Kept Secret: The Cybersyn StoryBy Marco Arancibia

Chile Level 4 Writing

Marco Arancibia, the author, at a

Western store in Dallas.

President Allende

The Operations Room

Sources:

http://www.cybersyn.cl

Cybernetic Science Fictions:http://vimeo.com/8000921

Syncho: http://syncho.com

Santiago Dreaming: http://www.

guardian.co.uk/technology/2003/

sep/08/sciencenews.chile

Obituaries, Stafford Beer: http://

www.guardian.co.uk/news/2002/

sep/04/guardianobituaries.

obituaries



Along time ago, there

was a little pretty girl

who lived with her

mother and her baby brother.

Her father had died in a war

defending his home. She was

a very good daughter. She

helped her mother with thecooking, she rocked the cradle

of her brother when he was

crying, and she always did

what her mother asked her to

do. She understood what dan-

ger and safety meant and never

opened the door to someone

she didnt know. She knew she

was beautiful, and she never

doubted about how good she

was. She always loved her

mother, her brother, and her

beauty.One day her mother told

her that they needed to travel

to another town to visit her

grandparents. It was winter, so

her mother dressed her in very

heavy clothes. They brought a

lot of food with them because

it was going to be a long trip.

For sure, the little girl helped

her mother in bringing all the

things. The town which they

were going to was far away.

There were mountains and

forests between their town

and her grandparents town,

so it was a hard and long way.

While they were walking

across one of the mountains,

a snow storm came. They hid

in a cave in this mountain,

and they started a re to keep

them warm. After a period of

time, the re extinguished.

There was no more wood for

the re. Her mother searched

for something to light the re

again, but she didnt nd any-

thing. She covered and kissed

her children; then she told her

daughter to take care of herself

and her brother until she came

back with some wood. Thelittle girl was very scared and

cold, but she didnt cry, nor did

she move from her place.

She didnt move until she

heard a noise. She thought it

was the noise of her mothers

footsteps, and she ran very fast

away from her baby brother

to hug her mom. However,

it wasnt her mothers steps.

It was the noise of a wolfs

footsteps. When she didnt

see her mother, she went back

to her brother, and she was

surprised of how close the wolf

was to the baby. Wolves eat

meat. This wolf can eat my

brother. My mother told me

to take care of him, were the

thoughts going on in the little

girls head. She ran very fast

and stood up in front of the

wolf. Dont touch my brother!

Go away, or I will kill you!

she screamed in the wolfs

face. The wolf was very scary.

It had big teeth, red eyes, and

sharp claws. The wolf howled

right in her face, but she cov-

ered it with her little hands. It

bit her, stuck its claws in her

hands, and howled again and

again. She didnt give up. Shecontinued hitting and kicking

the wolf. When the wolf bit

her, she bit it back. She turned

out to be as wild as the wolf

and more. She kept biting the

wolfs body, and she even ate

parts of its body. In the end,

the girl killed the wolf.

She did what was very

important to her, and she kept

her baby brother safe. Now,

her brother sees her as the

greatest human being. Many

people see her as a strong,

courageous, and mighty girl.

However, others pity her. Also,

she pities herself. She killed

the wolf and took its life, but

it also took things from her.

The wolf took her innocence,

her safety, her beauty, and her

happiness. She turned from a

little pretty, innocent, fun girl

into half-girl and half-wolf.

She became ugly and wild.

Her voice sounded scary, and

she developed muscles like the

wolf, but her heart was weaker

than a little childs. Maybe

her brother and some people

remember that she saved her

baby brother, but most people

remember that she ate thewolf. Some people see her as a

great human being, but others

see her as a monster. What

makes her sad today is not how

ugly she is or her sacrice for

her brother. What makes her

sad is that she could save her-

self from the wild wolf, but she

couldnt save herself from the

wild looks in peoples eyes.

The Pretty Girl and the Wolfis is te autors oriinal story, inspired by an rabic proerb tat says: If you wont be a wolf, woles will eat you.

By Fatimah Al Saif


In ancient times in China, people didnt understand that eclipses

happened for scientic reasons. They thought they were because a

dog ate the moon. They believed it was an evil omen, and they hada story to explain it. Once there was a vicious dog named Tengu.

The dog had been a woman in an earlier life. She had done some bad things, and the Jade Emperor

had changed her in to a dog. She was not happy being a dog. She held a grudge. One day she took

revenge by eating the moon. However, dogs are afraid of loud sounds and recrackers. Therefore,

when there is an eclipse, people make lots of loud noise to drive away the dog that ate the moon

and bring the moon back. Indeed in China, people often call an eclipse Tengu swallowed the

moon.

Superstitions: Tengu Swallowed the Moon

gillian grants eel 3

Communication class stud-

ied superstitions. tudents

sared superstitions from teir

countries. here is one students

story:

By Yang Yun

Level 3 Communication China

{FolkStories}


6/86 II R I PRIg 2011

{BackHome}

A lot of students today are thinking about homesickness before they travel. Homesickness is a

hard feeling. It really makes you feel like youre alone in this world. Some students dont know

what to do when they feel homesickness, but I have some suggestions for ghting homesickness:keep in touch with your family and friends, make a lot of new friends, and participate in school

activities.

You should keep in touch with your families and friends at least twice a week. There are a lot of

things that can help you connect with your family and friends and make you feel that youre near to

them. For example, you could use Skype. You can talk and speak with them clearly. Its really good

software. Also, you could use your cell phone. The important thing is to keep in touch with your

family and friends.

You should make a lot of friends so that you wont

stay alone in your home for a long time and feel home-

sick. With your friends, you can hang out and see the

country that you live in currently. Also, you might have

friends from different countries, so youll know about

their cultures, which is interesting.Moreover, you ought to participate in your school

activities. Its one of the best ways to ght homesick-

ness. Some of these activities will give you a chance to

improve some of your skills. For instance, I was involved

in the photo contest this term in IELI, and I won. It was

an amazing feeling, and it really gave me a motivation

to participate in other big contests. Also, it gave me an

opportunity to meet other people who are interested in

photography. Other activities might teach you new things

that you have never learned before. Enjoyable is the best

word to describe participation in school activities.

In short, students should ght feeling homesick while

they are studying abroad. Itll affect their studying andlives there if they dont. They should connect with their

families and friends, make a lot of new friends, and par-

ticipate in their school activities to ght this feeling. Also, I think students must be patient until they

achieve their goals from traveling and leaving their families.

The rst smile, rst step, rst word, and multiple details of my

nephews childhood are missed. Moments of happiness and sadness

which my family live are missed. My parents warm embrace and

my citys land, which embraced me throughout my life over there,

are missed. Friends laughter, whispers, and jokes are missed. Many

beautiful moments and different events are missed. It is very hard to be

away from all these moments; however, to achieve our goals, we have

to abandon the good times with our families and friends. In fact, miss-

ing all these beautiful moments should encourage us to work hard and

achieve our target as soon as possible.

I think many people may

not know about the food called

kimbab. People who are not

Korean believe kimbab is onekind of sushi, but it is different

from sushi. In Korea, many

people like kimbab and usually

bring it on a picnic. When I

was young, my mother only

made it on a special day when

I or my family was going on a

picnic. Because kimbab needs

not only a lot of time but also

various ingredients, my mother

didnt like to cook it. However,

I loved kimbab, so I waited for

the special day. When I was

older and did not have picnics

anymore because I graduated

from high school, my mother

didnt make kimbab any long-

er. As a result, I learned how

to make kimbab when I was

23 years. Also, nowadays, it

is the food that I can make the

best. Therefore, last Saturday I

brought kimbab, which includ-

ed beef, eggs, pickled radish,

cucumber, carrot, sh cake.It took four hours to make

kimbab, so I was very tired.

However, I was very happy on

Saturday because many people

liked my food. On that day, I

thought that my mother might

also have felt the same as my

feeling when she had made

kimbab. Today, I can under-

stand why my mother made

kimbab even though she didnt

like to cook it.

Advice to Homesick StudentsBy Hanadi Alamoudi


My Faorite FoodBy Younhee Lee

Level 4 Writing Korea

Things I Miss From HomeBy Sokinah Alkhattam


Hanadis winning photo in the IELI Spring Break

Photo Contest, taken at Sea World.

Younhee making kimbab.

Sokinahs nephew



When Yu Chieh Chang (Shirley) rst arrived in the United

States in January 2009, she said her English was very limited.

She had studied English in her home country of Taiwan, but

she soon discovered it was very different to speak English with

native speakers. She began her studies at IELI in Level 2/2 and

graduated in Summer 2010. Now, Shirley is a graduate student

studying early childhood education at UNT.

Shirley remembers all of her teachers in IELI. She said that

the grammar and composition skills she learned in Levels 5and 6 have been especially helpful

for graduate school. Communication

classes also helped her improve

her reading skills, which are also

essential for her masters program. I

have to write a lot and use APA style.

Level 6 was really good preparation

for this, Shirley said.

Last fall, Shirley earned a 4.0

GPA and is proud to have not just

survived but also succeeded in the

rst semester of her program. Her

biggest accomplishments so far havebeen learning how to design a classroom curriculum and giving

a 45-minute presentation to her class all by herself.

One of Shirleys favorite memories from IELI is from Circle

R Ranch day, where she got to ride a horse by herself for the

rst time. She also remembers a trip to Hurricane Harbor and

the time she spent with her conversation partners as highlights

from her time in IELI.

Shirleys advice to IELI students is to participate in all of the

activities and not be afraid to speak English. Also, Talk to your

teachers about questions you have with homework and tests.

They will help you a lot! she said.

{Alumni Corner}

Zixiao Sun (Sean) came to IELI in 2007 and completed

two terms before passing the TOEFL test and beginning his

undergraduate studies at UNT. The hardest part about learning

English for him was listening and talking to native speakers.

He had a hard time keeping up with conversations when he

rst arrived on campus. Sean will graduate with his bachelors

degree in Business Administration and Finance in May. He has

several job offers from companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area

and is in the process of choosing the rm that will be the best for him.

During his time at UNT, Sean participated in the College of

Businesss PLP program and in the Student Investment Group.

His investment group entered a competition in Houston and

placed 4th out of 15 universities. His is most proud of the

scholarships he has received, including sponsorship for the CFA

Level 1 exam.

Seans goal is to work for a

few years in the U.S. and then

study for an MBA in Finance.

About his time in IELI, Sean

says, It was great! IELI was

very helpful. Everyone is verynice and patient. I met a lot of

friends, and I enjoyed every

moment.

He said the Communication

and Writing classes in IELI helped prepare him well for his

undergraduate core courses. The activities IELI offered also

helped him learn more about culture and get to know DFW a

little better. One of his favorite memories from IELI was a trip

to Downtown Dallas.

Seans advice to IELI students is to take advantage of all

the resources and opportunities that you can. Study hard, keep

trying, get to know people, and be social.

IELI students come from dierent countries, cultures, and backgrounds. Some need to y only a few hours to land in Texas, some,an entire day. All, however, have gathered at IELI because mastering academic English is a common goal. Here are the stories of twoformer IELI students. If you are an IELI graduate, we would love to hear from you. Please visit the UNT-International website, http://

www.international.unt.edu, to nd the contact information for IELI instructors and sta.

Shirley Chang aiwan Sean Sun Cina

Keeping Up With IELI GraduatesBy Meghan Merchant

IELI Student Counselor

Stay in touch! Friend the IELI page,

UNT IELI, on Facebook to keep in touch

with classmates and teachers and stay

informed about what is going on in IELI.

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Shirley Chang

Sean Sun


8/88 II R I PRIg 2011

Iam Jordanian, and my countrys ag is important to mypeople. For example, it reminds us that people died forfreedom and that we must work hard to make our country bloom.My countrys ag means a lot to me, too. It reminds me of places

I used to go and of my family and friends who I left behind. In

conclusion, wherever I go, Ill keep the Jordanian ag deep in my

heart. I am really thankful to the University of North Texas for

giving me a chance to represent my country through the ag pa-

rade around campus during International Week. When I held the

Jordanian ag, I felt overwhelmed with pride. It was a really fun

day for all international students. I hope I will have the chance to

represent my country again. When I go back to Jordan, I will tell

everyone about the great experiences I had in the United States.

Carrying Flag Has Special

Meaning for StudentBy Malik Ahmad Mallak

Level 2 Writing Jordan

This week was international week at UNT. At UNT,especially in IELI, we have a lot of students fromall over the world. We celebrated it with different activitiesto celebrate our international background, such as cooking

traditional food, wearing traditional clothes, and having

special concerts. The only thing you need to do is join dif-

ferent groups of people on campus. It can help you to meet

new friends and know more things about different countries

and cultural differences.

I joined the opening ag parade for international week

a couple of days ago. We started our walk at IELI in the

hallway. At the front of the parade were some Africans

drummers. They played the special drums and yelled out

with big vocals. Our parade really got attention from other

people. We walked around the Union building. It was a

good chance for teachers and students to recognize thedifferent countries ags because we all carried ags from

our countries. I saw that

many students wore their

native clothes, sang their

native language songs, and

danced together tradition-

ally in the parade. We

enjoyed showing off our

culture, and celebrating

other cultures.

International Week

Celebrates CultureBy Yu-Ting Huang

Level 3 Writing Taiwan

Every year, UNT-International hosts International Week, also called Celebration of World Cultures. IELI students participate in this

special week by carrying their home countrys ag in a parade, cooking food for the international food fair, selling things at the world

market, performing in the world cultures performance festival, and much more. This year, IELI set up a booth at the world market,

translating American names into Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, and Thai.

Malik carrying the Jordanian ag in the parade.

IELI Students Join

in Flag Parade

The African Drum Ensemble led the

parade.

2011 Spring - Star Magazine

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