Teacher: Donna McVey
The Truth about Cinderella
Cinderella lived with her step-mother and step-sisters. Actually, her step-mother and step-sister were pretty wealthy, but they didn't take care about Cinderella. So, Cinderella had to do all housework for them. However, Cinderella was a very clever and sharp person. She always dreamed about an easy way to richness by her beauty. She is a very beautiful person. At that time, her goal was to get married with the prince who is the richest person in that country. One day, the prince had a birthday party in his castle for finding his wife. Cinderella and her step-sisters went to the party because every woman wanted to be the prince's wife. Cinderella was thinking about how to get the prince's attention, but it's very easy for her because she is the most beautiful woman in that country. Everybody who lived in that country knew about that. Also, Cinderella had plenty of confidence in herself. Sure enough when the prince danced with her, he felt in love immediately, and also Cinderella figured out about that, so after the dance, she left one of her shoes on purpose. Then, the prince took and kept her shoe. The next day, the prince really wanted to find that shoe's owner. Finally, he found the owner who was of course Cinderella. After that, they really loved each other, and they decided to get married. At the wedding ceremony, everybody came to the castle for watching the prince's wife. During the wedding, Cinderella was really happy because she got a rich person!!! She had accomplished her goal!!! And at the end of wedding, the prince and Cinderella were kissing, but…at that time, the prince changed to a frog!!!! Cinderella was very surprised and shocked!!!
(Actually, the prince was originally a frog. Also, he already knew that Cinderella was the most beautiful woman in that country, so he wanted to get married with her even though he was a frog. He just could change to a person by magic. It means the prince also achieved his goal.)
Teacher: Donna McVey
The Bridge
"Finally!" said Hadji Murad as the plane landed at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. It was a long and tiring trip, especially for a man in his seventies. It did not take him a long time to finish his arrival custom because it was not a high tourist season. As soon as he arrived in the waiting area, he started looking at the faces of the people waiting for their relatives and friends. Hadji could not recognize any familiar face among the crowd. He looked at his watch to check if the plane had arrived before its schedule; but it hadn't. Then he headed to a nearby sitting area with his old looking suitcase. After resting his old body for awhile, Hadji started to think about how long it had been since he had seen his grandson Muhammad. It was four years ago when Muhammad stopped by his grandfather's house to say goodbye before heading to Paris to continue his studies in philosophy. Hadji remembered that visit like it happened yesterday. At that time, Muhammad was very ambitious to go to Paris and was looking forward to his new life. Hadji advised him to focus on his goals and to always remember his family and where he came from.
At the airport, Hadji looked at his watch again wondering if his grandson had forgotten to pick him up. Suddenly, he heard someone calling him, so he turned toward the voice and tried to recognize the person calling him. He looked at the person with doubt until their eyes met. Hadji knew it was Muhammad, but it was hard to recognize him with his unfamiliar appearance. Muhammad had long blond hair, a shiny earring, and a piercing on his eyebrow. He wore a leather jacket on top of a rainbow colored t-shirt. His black jeans had several cuts showing his knees and other parts of his leg. Muhammad, on the other hand, could easily notice his grandfather because Hadji was wearing the same type of clothing he used to. The meeting was awkward because Hadji didn't expect these kinds of changes, which were not only limited to Muhammad's appearance but also to the greeting for the grandfather. There was a cold handshake instead of a warm hug between the grandfather and his grandson.
Eventually, Hadji left with Muhammad who did not offer to carry the bag. There were no long conversations between Hadji and Muhammad during the trip to Muhammad's apartment because Hadji felt that he was far from his grandson. Muhammad's thoughts were somewhere else. It was his final year at collage and the finals were just around the corner. Therefore, Muhammad was not aware of the situation with his grandfather.
When they arrived at the apartment, Hadji noticed that there were lots of books all over the place and many pictures of Muhammad's family and country hanging on the walls. Puzzled with the paradox signs about Muhammad's identity, Hadji decided to ask Muhammad about his appearance and how he relates to his past. With a big smile, Muhammad clarified that his new appearance and the new way of living is part of experiencing different lifestyles. He told his grandfather that such experiences help build bridges between people to understand each other. In a way, people will recognize that there are more similarities between them rather than differences. Muhammad also apologized for the cold behavior toward his grandfather and explained his worries about the finals. Furthermore, Muhammad assured his grandfather that he could never forget about his past and where he is from.
Hadji did not understand Muhammad's reasons for the changes in his life, but he was relieved and pleased that his grandson was still attached to their culture and had not forgotten his advice. After awhile, Hadji asked his grandson if they, together, could build a bridge between the present and the past.
Anazazi
"Anazazi" used to be the place where Indians lived. Actually, there were 30 to 40 people who lived together. It was just like their shelter since they were completely banished by white people from the original place they lived. After all, white people killed all the Indians and built a new place called "Grand Hotel" It took place in Denver, where the weather was harshly cold in winter, in December 1939.
It was such a beautiful day in California just like it always is. Kyle was mowing his lawn and his wife Nancy was playing with their 5 year old son, Brian. And suddenly the bell rang. "Honey, would you pick up the phone please?" said Kyle who was busy mowing the lawn. Nancy picked up the phone and her face turned into happiness. "Kyle you just got the job from the hotel; they are going to let you start to work on Monday." Nancy said with a smile. "Oh, that's great news." Kyle replied. And he kept mowing the lawn of his house. When Nancy hung up the phone and came back to her son, she saw Brian talking to someone. But actually there was no one else except Nancy and Brian." Hey sweetie, who were you talking to?" "Look mommy, there's an Indian man sitting on the couch. Look! But why is he bleeding so much from his head? We need to wipe his head," Brian said desperately. "Oh, sweetheart, just don't be fooled with your imaginary friends, just tell him to come back later," said Nancy as if she already knew everything about her son's habit. She is used to calling it ‘the habit' every time when she sees Brian talking to himself. She didn't take it seriously, because she thought Brian had some kind of imaginary friends in his mind.
Monday morning, Kyle and his family packed their luggage and got ready to go to Denver. "Daddy, the Indian guy just told me not to go there; he said he can see all the blood spread on the wall and floor in the basement. "Oh, honey would you just stop it please…." said Nancy entreatingly. " How many times do I have to tell you not to let him see the scary movies? Huh? He's only five years old!!!" Kyle said angrily and his face was turning red. "I'm sorry, dear.. I won't let him do that anymore." said Nancy. When they got there, "The Grand Hotel" it was harshly cold. And they could see the woman wearing the red coat in front of the hotel entrance. It was very conspicuous to see the red coat, because the color was completely in contrast to snow all around the hotel. "Hello, my name is Carrie, and I'm the owner of this hotel. It's lovely to have you here especially in this weather." "We're also pleased to have a great owner……" Kyle could not finish his saying because the owner was already walking away from him and his family. Nancy and Kyle thought of the woman as somehow strange and odd, but they actually did not mind it that much. When they got into the hotel, the owner showed them where Kyle works and where their rooms are. "There are lots of pictures of Indians and the monuments. Does this hotel have something to do with Indians?" Nancy asked with curiosity. "I don't think you need to know about that..." Carrie responded promptly. And then she gave a suspicious smile to Kyle. Wednesday morning was perfectly calm and peaceful, though the weather of Denver is supposed to be very cold and windy. Nancy just made breakfast for her family. And when she came out of the kitchen, she saw Carrie sitting on the chair in the lobby. "Isn't it such a beautiful day Nancy? I have never seen such a calm day just like today in Denver." Carrie said by looking at her softly. "Oh, yeah, it is nice weather, but I'm a little tired of weather like this. It's always calm and sunny in California. So this is why." said Nancy obviously. "Oh, but I'm not living in California?? Hello~??" Carrie said cruelly. "So you're taking breakfast to your husband. So tell me, how long have you been married?" "Six years maybe.." Nancy replied. "I have been divorced several times. And you know why???!!" "No ma'am.." Nancy got scared of her suddenly. "It was just because I couldn't have babies. Isn't that ridiculous?? Hahahaha!!!!" She laughed like a clown. "I wish I had a boy just like Brian. It's good to see your family live happily together." said Carrie by staring fearfully. Then suddenly the weather turned spooky and dark although it was morning.
A year later, everything had changed with Kyle. He lost his wife at the hotel a year ago, later he heard from Carrie that Nancy just ran away from him. He couldn't believe why she left. How could she leave him and her son like that? He kept thinking. Finally Kyle decided to go to "The Grand Hotel" again this winter and work there. He didn't go there for the money, but for the mystery of Nancy that hadn't been solved yet. "Women are always like that Kyle, you were silly. When they get tired of men, they just leave and meet another one. That's the way it is!!" Carrie answered as soon as she was asked by Kyle why Nancy had left him at the time. "Hey, Brian? What's the matter with you? Is somebody in the cafeteria?" Carrie asked to Brian when she saw him staring at one spot in the cafeteria. "Daddy, Daddy! I know where mommy is! She's in the basement!! The Indian guy said she's been staying there for a year!!" Brian shouted surprisingly. "What are you talking about????!!" Kyle said to him as if he couldn't believe what he had heard. But there was just one person who could believe all of the stupid words coming out of Brian's mouth. She got very shocked and grabbed Brian's shoulder very hard. "How did you know that? Who the hell did you hear it from?" Carrie shook his shoulder hard and shouted madly. Then Kyle took him from Carrie and ran down into the basement. "Don't even try to go downstairs, or I'll kill you!!!!!", she yelled like a horrible demon. When Kyle and his son got into the basement, they could smell stink and saw the corpse that had been decayed for a long time. Kyle could recognize the ring on the finger of the dead body because he also had the same ring on his finger. The rings were for their marriage. Kyle just fell down on the floor. There was dried blood spread all over the floor and the wall also. He couldn't imagine what it had been like when Nancy died. "Where's mommy dad?? I want to see mommy! The Indian told me she's here!" Brian asked him. Kyle lost his voice and was choked with tears. But suddenly, there was the loud sound of breaking the door of the basement. When the door broke down, Kyle and Brian saw the devil holding an ax. "I warned you guys, didn't I? I warned you not to come down here!!!" She then ran fast towards them and swung the ax. She was looking completely insane by turning up the whites of her eyes. Kyle and Brian kept running away from her. And she was striking with her ax all over the place downstairs. Kyle was looking for something that would threaten her. Hopefully, he would find something on the shelf. He found a bunch of huge knives there. But he couldn't reach the things. When he almost got there to take one of those things from the shelf, he saw the psycho killer try to strike him with her ax. "You will never get one of the knives before I kill you!! Hehehehehe!!!" She struck as hard as she could with the ax. But what she struck was the column of the shelf. Eight knives fell down, and those exactly stabbed her throat and chest. She just dropped down on the ground. It seemed like she was dead, but two of her eyes were still glaring at the ceiling. After the policemen came, Kyle and his son Brian could relax. They took all the bodies in the basement and investigated more things that had happened just an hour ago. "I don't know what to say sweetheart….. your mom's dead." Kyle said to Brian sobbing. However, Brian didn't listen to him rather he looked very nervous when he saw something near them. "Daddy….I see Carrie swinging the ax in her hands and coming closer to me…."
English Language Center Professor Receives Barbara G. Hornum Teaching Award
On May 4th, 2008, the "Barbara G. Hornum Teaching Award" which is one of the most prestigious awards at Drexel University, was given to Alexis Finger. Alexis Finger has been teaching students for more than 30 years, especially international students at the ELC (English Language Center). ELC is the place where all the international students can easily learn English and share different kinds of cultures. The ELC was originally founded by Dr. Gregory Barnes, Dr. Barbara Hoekje and Mrs. Finger in 1989. Since then, it has progressed a lot and has played a major role in the lives of international students in many ways. "Considering how much work she has done and how enthusiastic a teacher she is, it is no wonder that Mrs. Finger has received such a fabulous award among all the greatest teachers at Drexel," said students in her class.
"Her ideal is the foundation of the center," added Dr. Hoekje, the director of the ELC. Dr. Hoekje and Alexis Finger have been working together since 1988. At that time, Alexis was the only one teaching English language courses for international students at Drexel University. From her first day until now, her attitude towards teaching has never changed. She is the same energetic and optimistic person she was 30 years ago. Alexis is an excellent instructor, but she is also a normal person. Therefore, she also has had her personal problems. However, she has never intertwined her personal emotions with her job. Alexis loves working with international students because she is eager to teach them. She has the passion to learn about different cultures. One of her goals is to teach her students not only English, but also how to accept different cultures. Helping and caring about people is her philosophy of life.
She was born and spent half her life in New York, where Alexis studied communication arts and sciences at Queens College of the City University of New York and received a BA and MS in speech education. After graduation, she taught public speaking and drama in a New York City high school for a few years, but while she taught in a special program for international students, she realized that what she wanted to do was to teach English to international students. She knew helping international students improve their English skills would be more valuable and a good way to follow her philosophy of brotherhood.
These efforts let her to create a special program which helps international teaching assistants improve their English and their teaching skills called the ITA (International Teaching Assistants) program. After she moved to Philadelphia and started teaching at Drexel University, she saw how a lot of college students had a problem with their teaching assistants who did not speak English well and did not know how to teach them well. "Professors could make graduate students gain deeper knowledge in their particular majors, but they did not train them how to teach college students," said Alexis. Based on her experience, she and Dr. Barnes created one of the first ITA program in the U.S. at Drexel in 1981. As it worked well, other colleges that were inspired by them also created similar programs.
As a full-time ELC instructor and Senior Lecturer, Alexis teaches an intensive oral language skills class and the drama club at the ELC and an oral communication skills class for non-native English speakers in the humanities department. She interacts well with her students because she understands cultural differences and language barriers that most international students face. "Never hurt! Even if they make mistakes, they will be encouraged to change by providing an environment where students feel free and comfortable to learn." said Alexis. One of her students, Kai-Yun Chen (Winnie) from China said she was lucky to meet a teacher like her because she is always able to help her whenever she needs it. "Alexis is the kind of person who you can always trust," she said.
"Inspire," "guide," and "help" are three principles Alexis strongly believes in as an instructor. Her efforts to help international students will never stop since her vigor is endless. One day, all her students who were inspired, guided, and helped will look back and say, "Thank you, you made a difference in my life." Above all, Alexis is a sincere teacher who truly loves her students.
Welcome to Global Business English at Drexel University's ELC!
The English Language Center (ELC) at Drexel University is located on the main campus of Drexel University, near the historic heart of Philadelphia. The ELC is a popular place for international students who want to enhance not only their English speaking skills, but also their writing skills to pursue academic studies in the United States or a future career. Besides the intensive English which is taught at six levels from beginning to advanced, the ELC offers Global Business English (GLOBE), a pre-MBA program for high-intermediate to advanced level international students. This special program has trained a myriad of students for universities in the U.S.
According to Ms. Mara Blake-Ward, the assistant director as well as the head of the GLOBE program, the significant goals of this program are to familiarize business professionals with English business terms and prepare them to give presentations and to help international students to adapt to the real American classroom in their post graduate programs. At the beginning of the program, the aim was to familiarize business professionals with the jargon which is used in business by class discussions and demonstrations. After 2005, the ELC changed their strategy and started to accept more students from overseas who don't have work experience but want to gain benefits from that class. Now, the program continues with both business professionals and students who want to apply to graduate programs in the USA.
According to the ELC policy, just the people who have at least a college degree can apply to the GLOBE class and there is no exception to that rule. Instructors also must have some qualifications. They should at least have knowledge about the topic that they teach such as finance, leadership etc. For that reason, they spend time to get information about today's business world or become familiar with the subject that they are going to teach. Some of them have a business degree, some of them have attended business workshops or courses, and some of them run their own business. Hence, it is a learning environment that links both experienced and knowledgeable professionals.
What makes the GLOBE program special is the unique combination of English and business resources used to develop the class curriculum. The curriculum is designed by using authentic business materials to help students improve their English language skills. In the classroom, students learn from business articles and case studies mostly chosen from scholarly journals, such as the Harvard Business Review. Moreover, Ms. Blake-Ward assured that the study materials are usually checked and updated for every new GLOBE class to guarantee that none of the articles is outdated. The business topics which are discussed in the class are also diverse. For example, students learn about leadership, marketing, legal issues, and international business. Discussions on these issues are always interesting because the students are from different countries and have different experiences and backgrounds. Teaching methods, such as open discussions and presentations, are also similar to the ones used in regular business classes at universities in order to make the international students familiar with the learning environment at American universities. In addition to the business material, the curriculum includes many English language exercises to improve listening and speaking skills. Students can improve their pronunciation, vocabulary, and strengthen their ability to express their ideas and thoughts in the classroom.
As far as future plans for the GLOBE program, Ms. Blake-Ward indicated that an elective business writing program may be introduced in the near future to help students gain business writing skills. The focus of this new course is to teach students to write different business documents ranging from professional emails and memos to full business reports. Another future plan also is to collaborate with the Business School at Drexel University in a way that benefits the international students to learn more about business issues and business programs at American universities.
The GLOBE program is an excellent place for international students who are interested in developing their English skills which are needed in a professional business environment or an MBA program. There are very few similar programs offered in the United States and most of them are from commercial companies, but the GLOBE program has the advantage of being associated with one of the prestigious universities in this country. Also, because of its successful reputation, more students are joining the GLOBE program from different countries every year.