the academy news - july 12, 2013
DESCRIPTION
In this issue: Language Lab Schedule, Exercising at USC, Hollywood Bowl & more!TRANSCRIPT
came into my mind. What is a
Day-pass, a 7-Day pass or a 30-
day pass? What’s the differ See Fresh Eyes on p. 3
By TIAN LUN, RANRAN LI,
WEIWEI YU, and JINGYI
WANG
Never taking everything
for granted, fresh eyes can
always discover the beauty
neglected by local citizens.
When our brand new Tro-
jans arrived in LA, not only
was the crazy heat wave
waiting ahead, but the me-
tropolis was also there to be
explored.
Possessing fresh eyes,
Tian Lun, Ranran and Wei-
wei are all ready to share
their stories with you on
how has LA impressed them
in the very first week.
Friendliness
Every newcomer in LA
needs a Tap card first, and
so do I. As I faced the Tap
card machine in USC Metro
Station, lots of questions
Kayaks on the Water Friday, July 12, 2013 1:00PM-6:30PM, $10 payment If you signed up for kayaking this week, please meet at JEF Courtyard at 1:00pm. If you have not checked in by 1:15pm we will give your ticket to a person on the wait list. Life jackets will be supplied. Please wear comfortable clothes that you do not mind getting wet and do not bring valuables that may get damaged by water.
Orange County Fair Saturday, July 20, 2013 8:30AM-5:00PM, FREE The OC Fair shows the rural side of the county right in the city of Costa Mesa. There are livestock shows and competitions, pig races, vegetable and garden exhibits, and equestrian events. There are also home arts and crafts, circus acts, carnival rides and lots of fair food. This is a great American sum-
mer past time! Sign up today at 12:00pm in JEF Courtyard. This activity is FREE!
L. A with Fresh Eyes
I N S I D E
T H I S I S S U E :
Language
Labs
2/
3
Blend in at the
Lyon Center
4
Airline Safety
Travel Tips
5
Flagships
Theaters
6
NBA Howard
Leaves Lakers
7
Choosing an
English name
7
Pics of the
Week
8
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
The Academy News J U L Y 1 2 , 2 0 1 3 V O L U M E 5 6 , I S S U E 2
Check out The Academy News online: www.usc.edu/langacad.Go to “Student Information” and then click on “The Academy News.”
Blending in on campus. See p. 4
Traveling during the summer break? See p. 5 for tips.
Language Academy students celebrate July Fourth at the Hollywood Bowl.
IELTS Preparation: Test Overview—In this lab, you’ll have the opportunity to learn tips and tricks on how to ace the IELTS test. This week we’ll discuss the overview of the test. Conversation Practice—Practice
speaking English by level with USC students. This is an interactive discussion in which you will participate in group discussions about several interesting topics. This is your opportunity to practice speaking and to ask questions.
Statement of Purpose
Workshop (Levels 4-6): Learn how to write an amazing SOP for graduate school. Grammar Q & A—Are
you confused by the rules of English grammar? Come to the Grammar Question and Answer lab for help with your grammar questions! GRE/GMAT
Preparation (Levels 4-6): Find out the best ways to succeed on the new exam
Tuesday, July 16th
Time Location Description Facilitator
12:30-1:30pm
KAP 150
IELTS Prep Lab (Levels 2-5)
James Hutzell Faculty
12:30pm-1:30pm
THH 107
Statement of Purpose (Levels 4, 5 & 6) Limited to 1 time per week
Marisa Garcia-Crocker Faculty
12:30pm-1:30pm
VKC 204 Grammar Q & A (Levels 1, 2 & 3)
John Esposito Faculty
12:30pm-1:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 1
Demetri USC Student
12:30pm-1:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 2
Blaire USC Student
12:30pm-1:30pm
JEF Courtyard
Conversation Level 3
Jay USC Student
12:30pm-1:30pm
JEF Courtyard
Conversation Level 4
Liza USC Student
12:30pm-1:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Levels 5 & 6
Lucy USC Student
1:30pm-2:30pm
KAP 150 GRE/GMAT Prep Lab (Levels 4, 5 & 6 )
Jeminah Jones Faculty
1:30pm-2:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 1
Liza USC Student
1:30pm-2:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 2
Jay USC Student
1:30pm-2:30pm
JEF Courtyard
Conversation Level 3
Rachel USC Student
1:30pm-2:30pm
JEF Courtyard
Conversation Level 4
Demetri USC Student
1:30pm-2:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Levels 5 & 6
Blaire USC Student
P A G E 2
P A G E 3
Fresh Eyes Continued from p. 1
ence? Which is better? I was totally lost.
I needed help.
Having heard of the so-called Cali-
fornia style before, I was prepared to
“greet” the impatience and indifference
from those passengers. However, they
were more willing to give me a hand.
A girl with many earrings turned out
to be super-friendly and patient. ”If you
do not use transportation a lot, just put
some money inside the card, and use it
whenever you need.” She continued, “If
you take trains a lot, say, for a whole
week, then you can buy a 7-day pass. If
you take trains a lot only for one single
day, then a day-pass meets your needs.
You’d better know how much you would
use the train.” Well, I could understand
that. But these questions solved, others
rose again. How does Metro-to-Muni
Transfer work? Can money be stored if
not all spent? How to add value? She
kept explaining things clearly and pa-
tiently till I fully understood and got my
own Tap card.
It did take her a really long time there.
But she was really nice to me, as a
stranger. I thanked her a lot; she simply
replied a “Cool” and smiled away. Well,
this time, I thought I knew what Califor-
nia style was. Read the second part of this series next week
Thursday, June 20th
Time Location Description Facilitator
12:30-1:30pm
KAP 150 GRE Prep Lab (Levels 4, 5 & 6)
Peter Guekguezian Faculty
12:30pm-1:30pm
THH 107 Statement of Purpose (Levels 4, 5 & 6) Limited to 1 time per week
Marisa Garcia-Crocker Faculty
12:30pm-1:30pm
VKC 204 Grammar Q & A (Levels 4, 5 & 6)
John Esposito Faculty
12:30pm-1:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 1
Liza USC Student
12:30pm-1:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 2 Lucy
USC Student
12:30pm-1:30pm
JEF Courtyard
Conversation Level 3 Demetri
USC Student
12:30pm-1:30pm
JEF Courtyard
Conversation Level 4 Blaire
USC Student
12:30pm-1:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Levels 5 & 6 Rachel
USC Student
1:30pm-2:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 1 Lucy
USC Student
1:30pm-2:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 2 Demetri
USC Student
1:30pm-2:30pm
JEF Courtyard
Conversation Level 3 Rachel
USC Student
1:30pm-2:30pm
JEF Courtyard
Conversation Level 4 Liza
USC Student
1:30pm-2:30pm
JEF Courtyard Conversation Levels 5 & 6 Jay
USC Student
IELTS Preparation: Test Overview—In this lab, you’ll have the opportunity to learn tips and tricks on how to ace the IELTS test. This week we’ll discuss the overview of the test. Conversation Practice—Practice
speaking English by level with USC students. This is an interactive discussion in which you will participate in group discussions about several interesting topics. This is your opportunity to practice speaking and to ask questions.
Statement of Purpose
Workshop (Levels 4-6): Learn how to write an amazing SOP for graduate school. Grammar Q & A—Are
you confused by the rules of English grammar? Come to the Grammar Question and Answer lab for help with your grammar questions! GRE/GMAT
Preparation (Levels 4-6): Find out the best ways to succeed on the new exam
P A G E 4
By MINGXU (MATTHEW) SUN
Till now, all the students be-
long to language academy have
settled down at USC. They must
have had a tense week due to
trivia such as house renting, shop-
ping and time differences.
Considering human nature, I
suppose that it is a good time now
for the students to look for some
entertainment and sports. How-
ever, as a freshman here, most of
them have no friends and family
to hang out with. Though there are
many interests in LA, they still
cannot go without a car which is
too early to buy. So we strongly
recommend The Lyon Center on
campus.
The Lyon Center features the
Main Gym, for basketball, bad-
minton, volleyball; the Klug Fam-
ily Fitness Center; the Robinson
Fitness Room and so on. Going to
The Lyon Center gradually be-
comes the best choice for fresh-
men. Not only because it is all set
free and really not far from our
house but it also helps us to start a
brand new life at USC in LA.
Why is that? I think the rea-
sons are twofold. For one thing,
The Lyon Center helps us to build
friendship with our new friends.
On July 8, Mike, a Language
Academy student from China,
asked his roommates Matthew and
Patrick to go play basketball in
The Lyon Center. They were on
the same team fighting against
another group of players which
consisted of Europeans and
Americans. “I feel that playing
basketball with my new friends is
the best way to get familiar with
them. When I pass the ball to
them, a trust has been built among
us.” Mike said so during the inter-
view. In fact, sports do enable us
to stand together.
For another thing, joining in
the activities at The Lyon Center
helps us gain it is easy for us to feel
homesick when we first arrive at an
unfamiliar environment, especially
studying abroad in LA. Personally
speaking, the main reason we feel
hopeless and helpless is that we
have a lack of confidence. How-
ever, if you start exercising in the
fitness center or finish an excellent
shot in a basketball game, you will
feel better about yourself because
sports leaves a positive effect on
our mental health. According to a
small survey conducted by The
Academy News, 67.7% of the girls
in MSPR (Master of Science in
Public Relations) are willing to go
to Lyon Center now and 75% of the
boys in MSPR have already played
a basketball game in it.
All in all, if you want to start
a brand new life at USC at the be-
ginning of your arrival, just go to
The Lyon Center with your friends.
Do not hesitate to contact the new
friends you meet here, it is the best
choice for you to blend in at USC.
First Choice to Blend in at USC
The Lyon Center offers classes and has many places to work out and have fun.
P A G E 5
By ZIJUN (MIKE) LU
and MEIYI (CANDICE) YU
Asiana Airline Flight 214 de-
parture from Incheon International
Airport, South Korea crashed when
it attempted to land at its destina-
tion, San Francisco International
Airport, United States, on July 6,
2013.
San Francisco Fire Depart-
ment Chief Joanne Hayes-White
confirmed that this fatal crash killed
two passengers and 183 were in-
jured. Those two young Chinese
passengers we lost, Jialin Wang and
Mengyuan Ye, were on their way to
attend a West Valley Christian
School summer camp.
As we mourn over the loss of
the two students, we should notice
that both of their bodies were found
outside the aircraft, which implied
that they probably had not fastened
their seat belts when the airplane
was landing. Whenever we travel in
a domestic flight or fly back to our
homeland, it is always important to
keep in mind the basic rules for fly-
ing safely.
Here are ten airline safety 101 tips*
we should remember when we are
on a flight. These tips are taken
from Wikipedia.
1、Fly on Nonstop Routings
Most airliner accidents happen dur-
ing the takeoff, climb, descent, and
landing phase of the flight, so the
easiest way to reduce your chance of
getting in an accident is to take
flights with fewer stops.
See Airline Safety on p. 6
AIRLINE SAFETY 101
By SCARLETT CHEN and YUAN FENG
There is a two-week break after
the end of the Summer B session. It
will be a great time to relax and get
prepared for the coming fall semester.
Some people may have already
started to plan trips in the U.S. No
matter what the plans are, it is better
to schedule ahead of time. Here are
some traveling tips, since many of the
Academy students are new to the U.S.
Students can find cheap airfares on
travel guide websites when they’ve
decided where to go. It’s easy to navi-
gate those websites by typing in the
city of departure, destination and
travel date. The website will list all
the possible deals. Students can com-
pare different airlines and pick the
one that fits their schedules well.
To save trouble, students can also
find travel packages on those web-
sites. It is convenient because the
package will offer both flight and ho-
tel sales information. If students have
valid U.S. driving licenses or equiva-
lent international driving licenses,
they can also find rental car informa-
tion on those websites.
Traveling is not just sightseeing. It
is also a time to enjoy local food. With
various online search engines, students
can easily find out the names of local
food. But if they want to read other
peoples’ reviews, to get great deals,
and even to see some pictures of the
food, food recommendation websites
are good places to check.
After entering the city’s name, the
websites will provide a list based on
customers’ rate. Students will be able
to find different kinds of exotic food
that suits their needs. Moreover, stu-
dents can also make reservations
online, especially for some popular
restaurants.
Before leaving for the trip, stu-
dents should also make sure they’ve
packed everything they need. It’s im-
portant to check the local weather and
bring the right clothes. In addition,
wearing comfortable shoes is also nec-
essary for a trip.
Last but not least, students should
have their passports with them at all
times. If they are traveling to another
country, they should make sure they
have enough time to get the visa and
take their I-20 Forms before they leave
the U.S. territory.
TRAVEL TIPS FOR YOU
PLANNING YOUR TRIP Traveling guide websites:
Bing.com/travel
Expedia.com
Princeline.com
Food and restaurant websites:
Yelp.com
Urbanspoon.com
Places for short excursions:
San Diego San Francisco Yosemite Seattle Yellowstone National Park
P A G E 6
2、Choose Larger Aircraft
Currently, aircraft with more
than 30 passenger seats were all
designed and certified under the
strictest regulations. Also, in
the unlikely event of a serious
accident, a larger aircraft pro-
vides a better chance for pas-
senger survival.
3、Pay Attention to the Pre-
flight Briefing
Although the information
seems repetitious, the locations
of the closest emergency exits
may be different depending on
the aircraft that you fly on and
seat you are in.
4、Keep the Overhead Stor-
age Bin Free of Heavy Arti-
cles
Overhead storage bins may not
be able to hold very heavy ob-
jects during turbulence, so if
you or another passenger have
trouble lifting an article into the
bin, have it stored elsewhere.
5、Keep Your Seat Belt Fas-
tened While You Are Seated
Keeping the belt on when you
are seated provides that extra
protection you might need to
help you avoid injuries from
flight turbulence.
6、Listen to the Flight Atten-
dants
The primary reason flight atten-
dants are on an aircraft is for
safety, so if one of them asks
you to do something like fasten
your seat belts, do it first and
ask questions later.
7、Don't Bring Any Hazard-
ous Material
There are rather long lists of
hazardous materials that are not
allowed, but common sense
should tell you that you should-
n't bring gasoline, corrosives,
poisonous gases, and other such
items on the aircraft unless they
are allowed by the airline and
shipped in a proper container.
8、Let the Flight Attendant
Pour Your Hot Drinks
Flight attendants are trained to
handle hot drinks like coffee or
tea in a crowded aisle on a
moving aircraft, so allow them
to pour the drink and hand it to
you.
9、Don't Drink Too Much
The atmosphere in an airliner
cabin is pressurized to about
the same altitude as Denver, so
any alcohol you consume will
affect you more strongly than at
sea level.
10、Keep Your Wits about
You
In the unlikely event that you
are involved in an emergency
situation such as a precaution-
ary emergency evacuation, fol-
low the directions of the flight
attendants and flight crew and
exit the aircraft as quickly as
possible.
Reference:
Wikipedia
*Airsafe.com http://
airsafe.com/ten_tips.htm
By XI (SILVIA) KANG and YATING (EVELYN)
ZHAO
Movie lovers have a place nearby to see first-run films with their friends.
The Flagship Thea-
tres, located on 3323 South Hoover Street, is the most convenient cinema for USC stu-dents. It is in University Village, and it is only five minutes’ walk from Entrance 5 of USC.
Students can have a discount with their stu-dent card. Typically, a student ticket costs six dollars, which is much
cheaper than the cost of tickets in other thea-tres.
This cinema is open seven days a week, and it shows several of the latest films. For in-stance, recently it showed the movie “World War Z”,” Mon-sters University” and “Despicable Me 2”.
On each Tuesday the theatre may change one of those films to another one, so that the audience can have more choices. People can watch films there as early as 11 a.m., and its closing
time depends on the length of the movie shows in the evening. This cinema does not allow people to bring in food or drink, but it is quite easy to buy foods or beverages at the concession stand of the theatre.
Jiamin Wu, a new USC student majoring in signal processing, says that he knows about the Flagship Theatres and although he has not watched a film there be-fore, he would like to have a try in his spare time later. He thinks the price is very attractive.
Many other USC students being inter-viewed on campus agree that it is a good place to go since it can save them a lot of time compared to watching a film in the downtown area of Los Angeles.
Editor’s Note: Students can get discount movie tickets at the Student Union. They can find out which cinema chains they want to go to—Regal, Edwards, etc.—and ask for tickets for these chains by showing their USC ID. Stu-dent discount tickets for mov-ies that have been out for two weeks cost only $6. The stu-dent union is located near the Tudor Student Center.
Flagship Theaters: A Good Place to Go
Airline Safety 101 continued from p. 4
P A G E 7
By VALERIA WEI
After a week-long deliberation,
on July 7, Dwight Howard, the most valued player on this year’s NBA free agents market, rejects his for-mer employer Lakers’ higher offer and joins the Houston Rockets with a 4-year, 88 million dollar contract.
Howard has mentioned many times in previous interviews that what he is looking for in the coming seasons is the chance to win and to have fun. In that case the Rock-ets is indeed the better place for him. In Los Angeles Howard never seemed truly comfortable during his season because he was having difficulties adjusting to D’Antonio’s tactics and was constantly out-shined by Lakers’ leader and soul player Kobe Bryant. But in the Rockets, a team that is built around the center, Howard is going to be the biggest persona who gets all the attention and has his own fran-chise to lead.
I randomly interviewed some students of the Language Academy about their opinions on this trade, and most of them are in favor of
Howard’s choice. Allen Tian says Howard with Jeremy Lin and all-star player Harden on the side is going to deliver great team collabo-ration; Mike Lu says Lakers’ trian-gle is not suitable for a traditional center like Howard, leaving the team
actually gives himself a new start and gives Lakers an See Howard on p. 8
opportunity to bring in new blood to rebuild the team.
But one thing is for sure: Hous-ton’s executives and fans are thrilled to have Howard. Before Howard made his final decision, the Rockets fans were seeking every possible
way to rope him in, including some celebrities, for example Jim Par-sons, the leading actor in the hottest TV series Big Bang Theory, who made a video hoping to persuade Howard to join the Rockets. Houston is better with Howard, but still has a very long way to go before reaching the championship. And for Lakers, with one of its most valuable players’ departure and Kobe Bry-ant’s injury, the upcoming season is going to be tough. So Lakers’ fans, go to the Staples Center and show
them your support! STAPLES CENTER - Home to the Lakers and Clippers: 1111 S. Figueroa Street · Los Ange-les, CA 90015
Life in L. A.
Sports News
Dwight Howard Chooses Rockets over Lakers
Three Tips in Choosing English Names By PEINYANG SHI and SHANGYI CHENG
Most of the students in Language Academy come up with their Eng-lish names, trying to make it easier for international friends to pro-nounce them. Peiyang Shi, a stu-dent from China, firstly used his initials “SPY” in Chinese Pinyin (phonetic transcription) as his Eng-lish name. Soon he discovered that everyone remembered him quickly
yet in an unexpected way. Now he longed for another name other than Stephan or Damon, which have been so widely used since the re-lease of The Vampire Diaries.
How can we come up with an ideal English name? There are three tips for you. First, try to find an Eng-lish name with similar pronunciation to your name in your mother tongue. For example, Lianjie Li, a world-known Chinese Kungfu star, calls himself Jet Li in English. Secondly, if your name possesses a certain meaning in your language, you could
choose an appropriate English trans-lation, which might make your name distinctive from others’. Finally, you can also refer to your constellation. In particular, a series of names are suitable for Leo boys, such as Robert, Carl, and Scott.
Don’t worry if you still don’t find a good English name after reading the three tips. After all, whether your name gets attention or not, it is your character and temperament that truly impress other people.
USC Language
Academy
Rossier School of
Education
Phone: 213-740-0080
Fax: 213-740-0088
Web: www.usc.edu/langacad
Pics of the Week
The Academy News is a weekly newsletter pro-duced by students in the Journalism Elective of the USC Language Academy. All students in the Lan-guage Academy Program are encouraged to send news stories and photos to Sonja Lovelace at [email protected].
Check out The Academy News online at www.usc.edu/langacad.Go to “Student Informa-
tion” and then click on “The Academy News.”
P A G E 8 J U L Y 1 2 , 2 0 1 3
THE ACADEMY NEWS STAFF
Editor: Valeria Wei
Assistant Editor: Leo Wu
Reporters: Faisal Almutairi, Zhiqi (Scarlett) Chen, Shangyi Cheng, Fitsum Fanta, Yuan Feng, Xi (Silvia) Feng, Ranran Li, Zijun (Mike) Lu, Peiyang Shi,
Zhaka Shulenbayeva, Mingxu Sun, Lun (Allen) Tian, Jingyi Wang, Yumeng
(Valeria) Wei, Daojun (Leo) Wu, Meiyi Yu, Weiwei (Vivian) Yu, Yerkanat Zaitov, Assyl Zhakupov, Yating (Evelyn) Zhao
In, the first week of the
journalism elective, students
prepared their stories for this
week’s newsletter. Many ideas
were floated about what kinds
of stories Language Academy
students would be interested in.
This week’s stories are the
result of intense brainstorming
and writing under deadline.
The journalism class
elected the new editor for this
term. Valeria Wei brings a
background in journalism to
the job. Assistant Editor Leo
Wu also has extensive broad-
cast journalism experience.
Look for a variety of sto-
ries in the weeks to come, and
tell us what you would like to
see in the newsletter for Sum-
mer Session B.
Summer B Journalism Elective Students
Launch First Issue of The Academy News
Language Academy stu-
dents enjoyed the music,
food and fireworks on the Fourth of July at the Hol-
lywood Bowl. See more
pictures on Language Academy Facebook.