By Fay (Long Feiyu)

Academic lectures given by English and Japanese native teachers from the School of Foreign Languages came to an end successfully on December 22nd 2011. These lectures were thought highly of by both students and teachers of our university. The eight lectures have covered a wide range of themes, including languages, culture, fashion, philosophy, geography, and social life. These lectures not only broadened students’ horizons, but also increased their interest of English language and culture.

Among these lectures, Miss Amy Van Gundy introduced California with some interesting pictures and video-clips. The second lecture was given by Professor Wang Daoming who focused on the topic“English Vowel Length and English Derivational Doublets”. Then Mr. Byron Sherman from Harvard University, in the third lecture stated how to learn languages, by sharing the example of the world’s most multilingual womanKató Lomb. In the lecture “Why Failure Is Good for Success”, Mr. Charlie Wilson encouraged us to face the failure and conquer the difficulties. The Japanese teacher, Mr. Wataru Sato told the history of his hometown, Hokkaido. Then Mr. Charlie Reis showed the topic “What We Talk about When We Talk about Zombies”, sharing the ideas about the heated topic “zombies” with the students. Also then, Mr. Gregory Lawrence Smart used both history and his own experience to explain what “individualism” is. Lastly, James introduced the diversity of languages and dialects in Britain. Every lecture was of great theoretical and realistic significance, which were very interesting to attract much audience.

The success of these lectures demonstrated the academic level of the School of Foreign Languages. At the same time, they contributed to students’ study of English language and culture. Both teachers and students are looking forward to the lectures next semester.