News & Events

Across Eurasia re-entry seminars are being held with recently returned FLEX alumni to help them to find their bearings, and aid in a smooth re-entry process upon returning home. A total of 28 re-entry seminars in ten countries have been held since mid-June, involving nearly 50 percent of the recently returned alumni class of 2010. In addition to the seminars, FLEX alumni had the opportunity to take part in re-entry discussion topics on the 2010 FLEX Alumni Re-entry Forum on Facebook. The 476-member re-entry forum gives those alumni who were not able to attend the sessions a chance to catch up with those FLEX participants with whom they attended pre-departure orientations, and even studied with in the U.S.

Pan Jiling is taking a break from teaching English in a Chinese high school with 3,000 students to help jump-start a new Chinese language program in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, thanks to the district winning one of just 15 Teachers of Critical Lanagues Program (TCLP) grants awarded nationally. "We're very fortunate that she is assigned to our school," Assistant Superintendent Mary Colombo said.

When Berkeley High School students in Moncks Corner, South Carolina arrive for the first day of classes today, dozens of them will have the opportunity to learn to speak Mandarin Chinese. The school was awarded a grant from the American Councils for International Education's Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP) to bring in a teacher from China for a year, said Berkeley High Principal Kim McLaren. Ru Yi, Berkeley's Chinese teacher, is excited not only about teaching students to speak her language, but also about helping them learn about her culture.