A Language Programme for Teenagers

Welcome to Teenagers Abroad! We invite you to join us on an amazing journey of language learning.

Our Courses

Regardless of your choice of course, you'll develop your language ability both quickly and effectively.

Our Standard Course guarantees a significant increase in your confidence in a foreign language, with focused teaching in all 4 skill areas—speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Our Intensive Course builds on our Standard Course, with 10 additional lessons per week, guaranteeing the fastest possible language learning (see table below).

Evaluation

Student are placed into classes according to their current language skills. The majority of them take on online language test before starting their programme. However, if this is not available, students sit the exam on the first Monday of their course.

Learning materials are provided to students throughout their course, and there will never be more than 15 participants in each class.

Arrivals and Transfer

Our programme offers the full package—students are take good care of from the start through to the very end. They are collected from the airport upon arrival and brought to their accommodation in comfort. Werequire the student's full details at least 4 weeks in advance.

Meals/Allergies(过敏)/Special Dietary Requirements

Students are provided with breakfast, dinner and either a cooked or packed lunch (which consists of a sandwich, a drink and adessert). Snacks outside of meal times may be purchased by the student individually.

We ask that you let us know of any allergies or dietary requirements as well as information about any medicines you take. Depending on the type of allergies and/ or dietary requirements, an extra charge may be made for providing special food.

    Most people know that Marie Curie(居里夫人) was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and the first person to win it twice. However, few people know that she was also the mother of a Nobel Prize winner.

    Born in September, 1887, Irene Curie was the first of the Curies' two daughters. Along with nine other children whose parents were also famous scholars, Irene studied in their own school, and her mother was one of the teachers. She finished her high school education at the College of Sévigné in Paris. Irene entered the University of Paris in 1914 to prepare for a degree in mathematics and physics. When World War I began, Irene went to help her mother, who was using X-ray facilities（设备） to help save the lives of wounded soldiers. Irene continued the work by developing X-ray facilities in military hospitals in France and Belgium. Her services were recognized in the form of a Military's Medal by the French government.

    In 1918, Irene became her mother's assistant at the Curie Institute. In December 1924, Frederic Joliot joined the Institute, and Irene taught him the techniques required for his work. They soon fell in love and were married in 1926. Their daughter Helene was born in 1927 and their son Pierre five years later.

    Like her mother, Irene combined family and career. Like her mother, Irene was awarded a Nobel Prize, along with her husband, in 1935. Unfortunately, also like her mother, she developed leukemia because of her work with radioactivity（辐射能）. Irene Joliot-Curie died from leukemia on March 17, 1956.

    Partway through Wonder, Fifth-grader Auggie Pullman finds himself seated across from a new friend in the school cafeteria. "Have you ever thought about having plastic surgery?" the friend asks.

    "Dude, this is after plastic surgery. It takes a lot of work to look this good," Auggie says, running a hand through his hair. In other words, what could be painfully depressing turns out to hold lurking (潜藏的) reserves of humour, which is pretty much the story of Wonder.

    Auggie, played by Jacob Tremblay, was born with a facial difference, and even after multiple operations, his looks shock his classmates. As he adapts from homeschooling to a new school community, he encounters far worse than that lunchtime scene—one nasty bully (横行霸道者) says he'd kill himself if he looked like Auggie—but he never fully loses heart.

    The movie is an adaptation of the 2012 novel by R.J.Palacio, which has sold 6 million copies in North America and launched an antibullying campaign, Choose Kind. Palacio has said she got the idea for the story when her young son began crying at the sight of a girl with a facial difference in an ice cream shop. She took her kids out of the shop, but later regretted her reaction. "What I should have done is simply turned to the little girl and started up a conversation and shown my kids that there was nothing to be afraid of," she said.

    Tremblay, 11, who broke out opposite Brie Larson in the 2015 drama Room, has more than a few things in common with Auggie. "We both love Star Wars, we have awesome families, and we love our dogs." But Tremblay thinks we all can find something in common with the boy. "Everyone's like Auggie in one very important way: we want to be accepted and treated equally and with kindness."

    Julia Roberts, who plays Auggie's mother, became interested in the part because of her own children, "I read it with my kids and fell so in love with it," she says of the novel. "This book is such a beautiful and gentle introduction into all kinds of topics, including bullying and intolerance and fear, and what fear makes young people do sometimes."

    Both actors have some familiarity with the subject. "I was picked on quite a bit as a young person," Roberts says, though she won't say what for. "Even as a 50-year-old mother of three, it's not a path I like to go up and down." Tremblay reveals a bit more. "I have been picked on," he says, "because I'm kind of short for me age. I told my parents, and that's one of the best things you can do, because my mom said would never want me to carry negative thoughts on my shoulders alone."

    The most challenging parts of filming, says Tremblay, were moments in which he had to cry. Tenderhearted audience members will likely shed tears of their own—especially during scenes between Auggie and his mom, who repeatedly reassures her son that he is worthy of love. But the movie also has its fair share of hijinks (喧闹): for every tear-filled moment, there is a lightsaber battle or silly science project to lighten the mood. This mixture of pity and humor, says Roberts, "was intrinsic (固有的) in the writing in the novel." But she credits writer-director Stephen Chbosky with translating that balance into visual terms.

    As much as the movie impresses the viewer with compassion for the underdogs, it also finds a way to sympathize with the bullies. "I would say to try to take a moment to be conscious of why a person that is bullying somebody is behaving that way," says Roberts, "After all", she adds, "There's no child that's born bully."

    Regardless of how far we'd like to believe gender（性别）equality in the workplace has come, there's still a yawning gap between male and female leaders in the professional world. A 2018 statistic shows that women nowadays hold just 5.8 percent of CEOs positions at S&P 500 companies, according to Catalyst.

    While it's not a huge shock that women are somewhat underrepresented in leadership positions, what is surprising though, is the fact that females may actually be better suited to lead in almost every area, at least according to new findings from the BI Norwegian Business School.

    In their research, Professor Oyvind L. Martinsen and Professor Lars Glas surveyed (调查) 2,900 managers with a special focus on personality types. The results were clear: Women scored higher than men in four of the five major leadership-centric categories.

    While some people believe that men inherently make better leaders — probably because they picture a leader with a commanding voice, which is more typical of men than women — this piece of research suggests that women are better at methodical management and goal-setting, openness, sociability and supportiveness, as well as ability to communicate clearly.

    There was one area in which men scored higher than women, though, and that was on emotional stability and ability to face job-related pressure and stress. The results suggest that women are more sensitive to the effects of high-pressure or highly emotional situations.

    Obviously, it's important to consider individual (个人的) differences. Anyone, regardless of gender, may be an inspiring leader and a competent boss. But next time you're hiring for a management position, you just might want to give the resumes (简历) from female candidates a harder look.

The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed until 2021. That delay offers a chance for reflection. The International Olympic Committee wants to make the games more popular with young people. To that end, it is introducing new events, such as skateboarding, surfing and climbing. Why not go further and let national teams compete at video games? Electronic sports such as "Fortnite", are vastly more popular than strange Olympic sports like curling (冰壶). In fact, they are more appealing than most mainstream sports. Only 28% of British boys aged 16-19 watch any traditional live sports; 57% play video games.

Some may complain that e-sports are not proper sports. Many parents, observing their teenagers sitting on the sofa all day shouting "Quick, pass me the shotgun!" at a screen, would agree. Yet video games are highly competitive, with professional teams that play to packed stadiums. There are perhaps only 200 tennis stars in the world who can make a living from playing in major competitions. By contrast, "League of Legends", a fantasy game played by teams of five, supports over 1,000 on good wages. Its World Championship final last year was watched by 44 million people.

Those against e-sports offer moral objections, too. They are addictive. Prince Harry has called for "Fortnite" to be banned for this reason. They are violent. At a time of global disharmony, it is bad idea to make virtual (虚拟的) killing an Olympic sport. The Olympics aim to promote peace.

Neither of these arguments is convincing. The idea that an activity, rather than material, can be addictive is controversial among doctors, as is the existence of a causal (因果的) link between gaming and violence. And the belief that warlike sports have no place in the Olympics is hard to agree with history. Wrestling was introduced in 708 BC. It is still there.