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.

    A new concept vehicle, Pod was introduced by Toyota and Sony at the Tokyo motor show. The car is intended as a four-wheeled friend. It aims to provide affection, sympathy and encouragement. Like a dog welcoming its master, the car sits up, wags its tail and acknowledges its owner's presence using hydraulics(液压装置) and a multi-coloured LED display panel(引擎) across the front.

    While on the road, the car constantly monitors the driver's mood with pulse and sweat(汗) sensors on the joystick(操纵杆). Cameras focused on the eyes keep watch for any sigh of drowsiness. If a driver appears to be losing his or her cool, Pod will display warnings, play soft music and blow cold air at the face. Drivers are shaken awake with loud music and a shaking chair.

    To improve driving skills, Pod uses a comparison to score drivers, offer advice and rank all Pod owners. Toyota claims that the car will eventually be able to learn its owner's likes and dislikes by monitoring passenger conversations. If the car hears a favorite song being discussed, it will download the track from the Internet and play it without being asked. It will also recommend(推荐) restaurants that might suit the driver's taste and take photographs of passengers when they sound particularly happy.

    In keeping with the moodiness that is the car's main selling point, Pod expresses a form of road anger. If a driver brakes or swerves(急转弯) suddenly, the LED panel shows an angry red and the tail rises at the back.

    Anger is one of the car's ten “emotional states”. Another is sadness — a blue front with tear-shaped lights seemingly dropping from headlights — which appears after a flat tire or when gas is low.

    “We wanted to show that the cars can be cheerful and entertaining,” said Yasunori Sakamoto, part of the Toyota design team. Mr Sakamoto said Toyota has no plans to put Pod on the market. Sad, really.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    Many Years ago three soldiers,hungry and tired of battle,came upon a small village.The villagers,suffering a bad harvest and the many years of war,quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three in the village square, shaking their heads and sighing,"Well,we are starving."The soldiers communicated with each other quietly and then the first soldier turned to the villagers.“Your poor fields have left you nothing to share,so we will share what little we have: the secret of making soup from stones.”

    Naturally the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was built to the village's greatest pot,and then the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones.

“Now this will be a fine soup,”said the second soldier,"but a handful of salt and some parsley（香芹）would make it wonderful!"Up jumped a villager,crying “What a piece of luck!I've just remembered where some has been left!”

    And off she ran,returning with parsley.As the pot was boiling,the memory of the villagers improved: soon carrots,beef and cream had found their way into the great pot.They ate and danced and sang well into the night, thrilled about the feast and their new-found friends.In the morning the three soldiers awoke,finding all the villagers standing before them.At their feet lay a bag of the village's best bread and cheese.“You have given us the greatest gift,”said an elder,“and we shall never forget.”The third soldier turned to the crowd,and said,“There is no secret,but this is certain: people working together can accomplish great things.”At last the light dawned on villagers.Off the soldiers wandered,down the road.

    Susan was born as the ninth child in a Catholic family. She suffered from learning disabilities ever since her birth because of her mother's poor health.

    School was difficult for Susan and she was bullied because of her different behaviors. Her siblings, who were much older, had life experiences that were unknown to their little sister. From the time of her birth, Susan was a screamer. The only really safe place that she would use as a repeat was her bedroom. There she would hang posters of her musical idols on the wall and sing popular music into a hairbrush that she pretended was a microphone.

    One by one the siblings moved away from home and then Susan's father died. This left her alone with an aging mother and a cat. The siblings accused her mother of not expecting more out of Susan. She had seen many professionals and remembered hearing the word “borderline” but didn't know what it meant. She tried volunteer work. Her best state of mind, however, was found when she was singing and so she would regularly join others in karaoke or pubs where she could show her skills and receive appreciation from the crowd.

    When Susan announced at Christmas that she was planning to compete in the Britain's Got Talent contest, her siblings tried to discourage her. It was a wonder that she was even able to do the audition considering the troubles she faced just physically getting to the right place.

    “The Woman I Was Born to Be” is a beautiful story written in the simple but humorous voice of the author, Susan Boyle. She tells her story from birth to the present in an interesting and educational manner. The writing is supplemented by photos from her albums.

    I love this book! In fact, I read the whole thing in one day!

There is something in the stories that not only teaches the reader but also inspires us to reach for our dreams — no matter how impossible they may seem to be!

    The US teenager Thomas Cheatham had planned to study Latin during his time at Hebron High School in Texas. But when he learned that the school district was going to offer a Mandarin class, he quickly changed his mind.

    “I thought Mandarin would be more beneficial than Latin,” said Cheatham, who is now in his second year of studying the language. He speaks Mandarin to order food at Chinese restaurants and can read social media posts from his Chinese-speaking friends.

    While it's a difficult language to master, the high school junior, who plans to study computer engineering, thinks it will be important for his career. “Chinese is a good language to know, especially with China becoming a growing power,” he said.

    Many experts agree that proficiency in a language spoken by a billion people worldwide will give American students an edge in the global economy. “People are looking at China as our next economic competitor, and interest in Mandarin is growing,” said Marty Abbott, executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. “We're seeing it in all parts of the country. ”

    Abbott estimates that as many as 100, 000 students are now studying Mandarin throughout the US, in public and private schools. She said the US government has designated (指定) Mandarin as a “critical needs” language and provides professional development programs for teachers. “Our government wants to increase our language competency for national security and economic competitiveness,” Abbott said.

    At the same time, the Chinese government is spreading knowledge of the Chinese language and culture through Confucius Institutes established in many US states. For example, the Confucius Institute at the University of Texas in Dallas has been the home of a Confucius Institute for 10 years. It sponsors Confucius Classrooms at 21 local public and private schools, where tens of thousands of students are learning Mandarin.

Non-Credit Courses

The Pre-College Program offers non-credit courses.Students will experience college-level courses given by some of our college's leading experts and will receive written feedback(反馈) on their work at the end of the course.Pre-college students will also receive a grade of Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory and a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the program.

All non-credit courses meet from 9:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.daily and may have additional requirements in the afternoons or evenings.

COURSE:Case Studies in Neuroscience

·June 11-July 2

·Leah Roesch

Using student-centered,active-learning methods and real-world examples,this course is designed to provide a fuller understanding of how the human brain works.

COURSE:Psychology of Creativity

·June 15-June 28

·Marshall Duke

Why are certain people so creative?Is it genetic(遗传的),or a result of childhood experience?Are they different from everyone else?This popular psychology course highlights the different theories of creativity.

COURSE:Creative Storytelling

·June 21-July 3

·Edith Freni

This college-level course in creative storytelling functions as an introduction to a variety of storytelling techniques that appear in different forms of creative writing,such as short fiction and playwriting.

COURSE:Sports Economics

·July 19-August 1

·Christina DePasquale

In this course we will analyze many interesting aspects of the sports industry:sports leagues,ticket pricing,salary negotiations,discrimination,and NCAA policies to name a few.