The hot summer sun kicked away the heavy clouds that had covered the blue sky for several days. The podium in the UIC Teaching Building was full of sunshine, laughter, applauses and floating singings. The First English Immersion Day in UIC was held in the bright afternoon of 23, May.
The English Immersion Day was organized by the English Language Center. Prof.Eva Lai, Director of ELC told the reporter that the activity was to organize teachers and students to come together and speak English. “The purpose is to provide a chance for the students to use English outside classroom.” Prof. Eva Lai said, “We have all kinds of performance today.”
The song from Devil Ethics Band and piles of free yummy pizza opened the party and attracted a crowd of students to the podium. Then speeches, drama, brain teaser, songs, poetry reciting and even tongue twisters were put onto the stage. Although everyone was sweating in the sun, performers and audience all enjoyed the party. When performers showed their talent on the stage with confidence, laughers and applauses burst out from the audience every now and then. The smile on the mentors’ face showed their satisfaction and proud.
Most of the performance was originated by the students with the help of their mentors. A girl from the drama club who had just won a “bad girl” rewards in the drama “Magic Chair” said, “We translated the drama script into English by ourselves and we had rehearsed for 4 to 5 times, each time for about one hour. It’s good to have this opportunity to practice English. My English has improved a lot during my first year’s learning here in UIC.” When asked about her expectation for this kind of activities in future, she said, “We would like to have a more formal stage and better equipment to better perform our dramas.”
The party ended in the happy singing from all the teachers of ELC. “It won’t be a regular activity, but we will have it once or twice in a semester, maybe before examination, to have fun together.” Director Eva Lai said.
Christy Zhao/DPRO
