The past two summers, a group of 15 Washington University students and faculty members have taken part in Tsinghua University’s annual English summer camp in Beijing, and applications are now being accepted for this coming summer’s camp, which will be held from July 1-19, 2013.
Tsinghua is one of China’s premier universities, and the students are talented, curious, and eager to improve their English skills, according to Frank Yin, PhD, the Stephen and Camilla Brauer Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering and WUSTL’s ambassador to Tsinghua University, a partner institution in the McDonnell International Scholars Academy.
The English Summer Camp is an intensive English language experience. Each day is devoted to lessons, lectures, and various activities including seminars, song and dance competitions and other games. The camp’s goal is to increase the students’ interest and enthusiasm in learning English as well as to improve their basic English skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking. The camp is for students who have just completed their freshmen year at Tsinghua, and the university is anticipating about 2,600 students to take part this summer.
Tsinghua University is inviting native or near-native English speakers to campus as visiting teachers and volunteers for the duration of the camp. Visiting teachers will teach English classes, give lectures on topics of interest, and help out with group activities. Volunteers will facilitate lecture discussion seminars and lead group activities such as competitions involving music, speech and drama. Teachers should hold at least a master’s degree or be a currently enrolled graduate student, and volunteers should be currently enrolled undergraduate students.
Visiting teachers and volunteers will work together in a team with other visiting teachers and volunteers, a Chinese coordinator, and several Tsinghua student volunteers. Faculty members of Tsinghua’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures will provide materials and expertise as well as supervision and assistance. On free days there will be opportunities to explore Beijing and to visit the Great Wall, located only an hour’s drive from Tsinghua.
During the camp’s three weeks, teachers and volunteers will be provided free meals and on-campus accommodation from June 26 to July 2. Teachers will receive a stipend of 13,000 RMB (about $2,000 USD) and volunteers a stipend of 3,000 RMB (about $470 USD). There will be two days of orientation and team coordination prior to the camp (June 28-29), and both teachers and volunteers need to arrive in Beijing on June 26 or 27. Transportation between the Beijing airport and the Tsinghua campus will be provided from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during those two days.
Deadlines for application are Feb. 15 for teachers and March 15 for volunteers. For more information, contact Kate Ruzicka at: ruzickak@wustl.edu or visit http://www.flc.tsinghua.edu.cn.