记者：周幸子
随着期末的到来，本学期九游会平台举办的外籍教师特色活动圆满落下帷幕。长久以来，这种异于普通教学的交流活动一直受到广大师生的欢迎。通过参加这些活动，同学们不仅能了解异国文化、增长见识，而且无形中也锻炼了英语听说能力，同时还可以培养思考的能力，可谓一举多得。
本学期共举办了五场外教讲座，有的外教通过亲身经历的介绍带领同学了解不同国家的文化🤽🏼♀️，有的和同学们一起分析心理、讨论哲学、欣赏艺术👧。这使得外教讲座涉及的知识范围更加广泛🧔🏼，不仅吸引了对英语和西方文化感兴趣的同学，也引来不少对其他专业领域有所了解的师生，使他们更进一步地学习西方国家的理论和独到的见解。
在新学期刚刚开始时🟤👩🏻🍳，第一场讲座由英国籍外教Mr. Sean McHugh主持⏳，主题是An Overview of Britain and Cultural Experience in Asia and Africa🐞。讲座中，Mr. Sean McHugh简述了英国悠久的历史和博大精深的文化🫶🏽，分别从地理环境、国家政策💘、特色建筑🪞、文化氛围等方面详细地介绍了英国。同时他还通过大量的图片展示了在亚洲及非洲的文化之旅🙆🏽♂️，从中总结出他对中西文化差异的独特观点👨🏿🎤。
第二场讲座则涉及到另一个完全不同的领域🙌🏻，由来自美国的外教Mr. Brian Harrison主持的关于心理和九型人格分析的讲座，主题为Discovering Oneself and Understanding Others: The Enneagram - An Exploration into 9 Basic Personality Types。虽然对性格的分析十分复杂🤟🏼，但Mr. Brian Harrison围绕着一幅手绘的九型人格图，以自己及亲朋好友为例，简单而富有深度地剖析了九种基本人格，并把九种人格归类成三大类☛：感性型，理性型👱🏼♂️，还有介乎于两者之间的类型来深入分析👶🏻。
随后，同是美国籍的外教Mr. Craig Voligny为同学们带来一场关于视觉艺术的讲座🧑🏿🦱，引起很多艺术传媒专业学生的兴趣🕵🏻♀️。这次讲座的主题是Perspectives on Visual Arts👨🏻🍳，Mr. Craig Voligny通过展示各国不同画家的艺术作品，为同学们分析他眼中的视觉艺术，并不时与同学们交流，了解他们眼中的艺术形态。同时他还阐述了自己对“风格”一词的独到见解⚓️，他认为风格是对时尚的一种演绎方式，并不存在于真正的艺术之中。
经过了第一场关于英国文化和亚非文化之旅的讲座，外教Mr. Sean McHugh希望能够和同学们分享更多他的经历🔫，与同学们共同讨论关于旅游的点点滴滴。于是他又举办了一场主题为World Travel的讲座🐋，介绍自助旅游的经验，并对旅行进行表层的概述，让同学们了解到相关的设备选择、健康安全问题等信息。他还通过精彩的图片和来自85个国家的地图，与大家分享了旅途中的奇闻异事，不同地区文化差异之大令大家深有感触。
本学期最后一场讲座由来自英国的博士Dr. Matthew Conduct主持🙅🏻♀️。由于Dr. Matthew Conduct的研究领域是哲学👊🏽🤶🏼，因此他与大家进行了关于三个哲学问题的讨论，主题为Three philosophical problems, which were discussed in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy。讲座中他与同学们讨论了现代英美哲学存在的三个问题，分别为笛卡尔的两元论、错觉的论证和“中文房间”👩💻。每讲完一个问题都会有一个问答环节，有效帮助同学们更好地理解哲学知识。
除此之外，九游会平台还在元旦期间举办了由Ms. Linda Jean Visner主持的三场特色文化之夜活动，主题为Cookie Party，其中两场的参与者是本校研究生，另一场是英语专业本科生🧏🏼♀️。在特色文化之夜活动中，Ms. Linda Jean Visner与学生们共同制作了美味的巧克力蛋糕，并合唱新年歌曲↗️，欢度新年。
多年来🗽，九游会平台坚持每学期举办外籍教师特色活动，以各式各样的主题和形式为学生们提供了多样化的学习方式。通过与外籍教师的直接交流，学生们在接触不同国家形形色色的知识和文化的同时，也拓宽了他们的视野，为将来迎接各种挑战做好充足的准备🐋。
SFL Holds Special English Events in the First Semester of Academic Year 2012-2013
By ZHOU Xingzi
The School of Foreign Languages held several special English Events this semester, which are always popular among the students and teachers. Students can learn more about foreign cultures, broaden their horizons and improve English listening and speaking skills. What’s more, the events also offered great opportunities of independent thinking.
In this semester, five lectures were given by the overseas teachers of the School of Foreign Languages. The topics ranged from personal travel experience to art and philosophy, which attracted both the students who love English and teachers who are interested in other fields of study in our university.
The first lecture, entitledAn Overview of Britain and Cultural Experience in Asia and Africa, was given by Mr. Sean McHugh. He introduced the overall history and the culture of Britain, including geography, policy, architectural features and cultural environment. Also, he shared his unforgettable traveling experience in Asia and Africa with plenty of photos, which showed his view on the differences between Chinese and western cultures.
The second lecture focused on a different topic Discovering Oneself and Understanding Others: The Enneagram - An Exploration into 9 Basic Personality Types, by Mr. Brian Harrison. In the lecture, he mainly introduced nine basic personality types through the enneagram diagram and analyzed different types of his friends and family as examples. He also divided personalities into three other types, namely emotional, rational and the type between the two.
Mr. Craig Voligny gave the third lecture to discussPerspectives on Visual Artswith the students . He displayed some works of art from different countries in order to analyze the definition of visual art in his mind. Also he asked the students how they understood visual art. He thought that the style was only a branch of fashion, but not an element for a real piece of art.
After giving the first lecture, Mr. Sean McHugh would like to share more of his experience with the students. Therefore, he hosted his second lecture calledWorld Travelin which he first introduced DIY travel helping the students to learn the equipments, health and safety issues as well as some special experiences regarding traveling. Besides, he used slide-shows with pictures and the maps of eighty-five countries to describe different cultures.
The last lecture was given by Dr. Matthew Conduct whose study focus is on philosophy. The theme wasThree Philosophical Problems, which were discussed in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. Dr. Matthew Conduct explained the problems of Cartesian dualism, Cartesian dualism and "Chinese Room Argument". There was always a question and answer session following every discussion of the problems, which could help the students to understand the content better.
Besides the lectures, Ms. Linda Jean Visner from the School of Foreign Languages also hosted three Special Culture Nights during Christmas season, among which two were held with the postgraduate students, and one with the undergraduate students. On the Special Culture Nights, Ms. Linda Jean Visner made brownies together with the students, sang beautiful songs and celebrated the New Year.
The School of Foreign Languages has been holding special English events for many years, aiming at providing students with a great variety of ways of learning English. By communicating with the overseas teachers face to face, students could have a direct access to western culture and related knowledge, broadening their horizons and better preparing them for their future.
