花蓮地區高中(職)學生大學英文體驗專課「英國語言文化初體驗」圓滿完成
慈濟大學英美語文系，專為花蓮地區高中(職)學生所開設的大學英文體驗專課「英國語言文化初體驗」，已經於6月4日順利完成。
本項免費課程，由英美系的漢明遠(Michael Hemsley)教授擔任授課； 計有花蓮高中、花蓮女中、四維高中、海星高中、慈濟高中、花蓮商職等六校23位同學參加。課程共進行八週，每次三小時。課程主題內容包括：英國(United Kingdom)是什麼，英國人有哪些，英國的飲食特色，英國語言的特色，英國教育制度，英國式的家居生活等。
漢明遠教授本身就是英國籍，當然全部以英語授課，上課時除了講述，還讓同學有機會對英國錢幣，英式食物，實際體驗；同學也就學習體驗的內容，以討論及專題報告方式，發表心得。
漢明遠教授說：雖然上課只有八週，但是同學在知識領域以及英語能力上，都表現出顯著進步和充分的信心。許多同學登記參加時，都對參加全英語課程感到忐忑不安，但是課程完成後，大家都對使用英語信心大增。另一方面，同學所做的教學意見回饋上，不但對此課程給予最高評價，也希望慈濟大學其他科系也能有各種課程，以便與高中課程連接，使更多高中(職)學生體驗慈濟的優良學風。
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Experience of British Language and Culture
Students from six different high schools in Hualien have just finished a free DELL taster course called Experience of British English and Culture.
Taught and assessed in English, the class met on eight Sunday mornings to learn about the history and features of British English and increase their listening and speaking skills through studying topics like ‘What is the U.K.?’, ‘Who are the British?’ British food and drink, British style small talk, the U.K. education system, and British homes and home life.
On this lively course, students had the chance to handle U.K. currency and even try some unique British food as well as practice dialogues, discuss topics and make presentations.
The course teacher, Professor Mike Hemsley said, “It’s been great fun working with this group. Even though by university standards this was a very short course, just 24 hours in total, it’s exciting to see how much the students’ confidence and understanding have developed”.
Meanwhile, a course evaluation carried out during the final session showed students were also very satisfied, and almost all hope that other departments in TCU can also offer taster courses.
Students wrote plenty of positive feedback. One typical comment was “this course was more interesting than I expected. I’m glad I had the chance to take it, and I got a great impression of DELL. It’s really great to meet Professor Hemsley, who helped me understand British culture more deeply”.
