Movie @ El Capitan in Hollywood Friday, July 27th, 1-7:30 pm Walk around Hollywood, check out the star handprints and footprints and watch Brave, the new Disney movie in one of the best movie theaters. Look for famous celebri-ties in this Hollywood area. Limited tickets are available so sign up now!

Summer B Closing Ceremony Friday, August 3rd, 9am-12:30pm

Come celebrate the end of Summer Session B at our Closing Ceremony. Brunch will be served for everyone at the Radisson Hotel Ballroom. We will also have a raffle with the chance to win many wonderful prizes!

Ice Skating Step by Step

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Announce-

ments

2

Movie

Reviews

3

Bonsai People

Screening

4

Boba Milk Tea

Drink

5

Yosemite

National Park

5

Wal-Mart 6

Las Vegas 7

N E X T W E E K ’ S AC T I V I T I E S

The Academy News J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 5

TAN Reporters and

Business Elective

students meet film

director. See the

story on p. 4

Yosemite National

Park offers visitors

beautiful scenery,

challenging hiking

trails, and an es-

cape from the city.

See p. 5.

See Course Evalua-

tion Schedule on p.

8

by Amy Mingjie YUAN

In such a hot summer,

going ice-skating is really a

good choice. Ice-skating is

gliding and moving on ice

with ice skates. It can be

indoors and outdoors and on

bodies of frozen water like

lakes and rivers.

With classmates of Lan-

guage Academy, I went to the

local ice-skating rink last

Friday and had fun on the

trip. Some students were

good at skating while others

were beginners. At the begin-

ning, most students could just

“walk” and “move,” leaning

on the railing. Under the oth-

ers’ help and encouragement,

they tried to skate step by

step.

After one-hour practice,

most of us could skate by

ourselves and feel fun from

it. Even though some of us

were still bad skaters in the

end and fell down time after

Language Academy students escaped the heat at the ice skating rink.

See Ice-Skating on p.4

I-20 Extensions

If you need to extend your I-20 in order to stay at the Language Academy for the Fall

Session, you MUST see Gil by Wednesday, August 1st.

Please email Gil at langacad@usc.edu to set up an appointment or stop by the

USC Language Academy by next Wednesday.

Early Payment Deadline For students who will continue to the Fall Session, the deadline to receive the early

payment discount is Friday, August 3rd.

Housing Information

Students in USC Housing for Summer B must leave Troy East by

Saturday, August 4th at 5 PM.

They must turn in a Housing Damage Contract to their RA.

Jessica wants YOUR pictures and video from Summer Session B!

At the Closing Ceremony, we’ll get to watch a video about this session and we would

like to add any pictures you may have!

Please email pictures to jessicrs@usc.edu by Monday, July 30th!

Group Picture

Tuesday, July 31st at 12:30 PM

All students should go straight to Doheny Memorial Library on Tuesday, July 31st for

our Language Academy Summer B Group Picture!

Don’t forget that you can be a part of Language Academy history!!

Be a PAL—Peer Academy Leader

Former and current students are welcome to join us during Orientation to help out the

USC Language Academy as PALs.

You’ll help the new students by showing them around campus, answering their

questions, and eating lunch with them.

Email or see Pam at pyamamot@usc.edu if you are interested in helping out during

Orientation on Tuesday, September 11th and Wednesday, September 12th.

The Dark Knight Rises by Chris Liu

Yu-Hsien (Jonathan) Liu

“Ted” delivers

laughs with heart

Have you ever dreamed of owning a

cute Teddy bear?

There are several kinds of block-

busters, such as “The Amazing Spi-

der-Man”, The Dark Knight Rises”

that you can expect in the summer.

The movie “Ted” stands out from

different perspectives. Even if this

comedy was released on June 29th,

2012, I still highly recommend this

unforgettable story.

The director Seth MacFarlane

brings the audience unique animation

with a teddy bear. The protagonist

John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg)

wanted to have a

teddy bear in his

childhood as a

Christmas gift be-

cause he was always

alone.

The miracle hap-

pened to the main

actor, and thus the

Teddy bear could

talk to him. But as

he grows up, he real-

izes that he can’t live

without the teddy

bear’s company.

Sometimes you have to make a

decision and realize the dark and

bright side of your choice. Although

the movie was full of hilarious jokes,

I was touched beyond words unex-

pectedly.

According to IMDB, the rating is

7.8/ 10 from 30,228 users. Doubtless,

after watching the movie, the audi-

ence will desperately want to hug a

teddy bear. Moreover, because this

movie was released over two weeks

ago, you can buy a restricted ticket at

the USC ticket office. It will help you

to save money at Regal cinemas.

P A G E 3

Movie Reviews

The Dark Knight rose with a

tragic start: 12 people were killed at

the new Batman movie premiere on

July 20 in Denver when a gunman

decided to open fire.

While expressing condolences

for those who lost their loved ones, I

should say such tragedy did not de-

ter the moviegoers from entering the

cinema at all.

“This is a LONG line,” said a

young boy standing in front of me,

stepping aside from the queue to

take the measure of it. Indeed, the

movie sold out quickly, so I arrived

two hours early to get a ticket and

lined up half an hour before the

show started to secure a decent seat.

Then the movie started. If

you’ve read my previous two movie

reviews, you’d know that I don’t

really do the previously-on-Batman

homework, which explains why I

watched the first 20 minutes without

having any idea as to what it was

about. However the good thing is

that super-hero movies usually don’t

have a sophisticated plot, which I

soon figured out: eight years after

Batman’s retirement, the presence

of and the ensuing chaos brought by

the new terrorist leader named Bane

called for the superhero’s return. So,

really, though background knowl-

edge could be useful, no homework

is necessary.

How about the movie itself? So

far it’s a 9.2-IMDB-rating movie

that perfectly concludes the Batman

trilogy, as attested to by the stun-

ning performance by Anne Hatha-

way, John Hardy and many others.

The movie is definitely worth

the money and I shall not bore you

with any pretentious analysis (or

sincere spoilers). One universal

criticism, though, might be the un-

decipherable mumble with a funny

accent produced by the villain Bane:

Just imagine how cute it is when the

bad guy threatens the innocent citi-

zens in a malicious and dead-serious

way, yet no one seems to under-

stand!

True, as an English-learner, my

hearing skills need improvement;

but the truth is, the American

woman sitting next to me kept ask-

ing her boyfriend what the villain

said, to which her boyfriend replied,

“I have no idea.”

Christian Bale performs in the new Batman film.

The movie “Ted” portrays a teddy bear that is really very human.

P A G E 4

time, we had an enjoyable afternoon in

the rink.

I also saw some teenagers practicing

professional jumps and spins on ice.

Their movements were very beautiful

and elegant. There were several children

who were learning the basic movements,

just like cute little penguins.

For me, ice-skating is the perfect ac-

tivity that allows friends to get together.

Even though we are in a warm climate

and snow is not available, we still can

enjoy this activity in the indoor skating

rink whatever the time of the year. The

gliding, falling and the fun it brings

when you skate is really awesome. Of

course you will fall at times. That can be

fun too, until you learn to balance and to

glide properly.

If you like this activity, try it by your-

self this summer.

And here are also some tips:

1. Make sure that you are wearing

warm, comfortable clothes, as in-

door arenas are cold; wear a jacket,

pants, socks, gloves and even a

neck warmer.

2 Wear the shoes that are comfortable

and fit you nicely.

3. Be patient and always rest when

you are tired, since the ice hurts and

it is very dangerous.

Ice Skating continued from p.1

Jiang Jun and Sun ho An

BONSAI PEOPLE: THE VISION OF MUHAMMAD YUNUS

Last Sunday, July 22, some of the USC Language Academy students attended a documentary film screening in the new West Hollywood Library.

Led by the Business elective class teacher Marisa Garcia-Crocker, the Lan-guage Academy students learned a lot about the film “Bonsai People: the Vi-

sion of Muhammad Yunus” and had a

great chance to discuss the film with the filmmaker Holly Mosher.

“Bonsai People” is the first documen-tary about Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Muhammd Yunus founded his microcredit system, which gives opportunity and hope to millions of poor people who are mainly the rural poor in Bangladeshi villages. The

microcredit’s main aim is to give a new

way for women to start home-based businesses such as agriculture, crafts or services.

After getting some money from this loan, women can buy cows, seeds, houses or even money for an education. The documentary “Bonsai People” fo-cuses on the relationship between Bang-

ladeshi village people’s lives and tiny

loans. The documentary wants to show how to help people to harness the power of the free market to solve the problems of poverty, hunger, and ine-quality.

This documentary was made possible by Holly Mosher, an independent film director whose documentaries focus on social and environmental issues. This film has received international press attention and won the Audience Award for best film.

After the screening, USC Language Academy students had a short interview with the director. When they asked

about the husbands’ resistance to the

microcredit Grameen Bank in that com-munity, Mosher acknowledged that it was very challenging in the first years, and it took six years to get them to join the bank. But now the women possess the family loan, and they have won more respect than before.

Meanwhile, she also explains why her film focuses more on women’s is-sues. “They are a group of people who do not have the same human rights as men. They are not even allowed to talk to men directly. So the social business movement cares about women’s rights and helps them to win more respect and rights.”

Left to right: Reporters Jasmine Jun and Sunho An with director Holly Mosher and Business

elective students Megan Meng and Grace Luan. After Sunday night’s screening and Q & A.

See photos on p. 6

P A G E 5

Guang-Sin Lu

Boba

The Boba shine with dark luster in the

ivory-white liquid, just like black pearls in

the milky sea. Boba Milk Tea, also known

as Bubble Milk Tea, Tapioca Milk Tea or

Pearl Milk Tea, is a kind of sweet tea drink

that originated in Taiwan and became

popular during the 1980s.

The Boba Milk Tea spread from Taiwan

to other East Asian countries during the

1990s. Boba is now so popular that we can

even buy the Boba Milk Tea in the United

States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand

and the rest of Asia. The Bubble tea has

risen in international recognition, and it is

already famous all over the world.

The boba is not as hard as real pearls. It

is produced by passing moist starch

through a sieve under pressure with red

sweet potato powder.

The boba is an ingredient that provides

a chewy contrast to the sweetness and tex-

ture of the drink. We can add the boba not

only in milk tea but also in red tea, green

tea, smoothies, beverages, ice blended,

shaved ice and hot drinks. There are vari-

ous types of the drink, depending on the

ingredients added.

There is no denying that the Boba Milk

Tea is a classical flavor. We usually use an

unusually big straw to eat and drink the

Boba Milk Tea. Especially in the summer,

a Boba Milk Tea is so cool and refreshing

that it makes people forget the heat and

sweat.

But be careful: the Boba Milk Tea is

high in calories! You won’t believe it—a

cup of Boba Milk Tea (700 ml) contains

500-900 kcal (depending on the amount of

sugar). It is almost a third to half the num-

ber of calories required per day.

Where you can buy it in LA:

Half & Half Tea House

120 N San Gabriel Blvd San Gabriel, CA

91778

(626) 309-9387

Mon-Sun 11:30 am - 12:30 am

Cup O' Joy

3016 S Figueroa St Los Angeles, CA

90007

(213) 745-8569

Mon-Thu 11 am - 12 am

Fri-Sun 11 am - 11 pm

Hsin I Chen (Jessy)

Explore Yosemite

National Park

One of the most well-known national

parks in the West, Yosemite, is located

about 315 miles to the northeast of L.A.

County. The enormous park incorporates

thousands of plants and hundreds of spe-

cies of wildlife, including amphibians,

reptiles, mammals, insects, and two spe-

cies that are believed not to exist in any

other parts of the world.

In addition to the diversity of plants

and animals, Yosemite Falls also attracts

many visitors around the world. It is the

tallest waterfall in North America. This

waterfall, which is created from the snow-

melt, reaches its peak in May or June.

The park is open 24 hours a day and

365 days a year. There is no best time to

visit the place because each season has its

unique features. However, some roads are

closed from November to May or June

due to snow. So, be sure to check the road

conditions before travelling.

Driving is the most convenient way to

get there. The entrance fee is $20 per car,

and it is valid for multiple

entrances for seven days.

Amtrak is an alternative

transportation besides driv-

ing. It is a combination of

train and buses. By chang-

ing at the Union Station in

L.A., one can travel to Yo-

semite by train. No reserva-

tion is needed to visit the

park, unless you plan to

spend a night in the park.

Take advantage of the

coming vacation and go

ahead and visit Yosemite

National Park with friends

and family. Escape from the

urban jungle and explore

the natural scenery and eco-

system!

For more information about

Yosemite, please visit:

http://www.nps.gov/yose/

index.htm For information

about Yosemite lodge,

please vist: http://www.evergreenlodge.com/?gclid=CLqzs6qus7ECFQQaQgodrFMAsQ

Top: Half

Dome is a

popular desti-

nation for

veteran moun-

tain climbers.

Right: May

and June are

the best months

to visit Yosem-

ite Falls, when

the snow has

melted.

BUY MORE AND PAY LESS BY Mohammed Ali

P A G E 6

Life in L.A.

The United States of America has many stores, a vast range of expensive and economical stores. However, Wal-Mart has more opportunity to buy many items for reasonable prices, so many customers would not hesi-tate to come back to it over and over.

The first Wal-Mart opened in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas; actu-ally the owner of Wal-Mart found it a challenge to open more stores at the beginning of his business because many other business people made it difficult for him to be successful on his new journey.

He started in business on the East Coast; they bought places in poorer cities. It was less of a challenge for him as he took ad-vantage to open as many stores as he could, city by city until the chain Wal-Mart became well

known. Wal-Mart has approximately

$200 million year sales. Also it has additional 100 million pur-chasers a week. I found this in-formation from this website http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=95703.

It became the first private sector company in the world and had around one million employ-ees in 1999.

Nowadays there are many items that you will find for a rea-sonable price, such as family apparel, health and beauty aid, electronic, lawn and garden.

Wal-Mart is spreading out in many counties every day, and it offers great prices that encour-age many people to purchase their items every day.

It also helps to find what you are looking for in one store. I have experienced buying from Wal-Mart many times. I bought a bicycle, Dell charger, and gloves to work out.

Actually the nearest Wal-Mart is on Crenshaw; the address in 4101 Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90008. I really rec-ommend buying from Wal-Mart, and good luck.

Language Academy

Ice Skating

Photo Album

P A G E 7

Xurui (Christy) Wang

Las Vegas is the biggest and most luxurious city of Nevada. It is famous for gambling. In addition, several leaders in every field like taking a vacation there. There are nine resort hotels in the world’s top ten hotels there. As the entertain-ment capital of the world, it has taken only twenty years to transfer from a small village to a huge tour-ist city.

If you want to go to Las Vegas, you need to make a plan before you leave. If you have a car and have never been there before, you can drive there.

I was one of the drivers, so we could take turns driving whenever one of us felt tired.

It will take four hours to drive there. If you go there alone, I sug-gest going there by air,; it just takes 20 minutes. It is more com-fortable and faster than driving.

Moreover, there are various shows you should watch. The first show is in the front of The Bella-gio. It is called ‘The Musical Foun-

tain,” and it is huge. People can enjoy the classical music and watch the fantastic fountain.

Then, you can walk along Las Vegas Blvd. All the popular hotels and architecture are here, such as Paris Las Vegas, Cocola, New York New York.

.

Here are the schedules of the shows:

Bellagio Water Show Monday - Friday 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. show every 1/2 hour Saturday & Sunday 12:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. show every 1/2 hour

Rio Air Display Weekdays 0pm ,4:00pm,7:30pm,8:30pm ,9:30pm

Mirage Volcano Show Week-days 7:00pm 12:00pm every 15 minutes.

Tropicana Burlesque 7:30pm

~12:00pm every 20 minutes.

These shows in Las Vegas are free, and you can take photos as a good background wall.

I hope you have a great time in

Las Vegas.

World of Coca Cola Store Jingxuan Sun

Las Vegas, the Enter-

tainment Capital of the World, is famous for its gambling, shows and shop-ping as well as casino ho-tels. One of the most popu-lar tourist attractions is the World of Coca Cola Store.

The World of Coca-Cola is a permanent exhibition featuring the history of The Coca-Cola Company and its well-known advertising as well as a host of entertain-ment areas and attractions.

The Coca Cola store has

two floors packed with more Coca-Cola branded items than you could possi-bly imagine. At the en-trance of the store on the first floor, you get all your Coca Cola merchandise. It has Coca-Cola calendars, t-

shirts, clocks, coca-cola bot-tles, towels, key rings, sports and household items; soft coca-cola polar bears. Towards the back, right before the escalators is where the giant polar bear lies for you to take pictures.

There are 16 different flavors of Coke split be-tween two trays for about $7. You can get samples of 16 Coca-Cola drinks from different places in the Taste from Around the World option. Some were good, a few were interesting and some were just nasty, such as ginger taste. It was a memorable experience.

Besides the Coca Cola

Store, other famous tourist attractions include The Bel-lagio, The Venetian, Wynn, The Forum Shops At Cae-sars and Fashion Outlets Las Vegas.

Opening Hours of the Coca Cola Store: 10am – 11pm Location: Next to the MGM Grand Hotel Vegas in the Show-case Mall 3785 Las Vegas Blvd South Las VegasNevada For further information call: 702-270-5952

Las Vegas Special: The (Other) City that Never Sleeps

Visitors enjoy an extravaganza of lights in Las

Vegas by night.

USC Language

Academy

Rossier School of

Education

Phone: 213-740-0080

Fax: 213-740-0088

Web: www.usc.edu/

langacad

COURSE EVALUATION SCHEDULE Monday, July 30

The Academy News is a weekly newsletter pro-duced by students in the Journalism Elective of the USC Language Academy. All students in the Lan-guage Academy Program are encouraged to send news stories and photos to Sonja Lovelace at slove-lac@usc.edu.

Check out The Academy News online at www.usc.edu/langacad.Go to “Student Informa-

tion” and then click on “The Academy News.”

P A G E 8 J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2

Sudoku Write a number from 1-9 in the box.

SAL 126 WPH B 36

1:00 AcadVocab45 Jeff Kealing Film46 Diana Hiciu Bus35 Marisa Garcia-Crocker

1:00 BUSTRK LS Stephen MacIsaac Idioms34 Andrea Coates

1:30 Vocab12 Nevena Fairclough Drama47 Priscilla Taylor

1:30 Pron13 Heather Robertson Journ37 Sonja Lovelace

2:00 TFL302 James Hutzell Powerlistening and Notetaking Katie Fitzsimons

2:30 LS TOEFL Paul Dykman TFL301 Michael Cannon