Lunch Social in Alhambra

We were invited for lunch in an Italian restaurant with our teacher Erber on July 12^th . I didn't know what to expect but was told everything will be relaxed and fun. We met a lot of different country students at this lunch party, there were about 16 people.

It is a small and warm Italian restaurant which included all kinds of Italian special dishes. Because it was my first time to experience this food, I had no idea what to order at all! Fortunately, Erber was very kind and full of patience to explain the menu to us. We were so hungry and had to wait for 1 hour......The lunch was served in 3 different dishes, there was pasta with garlic bread, grilled chicken wings, a super big pizza with bacon and beef. It was a tasty and delicious meal but most enjoyable was being together with our classmates and teacher! Can't think of a more perfect way to spend lunch time.

Lunch social is always fun!

Written by TOEFL student Gem Wu 

For more information about activities at all LSI locations, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/

Do you know what Futsal is?

The origin of Futsal^® (Five-a-Side Soccer) can be traced back to Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1930 when Juan Carlos Ceriani devised a five-a-side version of soccer for youth competion in YMCAs.  The game is played on basketball-sized courts, both indoors and out without the use of sidewalls.

The term FUTSAL^® is the international term used for the game. It is derived from the Spanish or Portuguese word for “soccer”– FUTbol or FUTebol, and the French or Spanish word for “indoor” — SALon or SALa. The term was adopted by U.S. Futsal since it includes the initials “fUtSAl” (USA). The term was trademarked in the United States after U.S. Futsal changed its corporate name within the state of California.

The game is frequently referred to as Five-A-Side or Mini-soccer.  Once Ceriani got the ball rolling, Futsal gained rapid popularity throughout South America, particularly in Brazil.  The skill developed in this game is visible in the world-famous style the Brazilians display outdoors on the full-sized field.  Pele, Zico, Socrates, Bebeto and other Brazilian superstars developed their skill playing Futsal.  While Brazil continues to be the Futsal hub of the world, the game is now played, under the auspices of FIFA, all over the world, from Europe to North and Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Africa, and Asia and Oceania.

Now that you know a little bit more about Futsal, join LSI Torrance Futsal's team and enjoy the exciting game of Futsal Indoor Soccer every Tuesday evening at South Coast Soccer City!

For more information about activities at all LSI locations, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/

Newport Beach Trip

On Friday June 10, 2011 about 70 students from LSI-OC went to Newport Beach, CA for our first beach trip of the summer. It was awesome! The weather that morning was cold and cloudy, with a slight drizzle. As the person who planned this event, I was a little bit worried.

When we got to the beach about 1:30, we set up our volleyball net and the wood we were going to use for our bonfire that night. About 3pm the clouds went away. Soon the sky was blue and the sun was shining. The weather turned out perfect!

We ended up playing volleyball, soccer, frisbee, and other games. It was so much fun!

At night, we had a really cool bonfire. As we sat around the fire, one of our students named Mona played guitar and led us in singing some songs. As we were singing "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, a group of American high school students came over and joined us. It was such a great time! They were actually a high school choir from Kentucky that was here for a week performing concerts at Disneyland. They sang really well! Their fire pit was right next to ours, and soon they were inviting us over to their fire pit to roast hotdogs and to make smores with them. Our LSI students had a great time practicing English and getting to meet American students. It was such a great beach trip! Here are some comments that students put on Facebook:

"Thanks for planning a great beach trip!! We can't wait for the next one!!"

"It was a wonderful experience... unforgettable memory!"

For more information about activities at all LSI locations, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/

LSI Soccer Tournament - IV LSI Gold Cup

On Friday May 13th , Language Systems International (LSI) held its annual Soccer Tournament between 4 campuses: Torrance, LA, Alhambra, and Orange County (OC). The tournament was very exciting, and the competition between the schools was strong, as usual. Each school was represented by students wearing their school colors. OC students wore red, LA students wore yellow, Torrance students wore gray, and Alhambra students wore green. Some of the countries represented in the tournament included Brazil, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, Vietnam, Turkey, Libya, Thailand, Chile, Venezuela, Taiwan, and many others.

Each team showed up to win, and the students of each campus cheered for their school’s team. Although each school really wanted to win the soccer trophy, there could only be one champion. In the first round, LA defeated Alhambra and Torrance defeated Orange County (OC). That set up the championship match between LA and Torrance. Each school played strong and with a lot of heart, but in the end, Torrance came away with the Championship trophy. They were the best team, represented mostly by a core of talented Brazilian players. Congratulations Torrance!

During the tournament students had the opportunity to hang out with their teachers and friends while enjoying a beautiful sunny day in Southern California. After the games were finished and the trophy had been passed on to Torrance, LSI provided all the students and players with a pizza lunch in the shade. The soccer tournament was a very successful event, and many students kept asking, “When’s the next big LSI event?” Well, to answer their question, the next major event involving all 4 LSI schools will be the annual Beach Party in August when LSI will hold the exciting beach volleyball tournament! Mark your calendar and get ready to see once again proud and supportive LSI students wearing red, yellow, gray, and green.

Ty, the Program Coordinator at the OC, wrote this post about the soccer tournament, but couldn't post it because of computer problems. Thank you, Ty!!!

For more information about activities at all LSI locations, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/

Earth Day!

A little bit of history:

What is Earth Day? Earth Day was created by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson on April 22, 1970 to create awareness and appreciation of the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day is now celebrated in more than 175 countries every year.

Why April 22^nd? Senator Nelson chose this date to get as much participation as possible from college students. He thought that the week of April 19–25 was the best week as it did not fall during exams or spring breaks. Moreover, it did not conflict with any religious holidays such as Easter, and was late enough in spring to have nice weather that would lend itself to doing outdoorsy, environment-related activities.

Earth Day at LSI:

As part of our Volunteer Program, each LSI campus planned an Earth Day Activity to promote recycling and more conscious decision-making to save natural resources and support sustainability.

Each School had a group of student, teacher and staff volunteers willing to help with their school’s Earth Day project.

 

LSI Alhambra went to the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in Pasadena. They cleaned up the park and since Earth Day was two days before Easter this year, they went on an Easter egg hunt, played some games, and had some yummy lunch!

LSI Downtown went to Wilshire Boulevard, turned into trash-bag-caped superheroes, and cleaned up the streets of Koreatown. Once they had exhausted their super powers, they returned to the school to celebrate and regain their strength by eating some environmentally-friendly pizza.  

LSI Orange County went to Placentia Avenue and cleaned up the streets.
Afterwards, they came back to the School and enjoyed some pizzas and sodas to end the day on a tasty note!

LSI Torrance from 4/18-4/22 students and teachers put their thumbprints on a "tree" as a symbolic pledge to do small things in their daily lives to help the Earth. Also, boxes were placed around the school to collect recyclable bottles and cans.

Thank you everybody for doing your part to protect Mother Earth!!!!

For more information about activities at all LSI locations, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/

Angels vs. Indians Game

Last Tuesday April 12, 2011, students from Language Systems International –Orange County- went to an Angels vs. Indians game at the Angels Stadium in Anaheim.

Around 4:30 pm students, teachers and staff from LSI-OC got together at the school and then we went to the stadium from there. The group was more than 100 people and it was so much fun!!

When we got to the stadium, the first thing we did was take a picture at the front of the stadium, then, once we got in, we went to get our free Angels blanket and Angels baseball cap.

We got to the Angels Stadium early enough to enjoy the batting practice and one of the students even got a ball! After the practice we went to our seats and decided to have a little snack and then a couple of us also got some T-shirts!

When the game started, it was a full house. We all had a great time cheering for the Angels, doing the wave and stretching in the 7^th inning. We also got so excited when we saw “Language Systems” name on the screen!

The game started a little bit slow but it got exciting after the first home run in the 3^rd inning. Then there was another home run in the 7th inning. The game finished around 10 pm and we all went back home celebrating the Angels victory 2-0!

We all hope that we can repeat this great experience soon!!!

For more pictures go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=209025785782033&id=132682066749739&aid=57516&l=5e42544954

For more information about the School go to http://www.languagesystems.com

LSI Basketball Tournament

Language Systems International (LSI) had its first annual basketball tournament on Friday, March 4th at Peck Park in San Pedro, California. Teams from 5 campuses participated and a lot of fans from each school came along to cheer their teams on. Each school wore T-shirts from their school and most of the fans had signs and pom poms! Torrance and Alhambra even had cheerleading squads and LA had a huge flag with its school color and mascot. Before each game, the teams exchanged gifts that were chosen from each school's location. So, OC gave little frisbees with Mickey Mouse's picture on it since OC is close to Disneyland and Torrance gave little bottles of sand since it is close to the beach. LA gave small little "Oscar" trophies (like the ones given in the Academy Awards) and Alhambra gave out bags of yummy taffy! All the teams played really well and each game was super close. Finally it came down to the last two teams, OC and Alhambra, playing for the championship. Even though it was close, OC won and the fans went crazy when the OC team held up the trophy. The fans kept yelling "Whoosh!" and "Oh, yeah!" All the students and team members were good sports and congratulated each other on a fun and exciting game. Afterwards, LSI had a pizza party with chicken wings and the students stayed for a while meeting people from other schools and talking about the games. Everyone had a great time and we'll be sure to have another tournament next year! You can check the pictures of this event at http://www.languagesystems.com/in_school/photos.php For more information about school events, check out http://www.languagesystems.com/