2023 Autumn Term Week 5

This summer, Dr Lijing Shi and I had the pleasure of visiting our Year 1 and Year 3 BSc International Relations and Chinese students in Shanghai. Witnessing our Year 1 students' summer graduation, we were impressed by the tremendous progress they have made in their Mandarin studies. It was truly heartening to see their determination and resilience over the past two months, especially considering the challenges they faced - from scorching heatwaves and flooding to adapting to an entirely new environment. Yet, despite it all, they became connoisseurs of local life, even introducing us to their favourite coffee spot in the city.

Later, we welcomed our Year 3 students as they touched down in Shanghai, and I am delighted to report that all registration processes went smoothly. Additionally, we had the opportunity to tour the LSE-Fudan Global Public Policy Research Centre. The warm Shanghainese welcome dinner, paired with the unforgettable experience of tasting 'baijiu', will undoubtedly remain a cherished memory for all of us.

Please make sure to check your Hub calendar!

Reading week walk. 
Thursday, 02/11/2023 10-5pm, route to be confirmed 
All Language Centre students on campus (including General Course)

Study Skills Session: Successful study strategy for Language Centre students 
Wednesday, 08/11/2023 4-5pm, CBG.1.03 
Year 1 students

GO LSE Study Abroad Briefing. 
Wednesday, 08/11/2023 5-6pm, CBG.1.02 
Year 2 students.

End of Term Function. 
Tuesday, 05/12/2023 6-8pm, venue to be confirmed 
All Language Centre students on campus (including General Course)

Careers Event: Careers for Language Students. 
Thursday 25/01/2024, 5-6pm, KSW.3.02 
Year 2 students

Burns Night. 
Friday 26/01/2024, 6-8pm, SDR 
All Language Centre students on campus (including General Course)

Mellifluous: Certain noises, sounds, voices, and words are particularly lovely and satisfying to hear. Try saying ‘lollipop’; ‘sunshine’; bumblebee’; ‘hush’; or ‘giggle’. There is a word to describe such sweet and soothing sounds – ‘mellifluous’. At the heart of this word is pure sweetness, for the Latin mel means ‘honey’, and fluere means ‘flow’. So, ‘mellifluous’ describes sounds and words that are so mellow they ‘flow like honey’.

Matutinal: Are you someone who jumps out of bed in the morning, excited to face the new day? If you are the type of person who loves early morning and feels cheery and energetic, then you are ‘matutinal’.

Bellycheer: We all have a favourite comfort food: a snack or meal that we look forward to the most, or that cheers us up when we’re feeling down. For some it might be a roast dinner, whilst for others it might be Saturday morning pancakes with lots of maple syrup. In the 16th century, they knew comfort food as ‘bellycheer’, because of the way it cheered up their stomachs! On the other hand, the food they ate to stay full and healthy was known at that time as ‘belly-timber’ – like a tree or strong piece of wood, it kept them propped up!

Taken from the ‘Roots of Happiness: 100 words for joy and hope’ by Susie Dent. Puffin Books 2003 (page 28, 29, 36).

If you would like to practice your languages in an informal setting, please go to the LSE Language Community on Moodle and sign up for:

• Conversation Circles - small discussion groups
• Bitesize Speaking - 1-2-1 slots
• Improvisation Sessions - fun, interactive sessions to improve fluency
• Tandem Learning - find a language buddy

Some of these sessions are led by our very own BSc students!

You might have heard, the BETA version of New LfY is now available for you to explore. You can access New LfY via a banner in current LfY.

Currently, current LfY remains fully accessible alongside New LfY until future releases are made available later this academic year. Some core functionalities will remain in current LfY, such as course selection. Please check out the student support webpages to find more information and FAQs on New LfY.

The developers of New LfY are keen to get your feedback, so please feel free to submit your thoughts to the student feedback form.

Information on future releases will be communicated to you this term, so remember to look out in Student News!

We’ve built up quite a following via lselanguages.

Please do follow us and whilst studying abroad send us your pictures (to Language.Centre.Teaching.Learning@lse.ac.uk) so we can all see what you are up to!

Firstly, the Sustainable Projects Fund will go live in December. There is up to £20,000 fund to support sustainability projects at the School and applications from students are welcome.

Secondly, there is the London Student Sustainability Conference in February 2024. The London Student Sustainability Conference (#LSSC24) is a student-led conference that brings together students from all the partnering universities to share their research and projects. You can see the agenda for last year’s conference here.

Full details, including how to apply, can be found here and please direct any questions you might have about the conference to sustainability.team@lse.ac.uk.

The LSE Communications Division have an opportunity you might be interested in.

If you sign up, you will be called on to provide feedback and insight on communications at LSE, helping them to inform their decisions, share relevant findings across the School, and enhance the communications you see.

You may be contacted throughout the academic year inviting you to focus groups, to fill in short surveys, or for quick bits of feedback - anytime you participate, you'll receive a gift voucher for your time.

Sign up using this form!

If you have not done so, download the Student Hub and follow the Language Centre channel, as well as your group, Language Centre BSc students 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 or 2023/24.