Celebration of Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

On September 12, a celebration was held in honor of the Chinese mid-autumn festival. The program was arranged by Tiantian Zou, our Fulbright scholar from Xidian University. Her Chinese 100 class presented to a crowd of interested students, faculty, and St. Joseph residents.

The program featured an introduction to the festival as well as introductions and readings from important Chinese poets. Tiantian remarked that the students "did brilliant jobs on the pronunciation, intonation, and even gestures."

At the end of the recitation program there was served food and drink traditional to the festival: mooncakes with lotus seed paste, red bean paste, date paste, or pineable paste filling. The mooncake is a symbol of family reunion. Also served were apples (a symbol of peace and health), grapes (a symbol of harvest and happiness), Juhua Cha (a flower tea grown in Anhui in the east of China), Longjing (green tea grown in Hangzhou in the east of China), Tieguanyin (a green/black teah grown in Fujian in southeast China), Pu'er (black tea grown in southwest China), a confection called "Big White Rabbit," and Xienbei (a traditional snack).

Music typical of that played during the celebration was played as those gathered enjoyed food and conversation.

The program included the efforts of Jessica Foster (DJ), Jeff Stevens (technical support), Patrick Graham (master of ceremonies), Mesia Goolsby (greeter), LI Caihong, LU Qing, FAN Biao, and readers Trenton Cook, Davide Bennet, Nicholas Jones, Jane Frick, Ricky Maddox, Jessica Leffle, Amber Godfrey, Mesia Goolsby, Ruth Katchen, Cindy Heider, Shala Moore, Courtnay Inman, Angela Horn, Eduardo Castilla, Fred Weems, Wesley Moore, Lauren Thompson, Jeff Stevens, Patrick Graham, Sarah Gordon, Ceasera Robinson, Spencer Fraizer, Krystal Potter, Jessica Foster, Sharon Moore, and Tiantian Zou.

Foreign Film Series Schedule

Please plan on coming to one or all of these films sponsored by the foreign language faculty. All films will be shown at 6:30 PM in 102 Hearnes Hall (Little Theater, basement floor).

Tuesday, September 20: Mujeres al borde de una crisis de nervios (Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown); in Spanish with English subtitles. Presented by Dr. Jason Youngkeit


Tuesday, October 4: La Historia Oficial (The Official Story); in Spanish with English subtitles. Presented by Tiantian Zou.


Monday, October 10: Die Ehe der Maria Braun (The Marriage of Maria Braun); in German with English subtitles.


Tuesday, October 18: Chinese film with English subtitles (TBA) presented by Tiantian Zou.


Monday, October 24: French film with English subtitles (TBA) presented by Claudine Evans.

Tuesday, November 1: Spanish film in English subtitles (TBA) presented by Dr. Jason Youngkeit.


Thursday, November 10: Incendies (Scorched); in French with English subtitles. Presented by Dr. Susie Hennessy and sponsored by the French Alliance.


Tuesday, November 15: Chinese film with English subtitles (TBA) presented by Tiantian Zou.

Admission is free, so bring a date . . . or two!

Saundra Dibella gains Court Interpreter Certification

Saundra Dibella, part-time instructor of Spanish, has been certified as a Spanish/English Court Interpreter for the state of Missouri. The certification is issued by the Office of State Courts of Missouri and the Access to Justice Program.

Saundra took her Orientation Course in the summer of 2005, which is taught by professionals from across the country. Saundra had to familiarize herself with legal terms and court procedures and pass several examinations--two written and three oral.

The process took a while, as Saundra was teaching full-time with the School District of St. Joseph as well as part-time in EFLJ. Preparation took time, and often exam dates (offered only at certain times) were impossible to attend. Perseverance paid off, however, and Saundra is now in a position to serve the Spanish-speaking population of Northwest Missouri before our courts and to assist attorneys and their clients.

Congratulations, Saundra!

Graduate Certificate Program Boasts Twenty Graduates

EFLJ and Prairie Lands Writing Project are happy to announce that the twentieth graduate certificate in the teaching of writing has been awarded.


The first certificate was awarded in 2007 to Debra Sue Schwebach. In the subsequent four years, the program has served former MWSU students, teachers in the St. Joseph School Disctrict, and part-time instructors of English for EFLJ. Some have gone on to do further graduate work in the department's Masters of Applied Arts in Written Communication.

Congratulations to the 2011 graduates: Mary Duffy, Joe Marmaud, Kyla Ward, and Theresa Christal.

Sue Beers (Gronemeyer) Improving Iowa Schools

Sue Z. Beers, nee Gronemeyer, a 1976 BS-English Education graduate, has published her sixth book with ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development). Sue's publications focus on teaching literacy across the content areas, designing and implementing professional development skills, and teaching skills for a the new century.

Sue is Executive Director of Mid-Iowa School Improvement Consortium, a collection of approximately 160 school districts in Iowa that works to improve student achievement. Sue also does presentations to educational groups across the country and internationally on literacy and teaching 21st Century skills.

In addition to her degree from MWSU, Sue has a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction from Iowa State University and her secondary principal endorsement from Drake University.

Sue can be reached at suebeers@netins.net.

EFLJ Host to Fulbright Scholar from China

Tiantian Zou has joined us for the academic year to offer classes in Chinese. This fall she is teaching three sections of CHI 100: Beginning Chinese I, which have a healthy enrollment. She will offer both 100 and the second course in the spring semester.

Tiantian has her BA and MA in Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics from Sichuan University, which is located in Sichuan Province, the "hometown of pandas and land of abundance," as she says. She taught English for five years in Xidian University.
Home is the city of Xi'an, a city with a history dating 5,000 years (see picture). There she has a husband who awaits her return. They've been married for almost three years.

Tiantian loves mountain climbing (well, we have river bluffs for her), traveling, photography, and driving. She's been to more than 20 provinces in China as well as other nations in the region. "Dakar is my dream," she says. Tiantian says that she was interpreter for the World's Strongest Man Competition in 2005 and 2006, which was held in Chengdu and Sanya, respectively.


Unprompted and without the offer of a drive to Rocky Mountain National Park for some mountain climbing, Tiantian tells us, "I love this school. Students are curious about learning Chinese, and I enjoy teaching my native language and culture to them while I learn English from them. All the teachers and people around me are so nice, offering to help whenever possible. I feel lucky!"


So do we, Tiantian. Welcome to St. Joseph.

Welcome to Dr. Ana Bausset-Page

Dr. Ana Bausset-Page, assistant professor of Spanish, comes to us from Salt Lake Community College in Utah where she taught Spanish and Humanities. She has also taught at the University of Utah (where she earned her Ph.D.) and Westminster College.

Dr. Bausset-Page was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is married and has five children, two of whom graduated from Utah Valley University. The three youngest currently attend UVU.

"I am very excited to be here at Missouri Western, and I plan on getting involved in many activities here in St. Joseph. I enjoy acting and have done videos to promote education and communication among parents and teenagers. I love traveling. I just returned from Costa Rica before school started." Dr. Bausset-Page did not mention any pet peeves, embarrassing incidents from her past, or the possession of any sort of super powers. The staff of the EFLJ blog thought to make something up but thought better of it at the last minute.

Welcome, Dr. Bausset-Page!