News

Time to Celebrate: Summer Language Institute Turns 20!

28 June 2010

5000 students from all over the world, 500 instructors from North America, Western Europe and Lithuania, two decades of experience - this is the official statistics for LCC International University's Summer Language Institute (SLI) that turned 20 in July. It is a special date for LCC, because its entire history started with this project back in 1991 in Panevėžys and later grew into a modern international university LCC is today.

This year SLI became home to 300 students who studied English language for three weeks here. This number was much larger than last year's figures - in 2009 SLI was visited by 230 people. This year's students came from seven countries: Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Moldova, Poland and Bulgaria. They were taught by 30 teachers. LCC also hosted SLI in Rivne (Ukraine) for the third time in a row with more than 20 students in this year's institute.

Dr. Robin Gingerich, Director of English Language Institute, said that the purpose of SLI is to bring together young people from the region into LCC International University to learn English together. "The quality of teaching is foundational. The classes are both student centered and interactive. Students are encouraged to think critically about global issues affecting the world today. The teachers are trained in language instruction and pedagogy. Students are encouraged to learn to know their classmates and teachers both inside and outside the classroom", she listed some of the crucial advantages of SLI.

Moreover, many SLI students become so fluent in English that they later continue to earn their university degree at LCC International University.