On the afternoon of September 19th, the first class of the 'Cross-cultural Communication' English Salon, which is designed for all the staff in our university, was held on the fourth floor of the Administration building. 

Cyndi Rowton, one of our American teachers, was the lecturer. The first class was about the differences between Chinese culture and Western Culture. Cyndi shared her Western teaching philosophy, class management style, and her thoughts on self-learning languages. She made an in-depth analysis of the meaning and differences of 'Culture' and 'Tradition'. Then, through several illustrations, Cyndi explained vividly and intuitively the differences between Chinese and Americans in habits of living, modes of thinking, ways of behaving, etc.  Attending the lecture were several administrators, and nearly 30 teachers representing eight of our schools; the School of Mechanical Engineering; the School of Material Science and Chemical Engineering; the School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environment; the School of Art and Design; the School of Economics and Management; the School of Foreign Languages; the School of Sciences; and the School of Continuing Education.

The Cross-Cultural Communication English Salon was jointly held by the Department of International Relations and the Center for Faculty Development, aimed at continuously improving the level of English and cross-cultural communication abilities of our faculty and staff. 

The Cross-Cultural Communication English Salon are held from 16:00 to 17:20 on Mondays and Thursdays, every week. Their content covers English learning (skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing), teaching philosophy and methods, studying abroad, translation skills, and more. The formats of each salon will range from lectures, discussions, sharing sessions, and so on. One teacher is invited to be the lecturer or the host of each salon.  Every Friday, DIR posts the next week's two salon courses, then our faculty and staff can sign up for the next week's English Salon. Only 30 places are available per salon, allocated on a first come, first served basis.