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Integrating language and culture learning with practical career experience makes a powerful combination. CASLS' Oregon International Internship Program (OIIP) does just that for students from China, Japan, and Taiwan. CASLS will be welcoming a cohort of eight students beginning in February 7.

“This incoming cohort includes students with a diverse range of interests, including the program’s first-ever music major, and all students are interested in teaching,” says East Asia Program Director Li-Hsien Yang. “I’m looking forward to meeting them when they arrive, getting to know them, and working with them during the duration of the program.”

Over the course of six months, the students will enroll in a course designed to specifically explore intercultural communication while they complete internships in Eugene-Springfield elementary schools.

OIIP students share their native language and culture and help local students learn common core curriculum. This cohort will be the first to have an opportunity to complete their internship at Roosevelt Middle School in Eugene.

In addition, OIIP students stay with local families to further learn about American family life.

“We’ve expanded the number and types of our homestay families,” says Yang. “It’s exciting to be able to match students with homestay families in our area that share the same interests and passions.”

Students from the incoming cohort are arriving from Southwest University in Chongqing, China; East China Normal University in Shanghai, China; and National Chiayi University in Chiayi City, Taiwan.