First Graduation Bash of New Year!
On January 31st CSLI students held a very special graduation party at Commodore Lanes. After the presentation of certificates and awards, students spent the afternoon bowling the Canadian style 5 pin bowling. It was a very enjoyable day and an excellent opportunity for many students to try a true Canadian sport! Congratulations to all of our graduates and special recognition to Huu Quyen Hang, the winner of the Student of the month award for January 2003. Quyen is a hardworking student from Vietnam and deserved the one month scholarship that comes with the award. For all our award winners, check out: http://csli.com/awards.htm

New Programs for 2003!
CSLI is proud to begin to offer some exciting new programs in addition to our regular classes. In response to the interest expressed by many current students, CSLI will begin to offer the TESOL Diploma programme to enable CSLI students to teach English in their country (http://csli.com/programs/index.html#diploma). CSLI will also be offering a Cambridge 1st Certificate course (FCE) to coincide with the official exam dates (cambridge@csli.com). We are always open to new and exciting ideas for groups as well. If you have a group and program in mind, feel free to contact groups@csli.com for your very own specialized group program.

Uniting the World's Nationalities!
On January 15th the entire school participated in an activity that focused on the culture of each of the 17 nationalities represented at CSLI including European, South and Central American, Asian, and French Canadian. Students were challenged to answer international trivia questions about their classmates' countries. The lobby and classrooms were full of students busily learning a great deal more than English - they were truly, as per CSLI's motto, Uniting the World with English. Special thanks to Antonio Serrano and Claudio Balmey for their heart-warming rendition of Chile's national anthem over the school's public address system! January also held the great CSLI idioms contest where the students practiced their knowledge of idioms and slang. The winner was Jung Min Seo from Korea who proved she knew the most idioms. Congratulations!

The Ambassador of the Year for 2002 is...
Congratulations to Francisco "PACO" Jaramillo from Mexico City, Mexico, the recipient of the prestiged Ambassador of the Year award. The Ambassador of the Year prize recognizes lifelong achievement and the continued contribution of a former CSLI graduate to the the continued success of CSLI. Paco was instrumental in his contributions to the construction of CSLI's beautiful new campus in Yaletown. Paco and his immediate family will receive free English classes for life.
http://csli.com/awards.htm

Ringing in the New Year with CSLI!
Even though December 31st was a Wednesday, the students and staff at CSLI celebrated the New Year in style. In the late afternoon we learned how to say Happy New Year in all of the languages represented at the school, talked about traditional celebrations and popped the cork on many bottles of champagne to toast the arrival of a new year. At the end of January and beginning of February, CSLI will also be celebrating the lunar calendar new year which is special to our Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Taiwanese students. The students must say "Happy New Year!" in those languages in order to receive a red envelope filled with a new year surprise. Also Grace, our teacher, has brought in a new year's baby to join the CSLI family. Congratulations to Grace and Rod and hello to Baby Boy Samuel Ma!

A Legend Retires
After 5 wonderful years, the Manager of CSLI, Michelle Balogh has decided that now that she is 9 months pregnant with her second child, it is time for her to pass the baton on and retire. After she has had her second baby, she has plans to move to Hungary and start her own B & B and coffee shop. We can not say enough about the dedication and hard work Michelle has given to help make CSLI such a success. She will always be a part of the CSLI family and we know she will have great success with her new and exciting adventures (as long as she names her new baby "CSLI junior")!

Best wishes from your friends at CSLI,

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..."uniting the world with English!"
E-mail: info@csli.com
Tel: (604) 683-2754
Fax: (604) 683-8667
Mail: CSLI
188 Nelson Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6B 6J8