LEWISTON, Idaho – Eleven students from Kasetsart University in Thailand will join 1994 Lewis-Clark State College graduate Ratchadavan Kongsatt, now an assistant professor in the Department of Foreign Languages at Kasetsart, in visiting the Lewis-Clark Valley this summer to take part in a five-week summer session in the Institute of Intensive English at LCSC.
Kasetsart is the third oldest university and oldest agricultural university in Thailand. KU is known for its degrees in agriculture and forestry, and student enrollment is around 70,000 with campuses throughout the country.
The students will arrive on June 30 and will stay five weeks, returning to Thailand on Aug. 3. The students attend KU on either the Kamphaeng Saen campus or the main campus in Bangkok.
Kongsatt attended LCSC and received her degree in communications. She returned to LCSC in 2003-04 to sharpen her English language skills at the Intensive English Institute in preparation for graduate school.
Kongsatt is returning with her students because she said she wants to expose them to the same great experience she had at the college. She specifically requested that all of her students stay with host families because her experience with her host parents, Doug and Mary Ellen Black of Lewiston, resulted in a life-long friendship that is still going strong today.
The five-week summer session will focus on the English language and American culture. The students will attend intensive English classes and take part in cultural activities, such as visiting historical sites in the area, going to Silverwood, and taking shopping trips. They will also do a jet boat tour with new LCSC President Cynthia Pemberton on July 14.
In the 2018 spring semester, LCSC had students from 30 countries enrolled at the college, including one from Thailand, who was a participant in the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program. This program is administered by the U.S. State Department and gives high-achieving international students the opportunity to study in the United States for either a semester or a year.
The LCSC IIE program specializes in preparing international students for studying at a college or university in the United States. Students usually enroll full time to improve their English proficiency. The classes are taught by professional teachers who provide coursework and interactions aimed at improving students' English language skills, academically, professionally, and in everyday experiences.
For more information about the visiting students or the LCSC Institute of Intensive English, contact Carol Martin, Director of International Programs at LCSC, at either [email protected] or 208-792-2877.