Bridge to the World 橋接寰宇!!!

Study Abroad Program in Portland 

Pacific International Academy at Marylhurst University

2012 Intensive English

& Volunteer Service Learning Program

 *Subject to change and not required if insurance is purchased in home country

International cultural awareness

Learn and feel the differences of lifestyle, food, and more at a standard

American home stay. Students can learn English though experience

and activities with homestay families. You can practically learn about

American culture while learning English too.

Make friends from all over the world.

At the Marylhurst University campus in Portland Oregon, you can have a

great experience taking ESL lessons with students from several different

countries at Pacific International Academy. There are many chances

to make friends through a lot of activities. Please see the activities section

of this brochure for more details.

 ESL classes to help you improve your practical English

PIA has over 15 years experience providing intensive English programs

to students from many countries. PIA is an accredited ESL program, and

their teachers all have years of experience and advanced degrees. 

Service Learning Class

 Students enrolled in the program also take a Service Learning class

which prepares students for their volunteer experience. Class

contents involve research projects, reflections, and topics covered

such as American business culture, interviewing, resume writing,

and cross cultural topics.

 Service Learning Program gives you experience outside of the classroom

 Experience what it is like to contribute in a working environment in America.

Increase your English skills with service learning. After the ESL term,

students begin their service learning opportunity. PIA staff will work with

you to assess your interest in skills to find the best placement for

you, depending on availability. Then, you will begin your service

learning at an organization(s) for 6 weeks after the program. During this

time, you will be working for a minimum of 20 hours per week, and you

may be placed in more than one organization, depending on the scheduling

needs of each placement.

■  What’s Oregon Like  ■

Oregon has very mild weather through out year.

Oregon is well known in the US as being a beautiful

state on the West coast. Oregonians also focus on

environmental sustainability. Oregon is the home to

several famous companies such as Nike World

Headquarters and Intel Microprocessors. Oregon has

an active city life as well as beautiful nature to

explore, including mountains, beaches, rivers and

many green forests. Oregon is also famous for shopping

since there is no sales tax.

■  Pacific International Academy on the Marylhurst University campus  ■

Just 20 mins from Portland by local bus, in the beautiful

area around Lake Oswego, there is a private University

called Marylhurst University (MU). On the campus of MU,

there is a language school called Pacific International

Academy (PIA). The Staff at PIA welcome you and take

care of you while you are there. MU was built in 1893

as the first Catholic women’s liberal arts college in Oregon.

Now MU is a co-ed university with a Catholic heritage

and has many strong programs like Business, Art,

Communication, History, English, Humanities, Interior

Design, Music, Music therapy, and MBA among others.

■  Small class Environment  ■

PIA is a small school with about 40 students in each term.

You can enjoy the benefit of a small, but very friendly,

family environment. The average class size is around

16 students. You take an English placement test on the

first day and PIA faculty assigns you to a suitable English

level class. There are 20 hours of classes per week and

classes are generally held Monday through Thursday with

optional elective classes or activities held on Fridays. Four

important elements of English lessons are covered: listening

& speaking, grammar, reading and writing. There are 5

different levels of English instruction.

PIA often has students from many countries. You can make

many friends from different countries as you see them in a

class and also during after school activities.

Many different kinds of fun activities are organized by

PIA such as bowling, movie nights, downtown sightseeing

and shopping, ski tours, Columbia Gorge hikes. These activities

make it easy for you to make many friends and have many

exciting experiences in the U.S.

*Please note these activities are not included in the program fee.

Admission charge and transportation are usually included in the

activity fee. The chart below provides a list of possible activities

and their costs. Please note that these activities are subject to change.

Learn American style of life through living with a host family.

PIA staff visit all the possible families and interview them very

carefully, so the student can stay there comfortably and safely.

Host families provide food for d4inner; breakfast is generally

“help yourself” style. For lunch, you can make your own lunch

at home or stop by MU cafeteria which offers lunch specials

for 5 to 6 USD.

A week before your arrival you will get a homestay profile from PIA.

While you are in Oregon, PIA staff and coordinators are

reachable 24 hours to help you in an emergency. You will

have their cell phone numbers.

Marylhurst is an extremely safe campus located in a safe

neighborhood. Below are the latest safety statistics reported

at Marylhurst. As you can see, the campus is very safe:

Numbers of safety incidents per year 2006-2009

You need to bring some cash for everyday things and activities.

It will depend on how you like to spend and how many activities

you wish to join.

Bring souvenirs for your host family and ESL teachers,

and maybe for your future friends too.

One present for family is enough.　It is not necessary

to buy a gift for all the family members. Souvenirs can

be anything; you do not need to buy something very

expensive. If you can explain what they are in English

it can help your first communication with your host family

and friends. Things you made or your pictures can be

good to show and talk about your family and your life in

your home country too.