SEARCA scholars during the "Sounds of the English Language: The Karaoke King and Queen Challenge." (front, L-R) Prof. Elizabeth Krueger, Simao Margono Belo (Timor Leste), Thant Mon Paing (Myanmar), Agostinha Soares Amaral (Timor Leste), Viengvilaiphone Botthoulath (Laos), Aung Pyae (Myanmar), Candle Sidthisone (Laos), Dr. Mabini Dizon, Prof. Cheeno Sayuno; (back, L-R) Prof. Grace Bernadette Mendoza, Hoang Le Huong (Vietnam), Issaree Supnui (Thailand), and Nelson Aniceto Da Costa (Timor Leste).
LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – SEARCA scholars participated in a sing-off event organized by the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Language Instruction Towards Excellence (LITE) Program on 14 October 2019. "Sounds of the English Language: The Karaoke King and Queen Challenge" was conducted by the LITE program as part of the students' speech class activity. Scholars Hoang Le Huong sang Donna Donna by Joan Baez, Candle Sidthisone sang You and I by Scorpions, Thant Mon Paing sang The Day You Went Away by M2M, Simao Margono Belo sang Send Me the Pillow by George Baker, Nelson Aniceto Da Costa sang Perfect by Ed Sheeran, Viengvilaiphone Botthoulath sang The Show by Lenka, Agostinha Soares Amaral sang You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban, and Issaree Supnui sang Sorry by Justin Beiber. Viengvilaiphone won the Karaoke Queen title with her rendition of The Show.
The SEARCA scholars were joined by other international students enrolled in the LITE program. This program is UPLB's English training course taken by select SEARCA scholars to develop their competency in the English language. The 150-hour course includes classes on speech, reading and vocabulary, grammar, and academic writing. The sing-off is one of the program's fun activities to encourage students to be more comfortable with the English language.
SEARCA scholars together with their LITE Program classmates and their facilitators.
SEARCA supports the scholars' participation in different capacity building programs which would complement their studies. Besides UPLB's LITE program, SEARCA also offers short courses such as the Basic English Course for New Scholars, Training on Writing Thesis and Dissertation Proposals, Training on Data Analysis and Experimental Designs, and Training on Technical Writing for Publication in a Refereed Journal. For more information about other activities for scholars, visit SEARCA's news and updates.
Hoang Le Huong (Vietnam) was the first scholar to perform. Her chosen piece was Donna Donna by Joan Baez.
Viengvilaiphone Botthoulath (Laos) went with a bubbly performance of Lenka's The Show
Agostinha Soares Amaral (Timor Leste) sang a heartfelt rendition of You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban.
Issaree Supnui (Thailand) chose an upbeat song with Justin Beiber's Sorry.
Candle Sidthisone (Laos) rocked with You and I by Scorpions.
Thant Mon Paing (Myanmar) chose a 90s song with The Day You Went Away by M2M.
Simao Margono Belo (Timor Leste) opted for a love song with Send Me the Pillow by George Baker.
Nelson Aniceto Da Costa (Timor Leste) serenaded the audience with Perfect by Ed Sheeran.
The "Sounds of the English Language: The Karaoke King and Queen Challenge" is part of LITE Program's speech class activity.
SEARCA scholar Viengvilaiphone Botthoulath won the Karaoke Queen title.