As the 2008 NAFSA conference on international education opens, Ambassador John Bruton, Head of the European Commission Delegation to the United States, issued a statement encouraging American students to study in Europe through the Erasmus Mundus program.

Launched in 2004, Erasmus Mundus was inspired by the EU s highly successful Erasmus Program, which supports cooperation and mobility between European higher education institutions. The program provides EU-funded scholarships for non-EU nationals participating in Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses, as well as scholarships for EU nationals studying at partner universities throughout the world. In July 2007, the European Commission adopted a proposal to launch the next generation of Erasmus Mundus, which will run from 2009 to 2013.

Finding from this article entitled Cultural Identity Of Adolescents Influences Mental that “Health Cultural identity, as indicated by clothing preferences, appears to influence mental health prospectively, according to a new study on the risk of common mental disorders among Bangladeshi and White British school pupils.”

Required by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) of Chian, besides flying aircraft, more than 7,000 Chinese pilots are grappling with a tough new problem — The Test of English for Aviation (TEA).

The student foreign exchange program does more than just foster intercultural education – it also forges lasting friendships.

Reported  by Xinhua on March 30 –An American living in Beijing was awarded the title of “top ten volunteer of 2006″ on Wednesday, becoming the first foreigner to claim the honor.

David Tool, better known by his Chinese name Du Dawei, has been voluntarily correcting misleading English signs throughout the Chinese capital during his six-year life in the city.

Upon accepting the award, Du Dawei said he wanted to act as a bridge between the Chinese and English culture and smoothen communication difficulties brought by language barriers.

The “top ten Beijing volunteers” awards were initiated in 2004, aiming to recognize outstanding social volunteers from all walks of life.

330,000 people have voted through the internet this year.

Other honored volunteers include Tsinghua University student Liang Suhui, who is a long-time volunteer teacher for migrant children, and ophthalmologist Han Song, who works to provide free treatment to rural patients.

According to an news article by Xinhua, recent official report reveals that woman will outnumber male in the world of Chinese journalism in the near future.

In journalism schools female students have outnumbered male students in recent years, and there are more than 70,000 women journalists registered at the State Press and Publication Administration, nearly 40 per cent of the total 180,000.

And, the average age of journalists is also getting younger.

At present, journalists under the age of 40 account for 61 per cent of the total. Among them, more than 40,000 are between 20 and 30 years old, and about 73,000 are between 30 and 40.

It was also reported that a decade ago the gender ratio between female and male journalist was 1/3. One of the reasons provided by the report is that “more and more men are now choosing business over journalism”.

According to a report by ChinaNews, China has currently signed agreements with 26 countries and regions on official mutual recognition of education degrees. And the government has now developed relationship on educational cooperation and communication with 178 countries and regions, as well as many international organizations such as UNESCO. In addition, by 2005 China had set up more than 1,000 cooperatively-run schools and educational projects.

This news report says China needs one million interpreters, while there are only 200 professional interpreter graduates from interpreters training class every year.

An earlier report analyzing the phenomenon of Women dominate in postgraduate studies in China.

Experts analyze that many factors contribute to this phenomenon. One important reason is that many male students find it easier for them to look for a job than their female classmates, and some work units even employ male students only. Under high employment pressure, women might miss out on many of the job opportunities and go back to school to study for a higher degree. In addition, some experts say that China’s current examination system is more suitable for female students, and many female students perform better in examinations than male students, placing them in a more advantageous position since currently universities will enroll students as long as they pass the university’s scoring requirement.

The Second World Forum on China Studies was held on 21-22 September, 2006 in Shanghai. Here is a list of references:

• The official website for the Second World Forum on China Studies.
• The Eastday special report webpage on the second forum.
• The official website for the First World Forum on China Studies.
• The Eastday special report webpage on the first forum.

The first forum was held on 19-24 August, 2004.