1/3/2021
Over 30 Nottingham University students took part in the Chinese New Year Language Partner Challenge event, jointly organised by two UoN student societies: CSSA (Chinese Scholars and Students Association) and Contemporary China with support from Nottingham Confucius Institute. The online event took place via Teams on Saturday 27 Feb.
Also in attendance was Jason Feehily, Director of Asia Business Centre, who gave the welcome speech on behalf of the University and NCI to open the event. “I am delighted to see so many people attending this event, especially on a Saturday…The University and NCI are very much supportive of CSSA and Contemporary China Society…language and cultural exchange and knowledge exchange remain important during these challenging times, These exchanges and connections will be even more important as the UK comes out of the pandemic,” said Jason.
The event paired up those with English as a first language with Chinese students to learn about each other's language and culture in their own time over the two-week Chinese New Year Celebration period. The topics ranged from English/Chinese traditions and food, to how young people spend their spare time. To test how much they had learnt from their language buddy, all participants were invited to compete via Kahoot games at the event. Each pair of language buddies were encouraged to work as a team and help each other during the preparation period as their game scores would be added together.
The two-week long event went smoothly and was very well received. “I met my language buddy several times. We chatted for 2.5 hrs the first time and 3 hrs the second time. There seemed to be so much we could talk about, “said one Chinese participant; “11 November is the UK’s Remembrance Day; I had no idea it happens to be the same day as a modern festival in China, the Bachelors’ Day,” commented one English student.
Several English and Chinese Students said that they were grateful to the two student societies and NCI for organising the event, especially considering the isolation and stress of the lockdown, expressing their wish to stay in touch with their language buddy to enhance their target language and understanding of each other’s culture. “I couldn’t travel to the UK because of the virus. I have been longing to have an opportunity like this to communicate with native English speakers and learn about their culture. I would certainly like to carry on chatting with my language buddy.” commented one Chinese student.
We are pleased to announce the winners:
1st place – Luci Vaughan and Shukun Sun
2nd place – Michelle Kiem Y Phan and Yani Wang
3rd place – Adam Douch and Yue Shui
4th place – Elizabeth Rigg and Qianqian Tang
5th place – Josie Hickson and Shangyi Liu
~ENDS~
Posted on Wednesday 3rd March 2021