Language and cultural workshops at Minster School

18/1/2019

On 11 January, NCI General Manager Hua Geddes and Mandarin Teacher Mengdi Wang delivered a day of Chinese language and cultural workshops at Minster School as part of the school’s language day. The workshops were attended by nearly 200 year 8 students. 

To engage the students and get them talking, the workshop kicked off with an open question: “What do you know about China?” Once the ice was broken, with often very perceptive and interesting repsonses, the NCI staff had the opportunity to introduce some basic facts about China regarding its geography, population, land marks like the Great Walls and the way Chinese New Year is celebrated. All the students expressed their wish to visit China in the future, with many saying that they would love to visit the Great Wall and try the vast variety of Chinese food – particularly during the pre-lunch workshop! 

The rest of the session saw students learn to cut paper snowflakes and blow-paint plum blossoms on paper plates. Students were encouraged to be creative and design their own patterns, with many of them producing excellent and highly original art work which they happily took home. 

Feedback from the teachers and students was overwhelmingly positive. “I really enjoyed this session and so did the students. They were all engaged and motivated”, said one teacher. “It was great! Loved the painting! Why can’t we do Chinese at Minster?”, one of the students said to their teacher.

 ~ENDS~

当地时间2019年1月11日，诺丁汉大学孔子学院受邀前往敏斯特中学（Minster School）开展语言体验日（Language Day）活动，为八年级的同学们开展有关语言和中国文化的体验工作坊。 

当天的体验活动分为三个部分。第一个部分是中国新年的介绍，孔院老师向学生们介绍了传统中国新年里人们贴对联、剪窗花、包饺子等习俗，在讲解过程中也带同学们学习了一些中文词汇和句子。第二个部分是结合中国新年的文化知识带同学们体验传统剪纸文化。孔院老师教同学们设计自己的窗花，在设计和裁剪的过程中体验剪纸艺术的魅力。第三个部分是绘画体验，老师在介绍了文房四宝的基本知识后，让同学们与毛笔和墨汁零距离接触。同学们兴趣高昂，在老师的指导下创作了一幅幅精美的吹墨梅花。 

此次工作坊活动从上午八点五十分持续到下午三点半，有八个班级近两百名同学参与了活动。这次工作坊受到了该校老师的积极评价，让同学们快乐体验的同时也增进了对中国语言和文化的了解，激发了他们学习中文的兴趣。活动结束后，敏斯特中学对这次工作坊表示了感谢并期待日后和诺大孔院有更多的交流合作。