The Shenzhen University International Choir and the Study Abroad China "Cloud" Choir are recording "Hope of Ice and Snow". The picture shows a screenshot of the singing video. Courtesy of Shen Wen xie
Screenshot of the 2021 "Singing Chinese" Music Video Global Solicitation Campaign.
"I have crossed the mountains and the sea, but also through the sea of people..." A few days ago, the Irish group "Westlife", which debuted for 23 years, dedicated its first online concert to Chinese fans and prepared a special "gift" - the first time to sing the Chinese song "Ordinary Road", which burst the WeChat circle of friends.
Through this global online concert called "Beloved Yue Shan Hai", some netizens were evoked youth memories; some netizens paid attention to the Chinese pronunciation of the 4 singers singing "Ordinary Road", "clear pronunciation, pronunciation standards." It is hard to imagine how much time and energy they have spent in order to practice this Chinese song"; some netizens were amazed by this song, saying that "this is a well-deserved and sincere cultural exchange"; some netizens saw the "Chinese fever" that was heating up day by day...
Bring your hearts closer
Song Jin, who worked in the "Chinese as a Foreign Language Project Group" of New Oriental more than a decade ago and is now the founder of the Children's Association, forwarded the video of the Xicheng boys singing "Ordinary Road", and sighed: "At that time, opening up overseas markets, one by one Chinese schools to die, and also met a lot of chinese people with feelings and dedication, they paid for Chinese schools at their own expense, promoted Chinese and Chinese culture, and had light in their hearts and were admirable. Now there is really a 'Chinese fever'. ”
Tangible data provides a strong footnote to today's "Chinese fever". According to rough statistics, the number of people studying Chinese outside China is currently more than 25 million, and the cumulative number of people learning and using Chinese is nearly 200 million.
Language is the best key to understanding a country, and it is also an important bridge to promote people to know each other, exchange and learn from each other, eliminate obstacles, bridge the gap, and generate spiritual resonance. Learning to sing each other's songs, as netizens said, "is a green channel to quickly narrow the distance between the souls."
The choir Chinese KDU High School of Arts and Sciences in Germany uses music to build bridges of communication. KDU Higher Liberal Arts Secondary School, located in NÜRW, Germany, has been offering Chinese courses since 1994 and the Chinese Choir in 2014. The choir has participated in Sino-German cultural exchange activities for many times, and left their songs in a series of activities such as the Sino-German Language Year and the 2016 Sino-German Youth Exchange Year; in 2020, the choir recorded the Chinese song "Let the World Be Full of Love" to cheer for the Chinese people to fight the epidemic; in January 2021, four students of the Chinese Choir co-recorded and sang the Chinese song "After the Epidemic", which was sincere and Chinese, touching countless people.
Explore the Chinese + Music mode
The video brush screen of Xicheng Boys singing "Ordinary Road" has not dropped, and the 2021 "Singing Chinese" music video global collection activity initiated by the Sino-Foreign Language Exchange and Cooperation Center has come to an end, and 68 final works have been shortlisted, of which 28 have won individual awards. During the event, thousands of Chinese learners from 57 countries around the world submitted 160 music videos, and everyone sang about youth, dreams, friendship and growth with Chinese.
Zhang Liman, a review expert at the event, said that most of the participants' Chinese pronunciation is very good, which certainly has the effect of modifying music, but it also reflects the learning results. The music works selected by the contestants cover a wide range of topics, reflecting the learners' extensive concern for Chinese society and culture.
The original song "Hope of Ice and Snow" (piano version MV), sung and produced by members of the "Cloud" Choir of Studying in China and members of the Shenzhen University International Choir, won the "Best Chinese Music Video Award". "The hope of ice and snow is not only a beautiful prospect for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, but also a hope to witness the flying posture of Olympic athletes, and also contains a sincere wish for the eternal survival of peace and friendship around the world." Shen Wenxie, head of the Shenzhen University International Choir, said.
According to the organizers, the global theme cultural activity of "Singing Chinese" aims to advocate a new model of Chinese education with the help of culture and art, to help more people fall in love with Chinese, learn Chinese and Chinese culture, and promote exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign languages and cultures. As Hao Qiang, a jury expert of the 2021 "Singing Chinese" music video global solicitation activity, said, "From the perspective of this entry, both the content and creativity have shown a high standard." The 'Chinese + Music' model promotes international Chinese education. ”
Better integration into China
As the head of the Shenzhen University International Choir, Shen Wenxie and members from various countries who studied in China have recorded more than one Chinese song. In his view, music can boost language learning. "Music knows no borders and everyone has their favorite songs. I remember when I first came to China to study Chinese 3 months, I began to learn to sing Chinese songs, the first Chinese song I learned was "Love Must Be", although there are many new words in the lyrics, but in order to accurately convey the connotation of the song, I worked hard to learn and understand the meaning of the song. Eventually, I not only learned a lot of Chinese vocabulary, but also some new ways of expressing them. Shen Wenxie said.
There is a lyric in "Hope of Ice and Snow" that reads, "Wind Soup, Snow, Snow, Youth, Dreams, And We Break Through Together", expressing the expectations and blessings of young people for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Shin noticed that the word "soup" in the lyrics was not pronounced tāng, but shāng. "Every time you sing a Chinese song, you will find new words and inaccurate Chinese characters. However, this does not affect our willingness to sing and learn. "It's not easy to sing a Chinese song well, we not only need to know the Chinese pronunciation of each word in the lyrics, but also understand its meaning." But if you can sing well, you will greatly increase your confidence. Therefore, I think that learning to sing Chinese song is a very good way to learn Chinese, not only to consolidate and improve the level of Chinese, but also to understand Chinese culture and better integrate into China. ”
Kong Hao, who studied at the KDU Higher Liberal Arts High School in Germany and is a member of the school's Chinese choir, also feels the same way, "Learning Chinese songs can not only improve the level of Chinese, but also make me feel the charm of language and culture." (Reporter Zhao Xiaoxia)
People's Daily Overseas Edition ( 2022-01-21 11th edition)
Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition