In the past twelve years, the original intention will never change
The Confucius Institute at lomé university (hereinafter referred to as lomé confucius institute) was established in October 2009, jointly established by The University of Foreign Chinese sichuan and the University of Lomé, and is located in Lomé, the capital of Togo.
Located in West Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, Togo borders Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso, with an area of 56,800 square kilometers and a population of about 8 million. Togo is rich in landforms, divided into coastal, highland, prairie, centre and cala regions. The capital, Lomé, sits on the entire coastline of Togo, has some of the best deep-sea ports in West Africa, and nearly 70% of Togolese people live in the Greater Lomé region. The University of Lomé is the first public university in Togo and the largest public university in Togo, founded in 1970, with 5 faculties, 5 departments, 2 research institutes and 2 training centers, with a current population of about 17,000 students.
Cheerful paper-cutting lessons
From 2009 to 2015, due to the limitations of teaching space and equipment, the Confucius Institute of The University of Lo and Lawrence only offered Chinese interest classes to provide Chinese grading courses for students from the University of Lomé and social personnel in Togo, with a total number of no more than 700 enrolled students. In September 2015, the Confucius Institute building undertaken by a Chinese company was completed and handed over for use, and the Confucius Institute of Loktar ushered in a wave of Chinese learning. In 2016, the number of newly enrolled students exceeded 300 for the first time, and by 2019, the number of newly enrolled students exceeded 900 per year, achieving a 300% increase. Since 2020, due to the impact of the global COVID-19 epidemic, the number of newly enrolled students has dropped significantly, but the Confucius Institute of Lo hua has overcome the problems of expensive and slow network speed through the teaching mode of combining online real-time classes with offline recorded and broadcast courses, and has insisted on providing services for Chinese learners in Togo and neighboring countries, which has been unanimously praised by lomé university and all sectors of Togolese society.
Learn Chinese well, life changes
The Confucius Institute of Lo Hua University pays attention to people-oriented, conforms to the characteristics of Chinese learning of students in West Africa, adapts to local conditions, teaches according to aptitudes, takes "interest + practicality" as the support, takes immersive classroom teaching as the starting point, adheres to the "listening and speaking first, reading and writing later", adheres to the training mode of "applied Chinese talents", rapidly improves students' Chinese communication skills, and achieves the goal of "applying what they have learned".
The students of the interest class are mainly college students and social people, and the courses are divided into introductory classes, beginner classes, intermediate classes and advanced classes, which can be selected in the morning, middle and evening. In addition to the summer school, the semester coincides with the University of Lomé. Regular Chinese classes are held from Monday to Thursday, and HSK and HSKK graded classes are held on Fridays. The Confucius Institute of Lo University of Ireland teaches students in different classes according to their learning objectives. For students who wish to apply for scholarships to study in China through HSK and HSKK examinations, the Confucius Institute adopts a teaching program that goes hand in hand with listening, speaking, reading and writing, while for students who use Chinese as a "stepping stone" and "additive" in the workplace, the Confucius Institute increases the intensity of listening and speaking training, improves reading ability, and does not emphasize the writing of Chinese characters in the introductory stage, which greatly shortens the time for such students to "monetize language".
In 2016, Chinese courses were incorporated into the University of Lomé credit system; in 2017, Chinese courses were incorporated into the University of Cala credit system; and two public universities in Togo offer Chinese electives. In November 2019, the University of Lomé welcomed its first students Chinese major. So far, the Confucius Institute of The University of Rhodes has realized the full layout of interest classes, credit courses and Chinese majors in togolese higher education.
Since the first HSK exam was organized in 2016, thousands of people have taken the written and oral exams at various levels, and the pass rate has remained above 90% all year round, and the excellent rate of HSK level 3 has exceeded 75%. Through the examination, 70 Togolese international students have applied for a scholarship for one academic year or one semester to exchange in China, deeply experiencing China's social culture, and some of them have obtained undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships, which can not only improve in language, but also develop professionally.
Students of the Confucius Institute of the University of Lomé
HSK and HSKK certificates are also a stepping stone to student employment. After more than ten years of development, the Confucius Institute of Lok Tai has trained nearly 10,000 Chinese talents for all walks of life in Togo, and graduates from all walks of life in various countries in West Africa. In its return visit to graduates, the Confucius Alumni Association found that most of the graduates of the Confucius Institute of The Confucius Institute at Lo Wo University are engaged in industries with high language added value, such as translation and administration, which are well known in West African countries. Early Confucius institute students often after a semester of study, just able to speak a few words of Chinese, can find a good job. However, in recent years, with the development and growth of Confucius Institutes in West African countries, employers often carefully examine the Chinese ability of graduates, in addition to submitting Chinese proficiency test certificates, students also need to be able to initially master the chinese language of business, administration, engineering and other majors. In response to the needs of employers, the Confucius Institute of Lo Hua university has actively adjusted the teaching method of teaching materials, implanted a large number of special-purpose Chinese in the courses of intermediate and advanced classes, increased translation and interpretation training, actively invited Chinese-funded enterprises to enter the classroom, built an internship training base, greatly improved the satisfaction of enterprises and the retention rate of graduates, and truly realized the common training and joint training between Confucius Institute and enterprises. Since 2020, THE CONFUCIUS Institute has recommended nearly 60 jobs for Chinese-funded enterprises in Togo, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Niger, Côte d'Ivoire and other countries. Wei Ya, who works as a translator in the 14th Bureau of China Railway, has rapidly grown into a star employee in just one year, and because of her solid language skills, her salary has reached 5-8 times the average salary in West Africa. In addition to her busy work, Wei Ya also found time to complete all the courses of the online scholarship program of Sichuan Foreign Chinese University and obtained excellent results. She said that at first she learned Chinese perhaps because it was fun, but as she learned more, she gradually fell in love with Chinese culture. Whether it is a teacher at a Confucius Institute or a colleague in the unit, she can feel the strength of kindness and hard work from her Chinese. Learning Chinese made her believe that as long as she works hard, she will be able to change herself and improve her life, and she will definitely have a better future. Like Wei Ya, many Confucius students have entered Chinese-funded enterprises or started their own careers through studying Chinese; they have obtained scholarships to become international students by taking the HSK exam; their lives and their families have opened up a new world with the key of "Chinese".
Chinese build bridges, and we know each other
While continuously improving the quality of teaching, exploring the training program of Chinese + vocational skills, and further broadening the caliber of student employment, the Confucius Institute of Lo University is also constantly adjusting its understanding of Zhongduo culture, striving to tell the story of Zhongduo, respecting the cultural self-confidence of both sides, and realizing "the beauty of each other, the beauty of the United States". In the course of our teaching, we found that Togolese students were able to sing and dance, to carve and paint, and to have a strong sense of pride in the language and culture of their tribe. Therefore, when we organize various cultural activities, we no longer blindly emphasize the profundity, longevity and distinctiveness of Chinese culture, but look for commonalities between Chinese and multicultural cultures, and stimulate cultural identity in the collision.
The Confucius Institute of The Confucius Institute of The University of Rhodes is named after the "Twelve Seasons of Luo (Mei) Chuan (Wai)", announces the theme of the month at the beginning of each month, and organizes experiences or competitions related to the theme on the last Friday. For example, in the "Luochuan Cup" Mid-Autumn Poetry Recitation Contest organized in September 2020, we carefully selected ten ancient and modern poems, and the students also studied and recited Su Shi's "Water Tune Song Head", "Nostalgia" in Yu Guang and so on with full enthusiasm. For example, in the "Luochuan Cup" and "I Speak My Heart in Chinese Characters" Chinese speech contests organized in May 2021, some students chose the Chinese character "Dream" to tell their Chinese dreams, and some chose "Friends" to tell the friendship between China and Manya. This in-depth experience based on the "month" enhanced the students' understanding of traditional Chinese culture and stimulated the students' yearning for China. At the same time, in the Spring Festival, anniversary celebrations, Confucius Institute Open Day and other activities, the Confucius Institute encourages students to add Togoic elements to the performance, sing tribal songs, dance tribal dances, show tribal customs; Chinese teachers also actively participate in it, learn to play African drums, learn to dance African dance; Chinese bridges, cultural mutual learning, heart to heart, sound into the ears.
In line with the students' strengths, the Confucius Institute has established the ALOMA Choir, which trains regularly and can sing various songs in Chinese, French, English and Evi. In March 2020, the ALOMA Choir joined hands with the choirs of nearly 30 Confucius Academies around the world to fight the epidemic and sang "Flying with One Heart". Since then, the choir has actively participated in the "Chinese of Singing" project organized by the Chinese Alliance. With the help of the project, we have a rich Chinese choral repertoire, as well as online guidance from professional music teachers, and recorded a number of MVs of Chinese songs. In the 2021 "Singing Chinese" music video global solicitation activity, the Confucius Academy Choir sang "Fairy Tale" with electronic organ, flute and African drum accompaniment won the "Excellent Work Award".
Since 2019, the Confucius Institute of The University of Luoyang has successively opened media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WeChat public account, and Douyin, attracting the attention of fans at home and abroad through short videos, telling the story of China while telling the story of Togo. At the end of February 2021, the "2021 Bull Turn Qiankun Network Lantern Party" co-sponsored by the Confucius Institute and Sichuan Xinhua Publishing and Distribution Group and undertaken by Sichuan Xinhua Lezhi Education Technology Co., Ltd. was successfully launched, and liu Jian, an international student of the Confucius Institute in China, composed and sang "Four Seasons" by himself was forwarded by the international video number of the People's Daily. In mid-April, "Lomé's Search for "Cow" was selected for the "Chinese Character Landscape - Meet Chinese Characters in My City" project of the Sino-Foreign Language Exchange and Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Education, and was launched on the International Chinese Day. In early June, a video showing the volunteer work style of "Spring Seedling Action in Togo" was adopted by CCTV News Channel 24 Hours. In mid-October, the short video "I Like Table Tennis", which showed the Sino-Multi-Chinese Table Tennis Friendship Competition, won the Friendship Award of the "China and Africa" Video Works Competition. The "Last Lesson" and "Strange Characters" submitted by the Confucius Institute won the Excellence Award in the "Most Confucius Institute" Global Short Video Competition of the China International Chinese Education Foundation.
The Confucius Institute of Lo Hua attaches great importance to the interaction with China Multimedia, the interaction with the media in the two universities, the interaction with the local overseas Chinese, the interaction with students, and actively builds the "Internet", expands the coverage and enhances the influence. Confucius Institute has cooperated with well-known video bloggers in many countries, showing a large number of daily teaching and activities of Confucius Institute, Togolese humanistic customs, campus life of Lo University of Romania, and receiving a number of "100,000 +" likes on YouTube and Bilibili.
epilogue
A new year, a new journey. Although the ongoing epidemic has brought a huge impact on the teaching and cultural activities of confucius institutes, with the gradual improvement of the online and offline hybrid teaching model and the strict implementation of the offline course epidemic prevention plan, with the construction of free Wi-Fi in Lomé University, with the issuance of scholarships for outstanding students and poor students, students have gathered in the classrooms of Confucius Institutes again, and the sound of books has sounded again.
With the extension of the "Belt and Road" in African countries, and with the landing of the "Nine Projects" of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in African countries, the construction of a community of common destiny between China and Africa in the new era is related to the well-being of the 2.7 billion people in Central Africa, and vigorously cultivating "African talents who understand Chinese" will surely become an indispensable boost to this cause. The Confucius Institute at the University of Lomé will always put the "spirit of service" in the first place, devote itself to Chinese language education in Togo, sow seeds with faith, adhere to irrigation, match China-Canada exchanges, and contribute to Sino-Multi-Chinese friendship. (Source: China Investment Reference)
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