International Chinese Education Volunteers: Sowing the Seeds of Chinese to the World

Guangming Daily reporter Chai Rujin Guangming Daily correspondent Guo Xiaolei

20 April this year marks the 13th United Nations Chinese Day, and UNESCO Headquarters celebrates Chinese Day for the first time. Chinese educational institutions and Chinese learners and enthusiasts around the world have also carried out colorful celebrations to promote Chinese Day to go out of the United Nations and become the "International Chinese Day".

In recent years, the Chinese fever has continued to heat up overseas, and the role of Chinese in international exchanges has become increasingly prominent. Chinese has become the official and working language of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, WHO, the World Tourism Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization. 76 countries around the world have integrated Chinese into their national education systems, and more than 25 million people are studying Chinese overseas.

The expansion of Chinese influence is inseparable from the special group of international Chinese education volunteers. Since 2004, more than 60,000 volunteers have taught in 151 countries and regions. They traveled to foreign countries, where they taught Chinese, spread the friendship between the Chinese people and the people of the world, and brought the hope of opening a new chapter in their lives with Chinese.

Sincerity allows friendships to transcend cultures

"My name is Luo Ying, and I am Chinese." At the beginning of each semester, Luo Ying would write such a sentence on the blackboard.

At the Confucius Institute at opole University in Poland, as an international Chinese education volunteer, Luo Ying often asked herself: "If I were learning a language, what would I want the teacher to do?" ”

"Make language fun!" This is the answer given by Luo Ying. In order to make the class lively and lively, when she talks about the word "fly", she draws the right apostrophe of "fly" into two wings; when talking about the word "sheep", she draws the little skimmer on the "sheep" as a horn; when learning the Chinese characters related to "bird", she points out which stroke is the bird's crown, which stroke is the eye, which stroke is the body, and how the two small feet become a horizontal, and then writes "chicken" and "duck", and draws the left side as the mouth of the chicken and the duck.

This kind of teaching often makes children's eyes widen and surprise. Sometimes, they even chant "Bravo" offstage! ”。

While teaching textbook knowledge, Luo Ying is also trying to enrich the children's perception of Chinese and Chinese culture. Talking about tea culture, the students have not drunk tea, Luo Ying made pots of black tea and green tea for them to taste between classes; mentioning dumplings, students were curious about the difference between Polish dumplings and Chinese dumplings, and Luo Ying learned to make some to the class to share with everyone.

Luo Ying's enthusiasm and meticulousness have won the love of local students. After a semester of teaching, some students seriously said in the chat group, "This Chinese class is my 'medicine'", which can cure him and bring him comfort; the assistant teacher of the local primary school told Luo Ying, "The students are always asking, when will the Chinese teacher come again."

Chen Ying, an international Chinese education volunteer in Bangkok, also "harvests sincerity with sincerity".

Soon after arriving at the post, Chen Ying discovered the naughty mischief of Thai children. In order to attract the attention of students, Chen Ying, who is still a novice teacher, often studies teaching methods until two or three o'clock in the morning or even all night. However, "as soon as I thought that the lively students might like my newly researched classroom mini-games, I wanted to rush to the classroom immediately." Even staying up late is always happy and satisfied." Faced with the heavy task of lesson preparation, Chen Ying enjoyed it.

The children in the class also expressed their love for Teacher Chen Ying very sincerely and enthusiastically, and they could always find small changes in the teacher. Sometimes, Chen Ying tied a headband and changed into a pair of earrings, and they would run to the teacher and praise loudly: "Teacher, suái (good-looking)!" "Teacher, beautiful!" "Teacher, beautiful!" "Teacher, cute!" When encountered outside the classroom, the students will also take the initiative to greet each other, be more lively, and even rush directly up to Chen Ying's arms. "Their expression of affection is particularly real and lovely." This sincere friendship is the source of Chen Ying's love for international Chinese education.

Acquaintance makes dreams more determined

Spreading Chinese culture and enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the people of Chinese and the people of all countries in the world are the original intentions of many volunteers to devote themselves to the cause of international Chinese education.

Yu Qin, a volunteer at the Confucius Institute at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, likens international Chinese education to a window that people can "see". She hopes to open a window for locals through Chinese teaching. "In today's world, 'seeing' and 'knowing' are far more lovely than 'imagining' and 'misunderstanding.'"

Cao Faqiang of the Confucius Institute at Mishkolc University in Hungary set foot on European soil with the dream of "letting Chinese culture go out". "A hundred years ago, the revolutionary ancestors crossed the ocean in order to seek the truth of saving the country and striving to strengthen the country; today, when the dream has been realized, I want to shoulder the responsibilities entrusted by the times to this generation of young people and let the world know a peaceful and developing China."

Volunteers' understanding of international Chinese education has also deepened in teaching. Some of them chose to stay in office, and some chose to become an international Chinese teacher again after returning home.

Duan Weimin, a public Kwong Wah School in Rayong, Thailand, is about to start his third year of coaching in Thailand. In 2022, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Thailand has repeatedly reached a new high. Under the concern and persuasion of relatives and friends, Duan Weimin also thought about returning to China. "Teacher, can you not leave", when he saw the message sent by the students, Duan Weimin decided to stay in this land. "The choices you make must have love in them, and if you have love, you won't regret it."

Li Shuting, of the Confucius Institute at the University of Cluž babiš Boyayi in Romania, taught in Mongolia four years ago. Her first volunteer experience made her fall in love with the profession of international Chinese teacher, and it also made her realize her lack of professional knowledge. "To return home is to go better." After entering graduate school, Li Shuting once again devoted herself to the cause of international Chinese education, this time, she was more calm and more confident.

The desire of foreign students to learn Chinese and learn about Chinese culture is also strengthened by this encounter with Chinese teachers.

"I want to see Chinese cities, I want to eat a lot of Chinese food, I want to meet a lot of Chinese friends, I yearn for the four seasons like spring warm south China, I am full of expectations for the future." 」 Adam was Yu Qin's student in the UK. After a year of acquaintance with Yu Qin, they ate together, watched dramas, and exchanged gifts; in addition to the brief teachers and students, they became very good friends. Now, Adam has quit his job and is about to go to Shenzhen to become an English teacher for a group of children.

National development allows Chinese to go global

The China-Laos Railway, which runs from Yunnan, China in the north to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, in the south, is an important part of the central line of the Pan-Asian Railway, which will greatly improve The transportation infrastructure of Laos and stimulate local economic growth.

Chen Zhongling, a Chinese teacher at the Confucius Institute at the National University of Laos, served as the intermediate fifth class teacher of the post of "station attendant" in the second training course. "The students' Chinese level is only HSK level 3, and I am from an international Chinese education, I don't understand the vocabulary of railways, and I can't figure it out at first."

Self-taught Lao, check information on the Internet, ask science and engineering students... Chen Zhongling crossed the river by feeling the stones, not only overcoming professional barriers, but also summing up a set of railway vocabulary teaching methods: translating Chinese into Lao, creating simple sentences for students, and simplifying professional knowledge. Not only that, she also took a break to check the students' knowledge and memorization one by one.

The preparation, attendance, and spot checks of the 30-hour class hours once made Chen Zhongling "unable to hold on.". "To train these trainees well is to contribute to the motherland." Chen Zhongling cheered himself up.

Today, Chen Zhongling has entered the third year of her tenure. She said: "We must strive to improve ourselves and live up to the expectations of the country." ”

Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Confucius Institute's "Chinese+" model has involved dozens of fields such as high-speed rail, economy and trade, tourism, law, customs, and aviation. From the intensive training course Chinese china-laos railway, to the "Chinese + technology" project between China and Belarus, and then to the "Chinese + customs" course for Malaysia, Indonesia, Ghana and other places, "Chinese + vocational education" is not only widely sought after by foreign young people, but also makes positive contributions to the economic development of China and other countries in the world.

Chinese has become not only a window for countries around the world to understand Chinese culture, but also a tool for people everywhere to learn Chinese technology.

"Man comes with a big thing, he does a big thing; he comes with a heart and does not take half a blade of grass with him." 60,000 international Chinese education volunteers have crossed the ocean with the heart of a child. They teach Chinese in foreign countries, but also gain friendship, deepen love, and feel the common pulse of the ancient Chinese and the pulse of China in the new era.

Guangming Daily ( 2022-04-21 08 edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily