9/2/2018
Over 220 year 8 students at Fernwood School were immersed in Chinese language and culture at workshops delivered by staff from Nottingham Confucius Institute on 9 February. The workshops included a language taster along with a brief introduction to the Chinese New Year, Chinese singing, origami and paper cutting, Chinese calligraphy and a Tai Chi taster.
Many of the students said that they had a fantastic day. One of the students asked our teachers “Will we get to do this again? I really enjoyed it.” Another student said “I loved Tai Chi. I want to look into doing more in my free time.”
Feedback from school staff was also extremely positive. “I liked the variety of activities … the NCI staff were enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and lovely to work with,” said one of the teachers, “Learning about China from natives really gave students a sense of authenticity,” said another. The school told NCI that these workshops aid their Year 8 focus on building links with China and have helped to create a buzz around learning Mandarin and visiting Ningbo in the future.
NCI has been offering Mandarin lessons every Tuesday to 20 year 8 students and staff at Fernwood School since January, following their participation in a head teachers’ delegation visit to China last October. The visit was co-organised by NCI, City Council and Access China UK. A total of nine head teachers from local schools visited China during October half term last year. All of them have established sister schools in Ningbo, with several student and staff exchange visits being planned for the near future.
~ENDS~
诺丁汉孔院赴Fernwood Junior School开展工作坊活动
文/陈茜
2月9日，英国诺丁汉大学孔子学院老师受邀赴Fernwood Junior School（芬伍德初中）开展中国传统艺术工作坊活动。该校八年级的8个班学生分别体验了汉语言文化，太极、剪纸与书法等活动，在中国新年到来前体会到了浓浓的“中国味”。
在汉语言文化的部分，学生们展现了对中国文化以及中国新年的极大热情，争先恐后地表达了他们对中国的印象。在老师生动活泼地介绍下，学生们对包饺子、剪窗花、写春联和生肖文化充满了好奇，还不自觉地跟随音乐学唱了中文版的《新年好》。通过印有十二句常用汉语的书签，学生们学会了简单的汉语，并且说得有模有样。
除了语言文化体验课外，参与活动的学生还体验了不同的中国传统艺术活动。太极拳体验课程将含蓄内敛、连绵不绝、以柔克刚、行云流水的拳术风格尽数传授给学生，出拳、抬腿、打云手……学生们在短短30分钟内体验到了中国太极的侠客风范，并在活动结束后相互抱拳致意。
剪纸和折纸课堂上，老师们带领学生学习了折纸灯笼、剪“春”字，学生通过灵巧的双手完成了自己满意的作品，并且纷纷感叹中国传统艺术的神奇。在书法课堂上，学生们对笔墨纸砚产生了极大的好奇。研磨出墨的环节让学生们体会到了几千年前中国古人的智慧；握笔书写，让学生感受了汉字与书写工具合而为一的艺术美。每一个学生都认真地跟着老师书写出了自己第一幅书法作品，不少学生不满足于简单的汉字，自觉地描摹起了书签上的汉字。
Posted on Friday 16th February 2018