12/10/2020
Mandarin learning for the academic year got into full swing with 27 UoN staff and students attending NCI's first online Mandarin Corner event on the evening of Thursday 8 October. The event was organised for UoN Mandarin learners who recently signed up for NCI's Language Partner Programme. Established in 2009, the Language Partner Programme is a platform where English-speaking and Mandarin-speaking students and staff can pair-up to improve their target language whilst socialising and exchanging ideas on current issues. It has been very popular among both Mandarin learners and international students from China.
The theme of the event was "How Has COVID-19 Affected Our Lives?" with a particular focus on what we missed most during the lockdown and what we learnt to help us cope with the isolation and disruption. Following a brief introduction from the moderator, participants were separated into four groups with a mixture of native English/Chinese speakers sharing their experiences and tips on how to make the most of the current situation in English/Chinese. The participants also discussed expectations from their potential language buddies and how they would like to keep in touch after the event.
The Mandarin Corner was scheduled to last for forty minutes but with participants being so heavily engaged in conversation we had to let the event run for well over an hour. Feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive, with several of them establishing language buddies straight away. Several WeChat and WhatsApp groups were also created during the session with individual/group meetings planed for the near future.
NCI would like to thank all attendees for their effort and participation. Special thanks must go to the two Chinese student volunteers who couldn't make it to the UK because of the pandemic, but joined the event anyway from their homes in China, despite the seven hour time difference.
~ENDS~
诺丁汉孔院成功举办2020第一期汉语角
英国时间十月八日晚六点半，二十七位诺丁汉大学学生及教职员工参加了诺丁汉大学孔院2020年第一期题为“疫情如何影响我们的生活”的线上汉语角。该活动的主要目的是为近期加入孔院语伴项目的学生进行语伙伴配对。诺大孔院的语伴项目成立于2009年， 旨在为想要提高中英文水平的中英两国学生创建一个交流平台，分享新鲜的文化资讯，在提高各自的目标语言水平的同时，增加相互理解和友谊。
本次在线活动中，参与者们情绪高涨，四十分钟的线上活动延长至一小时十五分。本次活动分为三个部分。在主持人简单介绍了活动主题和一些可能用到的中文句式和词汇后，参与者按照中英文学习水平分组进入各自分会场开始进行自我介绍。随后，他们被要求在与其他参与者进行充分交流后，快速找出一个大家的共同点，如大家都享受做饺子的过程、都在烘培方面颇有心得等。第二部分，大家对当前疫情下的生活经历进行了分享，话题包括“在疫情期间你最想念什么？”以及“你是如何度过这段艰难时光？”。最后，大家就语言伙伴后续活动如何开展进行了更深入的探讨。
这是诺大孔院第一次在线上举办汉语角，中外学生不仅在整个活动中呈现出极高的语言交流热情和配合度，还主动建立了社交媒体群组，并积极询问主持人下次活动何时开展。值得一提的是， 参加本次活动的10名中国学生中， 有两名学生当时身在中国，对他们克服7个小时的时差积极参与孔院活动的精神，我们真是感激不尽。
~终~
Posted on Tuesday 13th October 2020