On December 13, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand visited Assumption College English Program (hereafter ACEP), the teaching site of Confucius Institute at Assumption University (hereafter CIAU), and attended the opening ceremony of school buildings of ACEP. Rev. Bro. Dr. Bancha Saenghiran, President of Assumption University, Ms. Siriluk Chaiprompasit, Thai director of CIAU and Ms. Yang Hairong, Chinese director of CIAU, and all teachers of CIAU participated in the ceremony.
During the visit, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn unveiled the plate of new teaching buildings of ACEP, including the newly established Chinese Language Teaching Center. After the opening ceremony, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn watched the excellent works exhibition of ACEP teachers and students. CIAU Guzheng teacher Mr. Guo Yunxiang and his students played Near Dawn, which was composed by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. The students of ACEP said they would definitely learn Chinese and live up to the expectations of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn with the encouragement of the princess.
ACEP officially became the fourth cooperative teaching site of CIAU on September 21st, 2017. Currently, 817 students are studying Chinese in ACEP. Mr. Pisutr Vapiso, president of ACEP, said although ACEP was named as an English school, they always attached great importance to Chinese language teaching and Chinese cultural exchange activities. Mr. Pisutr Vapiso believed that they would cultivate more sophisticated talents who are proficient in Chinese, Thai and English through the cooperation with CIAU.
Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has a high prestige in Thailand and is familiar to Chinese. She is proficient in Chinese history and culture, and especially likes Chinese literature. She personally translated many outstanding works of contemporary Chinese writers, translated more than 100 Tang poems and songs, from which she selected dozens to compile into her two translated poetic collections. She has been insisting on introducing the history and culture of China to the Thai people for decades, and has made tremendous contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and Thailand and the friendship between the peoples of two countries.
Written by Ms. Yuan Zheng
Translated by Ms. Duan Yuexia
Revised by Ms. Cao Le