January 28th to February 3rd, Confucius Institute at Assumption University (CIAU) co-held Chinese Spring Festival with 7 teaching sites which were Assumption College Rayong (ACR), Assumption College Sriracha (ACS), Sripruetta School, Nawamintharachinuthit Triamudomsuksapattanakam School (NTS), Intertots Trilingual School (ITS)，Assumption College Thonburi (ACT)，Streesmutprakan School (SSP). Nearly 10,000 teachers and students welcomed the arrival of the Year of the Pig.
The Spring Festival celebrations were rich in content and diverse in form, not only in the large-scale Spring Festival Gala, but also in the exhibition of Chinese traditional culture and the teaching of featured courses.
The first stop of the Chinese New Year event was ACR. Her Royal Highness Princess Patchara Kitiyapa was invited to participate in this Spring Festival. Her Royal Highness visited the Chinese booth set up by CIAU and watched Gu Zheng performance, Chinese tea etiquette, exhibition of Chinese calligraphy and paper-cutting brought by the teachers of CIAU.
“Dragon lion leaps to spring, gongs and drums announce the coming of new year”. Wonderful dragon and lion dances opened the celebration of the Spring Festival of ACS and Sripruetta School. It was full of flavor of China and Chinese New Year. The traditional Chinese dance performances, Chinese songs and other programs brought by teachers and students was so splendid. At the same time, the two schools also launched the Chinese Open Day, which provided students with a variety of cultural experience activities such as Chinese knots, calligraphy, paper-cutting, and Mala Tang (A traditional Chinese food).
The Spring Festival celebrations at NTS were ingenious. The combination of the Spring Festival celebrations and Chinese Open Day activities attracted students from more than a dozen schools in the surrounding area. The event was crowded and lively.
ITS held the teaching site plate unveiling ceremony and Spring Festival activities. Ms. Yang Hairong, Chinese director of CIAU, and Mr. Sukhum Tungkongpanit, the Chairman of ITS, jointly unveiled the teaching site plate. The school had more than 300 students in 16 classes. Under the lead of the Chinese teacher, the primary school students brought wonderful performances such as Chinese songs, featured dances and Chinese classic poetry to the audience. The standard Chinese pronunciation of the primary school students, the fluent Chinese expression and the wonderful talent show were impressive. ITS had achieved such excellent teaching results thanks to the school’s immersive Chinese teaching mode.
In addition, during the Spring Festival celebrations, CIAU brought a “Chinese Course” package to each teaching site, and invited two Chinese national athletes from Tianjin University of Science and Technology to guide seven cooperative teaching sites. Nearly 1,000 students experienced badminton and martial arts courses. The two courses were widely welcomed by students and received enthusiastic response.
The Spring Festival celebrations held by CIAU and the teaching sites were rich in content and diverse in form, which were very popular and loved by Chinese and Thai teachers and students. CIAU hoped that through a series of Spring Festival activities, more Thai teachers, students and parents would participate in it, and feel the joy and excitement of the Chinese New Year and experience the charm of Chinese traditional culture at a close distance, so as to be more actively involved in the Chinese learning. CIAU members would work together with sincerity, collaborate with innovation, and continue to strengthen cooperation with various teaching sites to achieve new leap-forward development.
Written by Ms. Chen Zhige
Photographed by Mr. Yuan Zheng
Translated by Ms. Duan Yuexia