Choose seven volunteers.
In March last year, Xiamen University signed an agreement with Empress Dowager Cixi University in Thailand to jointly build the Confucius Institute. This is the first Confucius Institute established by Xiamen University. Xiamen University, as a key school supported by Hanban in neighboring countries and a Chinese education base of the State Council Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, was selected as a 17 university for the first time to undertake the construction of Confucius Institute.
So who will be "Confucius" and be the messenger of spreading Chinese culture? Xiamen University decided to recruit volunteers among all graduate students. When the news came out, it attracted more than 70 students to sign up. The school organized strict primary selection, written examination and interview to examine students' comprehensive qualities such as Chinese theory, China culture, spoken English, Mandarin, writing on the blackboard and comprehensive knowledge. In the end, seven first-year and second-year master students won, including four students majoring in Chinese as a foreign language. They have all taught Chinese to foreign students in the Overseas Education College of Xiamen University. The other three majors are Chinese, literature and art and China history. Most of them have completed their degree courses, and after finishing their teaching work abroad, they will go back to school to do papers or continue the remaining courses. Chen Tong, a class of 2004, said that her major is teaching Chinese as a foreign language. This time, going to Thailand to teach is a rare opportunity for social investigation and practice.
On June 3rd, seven graduate students began to teach overseas 1 year. It only takes 50 days from the school interview notice to boarding the plane of Thai Airways. From China to Thailand, from students to teachers, cultural differences and role changes have given volunteers a rare and novel experience in life-spreading China culture and conveying the friendship of China people with smiles and love.
Recall teaching career
Empress Dowager Cixi University, located in Chiang Rai, a border town in northern Thailand, is one of the most beautiful universities in Thailand. The flaming phoenix flowers and delicate bougainvillea on campus make students feel that the environment is similar to that of Xiamen University. But the excitement and curiosity when I first came were quickly washed away by the heavy work. Volunteers not only serve as the teaching task of Confucius Institute, but also serve as the teacher of business Chinese major in the College of Literature of Queen Mother University. Everyone has an average of 20 classes a week, thirsty and tired.
What really bothers everyone is the language environment. Students basically stop using Chinese after class, which will greatly affect the improvement of students' oral expression ability, so volunteers seize every opportunity to let students speak and create a Chinese environment. There is a sentence in the article called "I'm going to try on a leather coat". When reading the new word "fur", Jiang Zhuqing found the students laughing and talking about something. Finally, I figured it out. It turns out that the sound of "Pi" means "ghost" in Thai. A student said, "Teacher, pi (Ghost) is in your closet. He came out and said to the teacher,' Teacher, I love you.' Jiang Zhuqing said: pi in Thailand can't speak Chinese, and I can't understand it. The student said, "Teacher, it doesn't matter. I can teach pi (Ghost) Chinese. " There is laughter in the classroom. ...
Thailand has strict dress code for teachers. Female teachers must wear skirts in class, not sleeveless clothes. Male teachers should wear trousers, shirts and ties. The teacher's clothes should be changed once a day, otherwise the students will think that you don't take a shower or change clothes. Just arrived in Thailand, a male volunteer was all thumbs, only ironing out several sets of clothes for class! Thanks to everyone's emergency, we passed the customs.
Thai students are often late for class, and volunteers really rack their brains to correct this problem. They made some rules, for example, copying the text five times late. Two students in Jiang Zhuqing's class went to rehearse the lion dance performance in China, but they didn't come to class. Unexpectedly, after class, the students took the initiative to find her and said to her in unison: Teacher, we missed 4 classes and have to copy the text 20 times. Jiang Zhuqing told them that it was unnecessary, but the students said seriously and firmly: Teacher, we must write it ourselves!
Ma Dujuan also lost his temper and punished the students for "writing a check". She said that when she became a teacher, she really realized the taste of "hating iron and not producing steel" and had deep love and responsibility. In a test, nine students in the class failed. That day in class, Madu Hu Juan pulled a long face. After handing out the test paper, everyone was asked to write down which question they did wrong and why. After class, Ma Dujuan looked through the "check" written by students in the office and found that many students were sincere, and some apologized to the teacher, saying that they didn't understand and didn't ask; Some guarantee to get more than 80 points in the next exam ... Looking at these slightly naive fonts, Ma Dujuan realized how important the communication between teachers and students is!
Last July, 14, the first Chinese writing and speech contest in northern Thailand was held in Empress Dowager Cixi University. Four of the seven volunteers are judges. Lin Qiuhong is one of Ma Dujuan's students. He signed up for the lecture. Her topic is "Life needs applause". Ma Dujuan took the initiative to tutor her and corrected her from pronunciation, tone, intonation, standing posture and gestures. Qiu Hong is very serious. In order to correct her pronunciation, she took the initiative to record the teacher's recitation and went back to practice repeatedly. On the day of the competition, when it was finally announced that Lin Qiuhong had won the first prize, Ma Dujuan was more excited than others. "My student!" A sense of accomplishment and pride arises spontaneously. At this time, Qiu Hong called: "Thank you, teacher, she is very capable!" " "
Students fall in love with Xiamen University
After arriving at the Confucius Institute, the volunteers accepted a special task to train the winners of the 2006 Thai government scholarship to study in China and strengthen their Chinese listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. This group of students, 65,438+065,438+00 from various governments in Thailand, are all high school graduates with excellent grades, and 80% of them have never been exposed to Chinese. They will study in China in September.
Volunteers "teach Chinese characters by hand, practice new words one by one and learn to read stories". After about three weeks of study, the students learned the basic structure and stroke order of Chinese characters. Help students practice listening and speaking skills and correct pronunciation. There is only one purpose, that is to let students learn Chinese as soon as possible! Like China people!
On August 16, volunteers learned that 14 of the trainees were going to Xiamen University. In the evening, they showed the students the photos of Xiamen University and told them the beauty and long history of Xiamen University. In fact, this kind of "Love Xiamen University Education" has long been brought to the classroom and ordinary communication by volunteers. They have long known their teachers' alma mater, and they are all looking forward to the new life of Xiamen University.
After three months of training, a deep affection has been formed between teachers and students. When these students arrived in China, they called the volunteer teacher and said, "Teacher, I miss you very much. I love Xiamen University! "
According to Huang Jianjun, Dean of the Confucius Institute in Thailand, Xiamen University, from June to August last year, Thai students trained by the Confucius Institute have now entered more than 10 universities in Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Kunming. These students have achieved excellent results in the entrance examination and are fluent in spoken English. (Xu Lan Wang Yuhui)