With the festivities for Chinese New Year ongoing, Chinese Division of Modern & Classical Language at SLU held a lively Chinese Corner on Feb. 7 in the Center of Global Citizenship, which set the mood for the upcoming Lantern Festival. The Chinese Corner is a bi-weekly, interactive activity sponsored by The Chinese Division during the spring semester. The Chinese Corner intends to provide the opportunity for cross-cultural exchange and building up friendships among Chinese language students. It is also a good platform for students to enhance their speaking skills in either Chinese or English.
During the Chinese Corner this week, the Chinese language students were divided into different groups and shared their cultural and personal stories. Tamily Nishimoto, an exchange student from Brazil, said she just started her journey of learning Chinese and she was happy to know so many friends.
“I found it very useful knowing how to say ‘I am not Chinese’ because almost all Chinese students thought I am from China,” joked Nishimoto. She had a very delightful conversation with Yunxi Si, and Rui Zhang who are both freshman students. When asked about the Chinese Corner, Yunxi said she really enjoyed the one-hour gathering because she was proud of helping others with Chinese as well as English. In particular, it seemed that upper-level students felt this was a valuable opportunity to practice their Chinese learnt from the class. At the end of the activity, ShiYun Ma, a Tai Ji dancer performed a traditional show that had all of the students captivated by her movements.
In addition to Chinese Corner, there are also Chinese movie nights where students can interpret Chinese culture at a deeper level through discussing about Chinese movie. There is also a Chinese study abroad meeting for students who have studied in China and wish to share their experiences. They serve as a bridge to build a multi-cultural perspective among the students who also can develop proficient Chinese language skills.
If you are interested in Chinese Culture and Chinese Language, come to join us in Chinese Division in Modern & Classical Language Department in Ritter Hall.
