On January 16th, 2017, the 2017 International Students Winter Course, which was hosted by College of International Education and organized by the School of International Chinese Language Education, was successfully concluded. The participants were 34 international students from four top South Korean universities, namely, Seoul National University, Korea University, Kyung Hee University and Hanyang University (Confucius Institute recommended 21 students).
This short-term course lasted two weeks, mainly composed of two parts: Chinese language learning and cultural experience. Chinese language learning involved three courses: intensive Chinese reading, oral communication and listening. The purpose was to comprehensively improve students’ proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating in line with their current Chinese proficiency. Besides Chinese courses, College of International Education also arranged a wide array of cultural experience activities. Supported by College of International Education organized the international students to visit Museum of Jilin University History, Changchun First Automobile Works, the fruit and vegetable base of Guoxin Modern Agricultural Science Co., Ltd. and the Puppet Manchurian Imperial Palace. These activities were arranged so that students could gain a deeper understanding of the culture in Jilin University and see China’s modern industry and eco-agriculture for themselves. Renowned figures from all quarters of life were invited to deliver two wonderful speeches during spare time. The students spoke freely and actively engaged themselves.
A student from Seoul National University said that he was happy to make more Chinese friends and learn how to make Chinese knots, pottery wares and dumplings together with them. KIM SO YEON from Kyung Hee University believed that learning the Chinese language in China was easier as learners could truly feel the changes in Chinese pronunciation and intonation. He wanted to make full use of this opportunity to know about China so that he could come to China to study in the future.
In addition, eight students from Argentina took part in the four-week winter course that started on December 16th, 2016. When the program concluded, all the students expressed their willingness to stay longer. Their Chinese proficiency improved significantly, thus they had no trouble communicating with simple and short Chinese sentences. The success of winter courses greatly helped international students to learn the Chinese language and understand China.
