September 26th is the European Language Day. On the very day, CIB at UMB (Confucius Institute for Business at Matej Bel University) was invited to hold a Chinese Language Day at ZSSSV (Základná škola Slobodného slovenského vysielača), a primary school in Banska Bystrica. The pupils were divided into two groups, each of which consisted of three classes: Charming Chinese, Tea Ceremony, and Ink Painting. Novinky | Základná škola Slobodného slovenského vysielača (edupage.org)

In “Charming Chinese”, Miss Hang Zuo targeted the kids with games, such as "Hug-Hug" and "Figure-Guessing", in delivering to them some basic daily Chinese and Chinese numbers. This approach turned out to be quite a stimulus for the children to learn Chinese. Her classes simply roared.

In “Tea ceremony”, Miss Shiqi Wan shared with the children the stories of the origin and the spread of tea to the whole world. She demonstrated the process of the Chinese tea ceremony, and the pupils tasted Anji White Tea, whose aroma was refreshing and pleasant to them.

In “Ink Painting”, Mr. Xiaolin Yan introduced the colors of Chinese ink painting with several very famous Scholar Style works. The charming naivety of the panda in the short video made the children almost laugh their hearts out. Under the directions of Mr. Yan, they sketched out their own pictures of Bamboo and Panda.

The Chinese Language Day was a great success. Here, we would like give our special thanks to Janet, one of our CIB’s students. We also thank the ZSSSV school for their great interest and support.

Note: The European Day of Languages is observed on 26 September, as proclaimed by the Council of Europe on 6 December 2001. Its aim is to encourage language learning across Europe. At the 2002 EU summit, it set a target for children to learn at least two foreign languages from an early age.