Events

 

2012 Training Program on Teaching Materials for Overseas Chinese Language Teachers

I. Aim
Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters will host the 2012 Training Program on Teaching Materials for Overseas Chinese Language Teachers so as to improve the quality of international Chinese language teaching.
II. Schedule
The timing for 2012 Training Program is temporarily set between June and December. All host universities should open at least one training class in each month. The training of each class will last 7 days (4 days of training + 1 day of cultural study + 2 days of round trip).
III. Training Locations (11 universities)
1.Guangzhou: Sun Yat-Sen University; 2.Xiamen: Xiamen University; 3. Changchun: Jilin University 4. Beijing: Beijing Foreign Studies University; 5. Beijing: Beijing Normal University; 6.Beijing: Peking University; 7.Haikou: Hainan Normal University; 8.Shanghai: East China Normal University; 9.Tianjin: Nankai University; 10.Wuhan: Wuhan University; 11.Dalian: Dalian University of Foreign Languages
IV. Application by Trainees
1. Qualifications
Applicants should be Chinese language teachers of foreign nationality and Chinese citizens with permanent residence certificate of mainstream teaching facilities including universities, primary and secondary schools (full-time schools) who is younger than 60 years old, speak relatively fluent Chinese and enjoy good health.
For other requested qualifications, please visit http://training.Chinese.cn.
2. Procedures
(1) Visit the webpage of teaching materials training of Hanban: http://training.chinese.cn to learn information, application approaches and procedures concerning the 2012 Training Program, download training materials
(2) Download and fill in the Application Form of 2012 Training Program on Teaching Materials for Overseas Chinese Language Teachers; submit the completed form through the Education/Culture Divisions of Chinese Embassy (Consulate) in respective countries, Confucius Institutes (Classrooms) and Overseas Representative Offices of Hanban. The Overseas Representative Offices of Hanban will review the qualifications based on existing database and application requirements.
(3) The Overseas Representative Offices of Hanban will submit the list of qualified trainees, grouping plan and training demands to Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters for final judgment. After the final judgment is made, Hanban will entrust the Overseas Representative Offices to issue Confirmation of Acceptance to trainees.
(4) Domestic host universities will issue registration notice and training course manual to trainees based on the admission results and training demands of trainees.
V. Training Contents
(I) Teaching materials (50%): Aim to help trainees understand, know well and use key Chinese language teaching materials recommended by Hanban. (Please visit the website http://training.chinese.cn to learn more detailed information about such materials.)
(II) Teaching methods (30%)
Presentation, case study and demonstration class, among other methods will be used based on teaching materials compilation and overseas classroom practices to display and exchange practical Chinese language teaching methods and skills related to language elements and skills teaching; trainers and trainees will jointly produce teaching aids; inputs will be solicited from trainees on improving Chinese language teaching methods and the design of classroom activities; training and teaching experience will be collected and summarized from trainees.
(III) Culture and modern education technology (20%)
Lectures of all kinds which showcase Chinese culture will be launched based on real teaching demands, such as Chinese movie, music, painting, opera, literature and traditional Chinese medicine, among others, as a way to improve trainees' artistic appreciation on Chinese culture; training on practical skills will also be made available; activities such as cultural visit, teaching resources exhibition, and training achievement appraisal will be held.
During the proceedings of the training, trainees should submit various training results. Within one month after the closing of the training, host universities should gather materials such as trainees' training results and course videos and submit them to Hanban.
VI. Organization of trainers
Please visit visit the website http://training.chinese.cn to learn detailed information about it.
VII. Training Expenses
The training program is free from tuition fee, accommodation expense and teaching materials fee.Should trainees have difficulty in buying air tickets, they may apply for travel expense subsidy with Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters. The round trip air tickets will be handled by the Representative Offices of Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters in North America, the United Kingdom, Spain, Southeast Asia, Oceania and Thailand.
VIII. Feedbacks and Follow-ups
Please visit the website http://training.chinese.cn to learn detailed information about it.
IX. Follow-up Service
Please visit the website http://training.chinese.cn to learn detailed information about it.
Interested applicants can download the application form at http://training.chinese.cn.

 

 

2012 UKCI Speech Contest

To provide school kids with a spur to study the Chinese language and culture, encourage them to speak Chinese, and to contribute to K-12 enrichment in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, CI at the University of Kentucky is organizing its 2012 Speech Contest for K-12 graders, the second of its kind, to be held on the University Campus on May 11, Friday at 5 pm.
2012 UKCI Speech Contest will feature the theme of “spring in Lexington.”
Contestants will be divided into two categories: native speakers of Chinese and non-native speakers of Chinese, and further, into three levels of groups: Grades K-6; Grades 7-9; Grades 10-12. Apart from prizes for winners, UKCI will offer a small gift to every participant as well.

Answers to frequently asked questions:
Q: What is the requirement for length? How long should the speech be?
A: The speech should not exceed 3 minutes.
Q: Can the contestants use props such as power points or pictures?
A: Yes, they can. But the materials must not include pingyin or any irrelevant information or pictures.
Q: Can two or more contestants compete together using a dialogue/conversation?
A: No, they cannot. Contestants must compete on individual basis using speech form.

Those who would like to participate should register online before May 4 by clicking thelink.

 

 

Lecture - Jianfei Zhu - China's urbanization, and the Pritzker Prize winner

 

Jianfei Zhu
Associate Professor, Melbourne University
April 4, 2012
209 Pence Hall / 5pm

 

The University of Kentucky College of Design and the UK Confucius Institute are co-sponsoring a lecture by Jianfei Zhu, titled “Scale and Statehood: a Different Modernity.” Dr. Zhu will discuss the scale of urbanization in China and how it might develop into a different kind of modernity. After the lecture the Dean of the College of Design, Michael Speaks, will lead a discussion about Wang Shu, the first Chinese architect to be awarded the Priztker Architecture Prize. The lecture and discussion will be followed by a reception in Pence Hall.

Thomas J. Pritzker, chairman of The Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the Priztker Architecture Prize, discusses Wang Shu’s selection and China’s urbanization: “The fact that an architect from China has been selected by the jury, represents a significant step in acknowledging the role that China will play in the development of architectural ideals. In addition, over the coming decades China’s success at urbanization will be important to China and to the world. This urbanization, like urbanization around the world, needs to be in harmony with local needs and culture. China’s unprecedented opportunities for urban planning and design will want to be in harmony with both its long and unique traditions of the past and with its future needs for sustainable development.”

Jianfei Zhu studied architecture in China at Tianjin University, and in England at the University College London. He is currently teaching in Australia at the University of Melbourne. Dr. Zhu’s research centers on architecture and politics, the ‘political space’ of dynastic Beijing, episodes of modern Chinese architecture, spatial analysis, and various topics in China-West comparisons.

Dr. Zhu is the author of Chinese Spatial Strategies (Routledge, 2004) and Architecture of Modern China (Routledge, 2009). He is the editor of Sixty Years of Chinese Architecture 1949-2009 (Beijing: CABP, 2009) and two special issues of Time + Architecture (Tongji University, 2006, 2010). He has published more than sixty papers in English and Chinese, including ‘Criticality in between China and the West’ and ‘Robin Evans in 1978’ (Journal of Architecture, 2005, 2011).

Dr. Zhu's current research concerns the change from traditional to contemporary construction technologies and urban forms in China, the difference between Renaissance and Chinese traditions, and the impact of the West upon China.