On the afternoon of September 27th, a Mid-Autumn Festival-themed Chinese Corner was held in Classroom 2415 of the College Building. The aim of the Chinese Corner is to assist international students in experiencing the distinctive appeal of Chinese traditional festivals while improving their Chinese language proficiency. Teachers from the Chinese Language Teachers’ Office and more than 30 international students from Thailand, Yemen, Pakistan, Russia, and other countries participated in this activity.

At the beginning of the activity, Miss. Chen Xue made a detailed introduction about the origin, cultural connotation, myths and legends, as well as customs of Mid-Autumn Festival. In this way, everyone gained a comprehensive understanding of this festival. At the same time, she focused on teaching fundamental vocabulary and sentence structures related to the Mid-Autumn festival culture as well as the art of making mooncakes. With some interesting games such as Group Competition and Knowledge Sorting, this approach proved beneficial for our students as they were able to enhance their Chinese language competence. Afterwards, all the people enjoyed the Chinese song Wish You A Long and Beautiful Life Journey, in which students not only experienced the beauty of Chinese music melodies, but also the glamour of Shui Diao Ge Tou (Prelude to Water Melody), which was written by Su Shi, a known Northern Song Dynasty poet.

With the guidance of the teachers, our students actively participated in producing handmade snow-skin mooncakes (a type of mookcakes). From mixing and kneading the dough, wrapping the fillings, to pressing and shaping the mooncakes as well as packing the finished products, each group of students divided the work into several parts and cooperated with each other. Everyone was very enthusiastic! At the end of the activity, students tasted happily the mooncakes that they made. They exchanged blessings and expressed their love for China and their gratitude to the college for the careful organization of this activity.

As an extracurricular extension of Chinese language learning, the Chinese Corner made our students, who are far away from their hometowns, feel the warmth and care of family at China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT). Besides, this activity also helped them appreciate the cultural heritage of the Mid-Autumn Festival and strengthened their interest in continuing to learn Chinese language. As is known to all, traditional festivals serve as an important epitome of Chinese culture, our college always insists on integrating excellent Chinese culture into pedagogy for international students. This activity creates an open and diversified campus cultural atmosphere for the students from all over the world.

Text by: Sun Bingfang,Yin Yuyue

Photos by: Sun Bingfang

Reviewed by: Li Honghai