Confucius Institute in Islamabad Staged a Chinese Performance At Modern Language School & College

On the morning of March 27, Dr. Ge Lisheng, the director of Confucius Institute in Islamabad (CII) along with Two Chinese Teachers of CII- Zhang Haiwei and Zhang Tiejun, attended the Final Commendation Ceremony and Performance at the request of Modern Language School & College (MLSC) in Islamabad. MLSC is an affiliated Chinese teaching institute with CII. More than 300 students with their parents, plus teachers attended the function. This function aimed to acknowledge successful students in the final examination and to highlight the students’ achievement in the past term for the parents. With the remarkable achievements in Chinese teaching, CII was invited to organize Chinese-learning students to participate in this ceremony.

On the prize-awarding ceremony, Dr. Ge Lisheng and Mr. Zhang Haiwei were invited to grant award certificates to students. Before the performance, Mr. Zhang Haiwei made a brief introduction about CII. Later, Chinese-learning students staged Chinese song and dance performances. The cheerful song, titled If you are happy, warmed the atmosphere; another sweet song-My good mother-moved every mother present in the ceremony; the lively dance in -I have a good father - touched all the fathers by the kids’ sincerity. Parents were fascinated by seeing the children performing wearing costumes of both countries. They felt elated, but surprised. It never occurred to them that how, in such a short time their children could demonstrate the love for parents in Chinese language and manifest another culture in such a vivid way. After the function, many parents expressed gratitude on CII’s work and promised to continue supporting their kids’ Chinese learning.

At the end of the function, the principal of MLSC stated that “I am especially grateful to the teachers from Confucius Institute. They have been giving Chinese courses to 160 students in a year, and also brought quite different cultural experiences. I wish our cooperation will be much deeper and longer in future”.

On September 2010, MLSC, with about 600 students in total, signed the agreement with CII to offer a compulsory Chinese course to students ranging from 6 to 12 grades, with about 160 students. CII helped to provide Chinese teaching staff and required facilities. The students showed great interest in Chinese language and gained great achievements. Some of the students performed a wonderful show on the “Pakistan-China Friendship Year 2011 Cultural Activities Reception & the Opening Ceremony of Chinese Culture Experience Centre”, held by CII on March 22, 2011. Their performances were commended by the audience. It is expected that the school will offer more Chinese courses to meet the growing demands of students learning Chinese.

By exhibiting the fruitful and productive accomplishments in Chinese teaching, the function narrowed the gap between CII and the parents, who took this chance to know more about CII, Chinese learning and Chinese culture, thus creating a better family and social atmosphere for Chinese language and culture promotion.