On 16th January 2025, Chinese teachers of the Confucius Institute in Artois Chen Yunyun and Qiu Shuzhen were invited to Lycée Saint Jean in Douai to conduct a Chinese culture workshop to support the Chinese elective course in the high school. The event lasted for two hours and was attended by a total of about 30 senior high students.
The first class by Teacher Chen Yunyun was about Pipa music. Ms. Chen first introduced the structure of the instrument, the performance and characteristics of the ancient and modern Pipa. Later she inspired the students to appreciate the classic repertoire based on the performance characteristics. She then played a classic piece "Golden Snake Dance" (金蛇狂舞Jīn shé kuáng wǔ) to show the joyful atmosphere of the Chinese New Year. Finally, it was the students’ hand-on experience session. After explaining the sitting posture and basic fingerings, Ms. Chen guided some of them to play the first section of another Spring Festival music "Full of Joy (喜洋洋Xǐyángyáng)". |
The second lesson was a paper-cutting experience. As the Chinese New Year was approaching, Ms. Qiu introduced the role of paper-cutting in creating a festive atmosphere, wishing for good luck, and appreciating art. At the same time, she introduced students to “Spring”, “Spring Festival”, “Four Seasons like Spring” and common color words in Chinese. Next, Ms. Qiu led the students to complete the paper-cutting works step by step, including the flat “Spring” character, the three-dimensional “Spring” and the hollowed-out window flower.
The Chinese culture workshop was welcomed by the teachers and students of the school's Chinese language classes, and attracted junior high school students' interest in Chinese language and art.