On April 19th, teachers and students from the School of Foreign Languages of Jiangsu Open University came to Nanjing Zidong International Creative Park to bring a novel classroom experience to 19 African students from Nanjing Vocational University of Industry Technology. The theme of the class was The Wind of Spring, which leads international students to feel the charm of traditional Chinese culture through the teaching and practical interaction of teachers of Chinese International Education.
Zhao Mingming, the lecturer, has rich experience in teaching foreign students. She introduced the history, ancient poetry, and cultural connotation of kites from the aspects of the origin of kites, the poem of spring and the cultural implication of kites, and vividly told the story behind kites, which gave international students a deeper understanding of traditional Chinese culture. Later, JSOU’s teachers and students paired up with foreign students to draw their own warm spring days and beautiful hometown on kites, expressing their love for spring and their feelings for their hometown.
Josef, a foreign student, introduced himself in fluent Chinese, and explained the creative intention of his work: on the one hand, it is happy on the top of the plum blossom, which means that spring is peaceful and beautiful; on the other hand, colorful flowers bloom on the land of South Africa and China, symbolizing the everlasting friendship between the two peoples. Muhluri, another foreign student, and Liu Yangxin, teacher from the School, also introduced their creations together, expressing their love for nature, the deep affection for the motherland, and the yearning for a poetic life.
Through this activity, foreign students reached a better understanding of the traditional culture of China, and further understand its connotation and essence. At the same time, the process of painting on kites also guides everyone to further establish the concept of ecological protection and jointly build an open, green, inclusive and beautiful human life home for all.
