Schools celebrating Year of the Dragon with Chinese language and culture sessions

Schools in the region are being given the chance to bring Chinese language and culture into the classroom thanks to the arrival of Yanhua Li, a Chinese language teacher and associate professor from Beijing Language and Culture University, who is spending part of 2012 with Network for Languages East Midlands, based at Nottingham Trent University.

Yanhua Li is offering taster sessions for pupils and teachers as well as support for cultural activities and events. To celebrate the Year of the Dragon, she will also be supporting a CPD event on Wednesday 21 March for teachers to learn Mandarin greetings and phrases, explore Chinese cultural activities and customs, and try their hand at Chinese paper cutting.

She said: "It is a great honour to come to Nottingham Trent University as a Chinese language teacher because I believe that communication between different countries and cultures is very important. My time with Network for Languages East Midlands will be spent delivering Mandarin and Chinese culture to primary and secondary school students across the East Midlands, and also to run Continuous Profession Development sessions with primary and secondary school teachers, so they can pass on their knowledge to the pupils."

Yanhua Li's stay is part of the Hanban programme, a non-governmental and non-profit organisation affiliated to the Ministry of Education of China. It is committed to making Chinese language and culture teaching resources and services available to the world, to meet the demands of overseas Chinese learners and to contribute to the formation of a world of cultural diversity.

Her support is in addition to two other Hanban teachers at Nottingham Trent University this year. Yanjie Wang and Jinchun Yuan will be helping to teach Mandarin to students, staff and members of the community, and will also contribute to research in the University's Languages and International Studies department.

Clodagh Cooney, Network for Languages East Midlands Manager, said: "It's fantastic to have three Hanban teachers at the university this year. Not only will the students and the community benefit, but having Yanhua Li with us means we can expand our support to schools and inspire more people to learn about the Chinese language and culture."

Following a recent session delivered by Yanhua, Rita D'Silva-Griffiths from Judgemeadow Community College in Leicester added: "Students learnt so much in such a short session. They all took home something and at the end of the session it was fantastic to hear the students speaking Chinese with a wonderful accent. In addition they learnt how to do some Chinese paper cutting and made origami sculptures. Absolutely fantastic afternoon - lots of interaction and fun. Students asked if we could teach Chinese on a permanent basis!''