CIG participated in the 6th Global Chinese School Network Spring Festival Gala
On February 8, 2024, an extraordinary “Global Chinese School Network Spring Festival Gala” went live as scheduled, featuring wonderful performances from Chinese students from around the world.
This year’s Spring Festival Gala featured 36 programs, curated by the organizers from a total of 193 submissions from 87 institutions across 32 countries. Among them, the programs from CIG Switzerland also garnered attention.
Eleven-year-old student Feng Siyu performed a piano solo. Since the age of 5, when she began studying Chinese at CIG Switzerland, she has consistently maintained her passion for and dedication to Chinese language learning. During the pandemic, she actively participated in the live classes organized by the Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China, earning praise and encouragement from her teachers.
In addition to her love for Chinese, Feng Siyu has a wide range of interests. She is passionate about skiing, piano, and painting. She has also won numerous awards in various painting competitions. This time, her piano solo piece was selected as an outstanding work for the Spring Festival Gala, stunning the audience and adding luster to CIG Switzerland.
The Global Chinese School Network Spring Festival Gala is not only a grand exchange event among Chinese language schools but also a showcase of the style and talent of overseas Chinese learners. Their efforts and performances inject new vitality into the inheritance and promotion of Chinese culture. We look forward to the contributions of these children in promoting global cultural exchange and understanding in the future.
Feng Siyu
CIG tells Chinese stories in Geneva during the Spring Festival
Xinhua Silk Road, Geneva, February 14th (Reporter: Wang Qibing) “When my daughter saw me learning Chinese, she insisted on learning to write Chinese characters, so I sent her to this Chinese school,” said Charlotte Serra, accompanying her 8-year-old daughter at the lively CIG Chinese New Year event booth in the Balexert shopping center in Geneva. The mother and daughter deliberately wore red Chinese-style dresses. CIG principal Mrs. Sun Zhimin picked a smiling dragon mascot from a pile and gave it to the blonde little girl, saying to the reporter, “This is our school’s student, the dragon mascot must be given as a gift.”
At the time of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the large indoor shopping center Balexert near Geneva Airport and CIG jointly held a “Chinese New Year” display event. The former posted the entire schedule for February 1st to 3rd on its official website with a festive red tone and dragon pattern pages.
In the bright atrium area of the shopping center, the Chinese New Year celebration was open to the public for free. Red lanterns, dragon mascots, bamboo screens decorated with the character ‘福’ (fu) for happiness and large-scale Chinese calligraphy served as backdrop scenes. Ancient Chinese musical instruments, tea tables and desks were arranged in front. Chinese families who heard about the event and shoppers passing by gathered in this public space. Some sat down to write Chinese calligraphy or enjoy Chinese tea, while others stopped to appreciate live performances of ancient Chinese musical instruments.
“I’m visiting Geneva for the first time, and it’s a bit surprising to see local elders come to listen to Chinese classical music,” said Jingming, the guqin performer dressed in traditional Hanfu, specially invited by CIG principal Sun Zhimin, with a prominent “京” signboard. Over the course of three days, she performed guqin, xiao, and xun brought from Beijing for the audience. “Music is truly the best language. Sharing Chinese classical music here as part of our culture helps people connect on a deeper level.”
On Saturday afternoon, shortly after two o’clock, lion dancers appeared again, drawing an even larger crowd. Children were lifted up, sitting on adults’ shoulders. More people took the escalator to the upper level to watch from above: two Chinese lions in red and dark green, dancing closely to the drum beats around the venue. Wherever they approached, young people and children burst into surprised cheers.”
“We hold a Spring Festival cultural exhibition every year. It used to be held in Nyon in the canton of Vaud. This year, it’s the first time we’ve moved it to Geneva’s largest shopping center,” Sun Zhimin told reporters. “Last year, during the Spring Festival, we felt that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the promotion of Chinese culture entered a relatively quiet period. So, we thought about how to let more people feel the vitality of Chinese culture again this year. When we shared our ideas with the manager of Balexert, we immediately received a positive response.”
Sun Zhimin’s “breaking boundaries” initiative did not stop at these three days of events. On the eve of the Chinese Spring Festival, her photo appeared on the cover of Coop, a well-established Swiss supermarket’s publication. This is said to be the largest circulation publication in Switzerland. Both the German and French editions of the current issue featured a four-page interview with CIG principal Sun Zhimin, introducing Chinese New Year culture. She shared stories of her childhood celebrating the Spring Festival in Shanghai. One quote from the interview was: “A Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner is synonymous with sharing.”
In Sun Zhimin’s view, there is a positive correlation between the influence of Chinese culture and the number of students in the Chinese school. She hopes to expand the influence of the Spring Festival through various means to gradually bring back lost students.
Charlotte’s reason for learning Chinese is related to her work. She told reporters, “I work in the pharmaceutical industry, as a product quality manager for factories in Singapore, China, Switzerland and other countries. Many of our products are made in China.” Since 2019, Charlotte has been learning Chinese remotely at a university in Beijing. Unexpectedly, her young daughter was influenced and showed a great love for Chinese characters, leading them to eventually encounter the offline CIG Chinese language school. As they left the event booth, Sun Zhimin first bid farewell to them in French, then prompted, “Let’s say goodbye in Chinese this time: 下次再见 (See you next time).”
Sun Zhimin
Testimonials-Témoignage-才艺展示CIG2008-2024
As I embarked on the journey of learning Chinese, I faced numerous challenges and difficulties. However, I firmly believed that with hard work and dedication, every effort would be worthwhile. Along the vast path of learning, I not only mastered a language but also gained the strength of perseverance and resilience. Getting into university is the result of my dedication, and learning Chinese is a precious experience in my life. I offer these words of success to inspire myself and all those who are striving, believing that by persisting in our dreams and courageously scaling the peaks of life, we will undoubtedly encounter a more brilliant future!
Lorsque j’ai entrepris le voyage d’apprentissage du chinois, j’ai rencontré de nombreux défis et difficultés. Cependant, je croyais fermement qu’avec du travail acharné et de la détermination, chaque effort serait précieux. Tout au long du vaste chemin de l’apprentissage, je n’ai pas seulement maîtrisé une langue, mais j’ai aussi acquis la force de la persévérance et de la résilience.
Entrer à l’université est le résultat de ma dévotion, et apprendre le chinois est une expérience précieuse dans ma vie. Je partage ces paroles de succès pour m’inspirer moi-même et tous ceux qui s’efforcent, croyant qu’en persistant dans nos rêves et en escaladant courageusement les sommets de la vie, nous rencontrerons inévitablement un avenir plus brillant !
In the recently concluded 15th “Chinese Bridge” World Chinese Proficiency Competition for Secondary School Students in Switzerland, Gabriela AUBERT, representing the Geneva Chinese Education Foundation, achieved third place in the secondary school student category. With only two weeks of preparation time right after the end of the midterm exams, such an accomplishment is truly inspiring.
15th “Chinese Bridge” World Chinese Proficiency Competition
Three CIG teachers obtained the Certificate of Outstanding Trainee of the Chinese Language Teacher Quality Improvement Course
From April to June 2021, CIG teachers were busier than usual. In addition to the normal lesson preparation, they also signed up for the Chinese Language Teacher Quality Improvement Course organized by the Overseas Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation.
This online course is designed to help overseas Chinese teachers improve rapidly their education and teaching level. There are 100 lessons in total, including 30 live lessons and 70 recorded lessons.
The 30 live lessons have just ended. The committee is deeply impressed by the enthusiasm of overseas Chinese teachers. After the assessment by the judging team, 100 outstanding trainees were selected from 2,800 teachers and were issued certificates.
Three teachers from CIG won the honors, namely Qinan LI, Jie LI and Yu SUN.
More than 2,800 Chinese teachers signed up for the Chinese Language Teacher Quality Improvement Course. They also set up an exclusive learning group. We highly appreciate the online learning platform established by the Overseas Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation. CIG will continue to improve the education and teaching level of our teachers and provide them with more and better learning resources.
Three CIG teachers obtained the Certificate of Outstanding Trainee of the Chinese Language Teacher Quality Improvement Course
2021 first HSC Test
In May 2021, CIG held the first Heritage Chinese Language Proficiency Test, shortened as HSC. Five students in CIG’s elite mother-tongue class under the guidance of Teacher Ruiping AN took the exam and all passed the reading level 6 with high scores.
The HSC test has been developed by the College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University, entrusted by the former Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of China, and serves as a standardized and unified examination worldwide.
Since CIG reached an agreement and signed the contract with the College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University in China in June 2020, CIG has actively started to prepare and formulate an examination plan. We kept closecommunication with Jinan University and our team of teachers, in order to be familiar with the examination process and requirements.
Test successfully completed
First HSC Test held by CIG
The May 2020 HSC test organized by CIG in Nyon was our first experience. We received positive responses and support from both students and parents.
Our students have just received their scores and obtained the Chinese Proficiency Certificate. The five students are YuwaAN, Siqi CHEN, Ouze WANG, Xinping CHEN and Yufan HOU. Among them, Yuwa got a grade 6+, and the teachersfrom HSC test commented that her Chinese proficiency exceeded mother tongue students.
Future outlook
By organizing HSC test and understanding its design philosophy, test structure, test mode and level, we can help overseas Chinese youths better understand their Chinese language proficiency and ability, increase their interest in learning, and inherit and promote Chinese culture.
Sincere congratulations to our five students who have achieved good results, and to our teacher Ruiping AN. We thank them for providing reference benchmarks for our Chinese teaching guidance in future, and motivating us to make continuous progress and development in our work.
CIG Students Passed the HSC Test with High Scores
Congratulations for HSK exams’ success
Good news: CIG teacher and students won the World Chinese Student Composition Competition Award
Recently, after 7 months of organization and implementation, the 21st “World Chinese Student Composition Competition” announced its special prizes, first, second and third prizes.
This competition was co-sponsored by China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots, People’s Daily Overseas Edition as well as Happy Composition Magazine and other units. It attracted more than 3 million Chinese students from 39 countries and regions to participate. Based on the principles of openness, fairness and justice, the expert jury of the competition strictly implements the manuscript review system of preliminary review, re-review and final review. The first and special award-winning manuscripts are all crosschecked by the provincial expert judges plus unified review. This process strictly filters plagiarism.
CIG student Yuwa AN won the first prize.
CIG teacher Ruiping AN won the Excellent Instructor Award.
CIG student Wu ZHANG won the third prize.
The World Chinese Student Composition Competition was founded in 2000 and has been successfully held for 21 sessions. Millions of Chinese students at home and abroad participate in each competition. It is one of the three national essay competitions recognized by the Ministry of Education. The other two competitions are the National Middle School Student Science Fiction Composition Competition and the “Ye Sheng Tao Cup” National Middle School New Composition Competition. With the standardized management of the Ministry of Education’s competition activities and the increasingly clear registration requirements for independent selection by universities, the value and importance of the competition is self-evident. This competition also provides a new opportunity for the overseas Chinese youths who are preparing to participate in the “Overseas Chinese Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Joint Examination” in order to study in domestic prestigious universities.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is raging, yet the power of words travels through time and space. Let us use Chinese language to tell our stories, share our state of mind, and convey our aspirations.
We sincerely congratulate the winners, and thank other students who actively participated in the composition contest. We wish you all greater progress in your Chinese learning!
CIG will persist in helping everyone learn Chinese language and culture.
Good news: CIG teacher and students won the World Chinese Student Composition Competition Award
CIG Student Yuwa AN Won a Prize in the Composition Contest
A big gift at the end of 2020
Recently, the 3rd Overseas Chinese Youth Creative Composition Competition announced the winning works. CIG student Yuwa AN, from the native-language elite class led by Mr. Ruiping AN, won a prize and her composition is published in the anthology of winning workings.
Yuwa AN’s award-winning article
CIG has been a co-organizer in this competition. We would like to express our thanks to the Jiangsu Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, Jiangsu Overseas Chinese Federation and other sponsors. Their strong support for overseas Chinese education has greatly motivated our students’ enthusiasm for learning Chinese.
CIG Student Yuwa AN Won a Prize in the Composition Contest
CIG Student Qixin Zheng Won an Award in the Global Youth Speech Contest
The well-known “Super Speakers” is a Chinese program that has been broadcast for nearly ten years. Nowadays, the “Speakers” IP incubated a new blockbuster event named “Super Speakers Global Youth Speech Contest” in 2020. It aims to find Chinese teenagers all over the world who love speech, and to encourage youth in the new era to express themselves and communicate with the world through speeches on a global stage. It is also a platform to promote Chinese culture and spread positive energy.
This contest will go through open audition, regional preliminary, regional final, semi-final and final. It consists of a dual display form of online participation video and offline field competitions. In the end, the winners will form a “Positive Youth Speaking League” and participate in the program recording of “Super Speakers-Positive Youth”.
The registration for overseas and domestic open audition was opened in May 2020, through multi-point channels. CIG 12-year-old student Qixin Zheng is one of the contestants. The topic of her speech is “I have a key to open the treasure house of Chinese culture”.
The contest is in full swing in summer 2020. Qixin won the “Best Network Popularity Award” in the overseas regional open audition. She successfully advanced to the regional competition of the “Super Speakers-Positive Youth” global youth speech contest.
Qixin told us that she received a lot of support from family and friends after her speech video was posted on the website. “I am so excited and happy to learn that I won an award, thanks to everyone who voted for me! I learned a lot from the contest. Thanks to my school CIG for providing me this opportunity! I will continue to do my best”, said Qixin.
Together we are looking forward to more exciting performances of our young generation.
CIG Student Qixin Zheng Won an Award in the Global Youth Speech ContestSamantha Walter
