Zhang Yu, a senior, Jin Mengdi, a junior, and Zhen Liumenglu, a sophomore, from the Department of International Chinese all participated in a 3-month student-teachers exchange program. They taught Chinese to students in the Department of Asian Studies at Palacký University in the Czech Republic from Sept. 23rd to Dec. 20th, 2013.

Founded in 1573, and located in Olomouc, a small city in the east of the Czech Republic , Palacký University is the second oldest university in the Czech Republic. China has opened a Confucius Institute at Palacký University. The 2013 exchange program between Palacký University and SWJTU was specially designed for students majoring in the Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language at SWJTU. After several rounds of selection, three students finally earned their opportunity. During their three months in the Czech Republic, they taught several Chinese courses which included Chinese Listening and Chinese Speaking for both freshmen and sophomores. In addition, they also held tutorial classes for sophomores as well as graduates. The size of each class was about 20 students, whilst the total for each grade varied from 40 to 70 students.

Besides their regular daily teaching, the SWJTU exchangees would mark the students' homework, join the question-and-answer sessions, report to their Czech supervisors, and discuss the following week’s teaching arrangements. In addition, they also held an “Oral Chinese Corner” every Wednesday, where they would talk about a certain subject with all grades of students at Palacký University who wished to improve their Chinese speaking ability. The three exchange students benefited a lot from the serious attitude of their foreign supervisors’ towards their teaching, as well as from their inspirational guidance. The SWJTU exchangees were also deeply impressed by the Czech students' passion for Chinese.

 

Jin Mengdi tutoring a student.

Zhang Yu teaching.
 

In addition to all the above, the three student-teachers also played an active role in the cultural activities held by the Confucius Institute at Palacký University. Every October, the Confucius Institute would hold a “Chinese Culture Month” in Olomouc, displaying various Chinese cultural symbols including dumplings, river lanterns and hotpots, which attracted a large number of Czech students and local people. The exchangees taught Czech students how to make dumplings and hotpots. They were all thrilled and excited by the Czech students' curiosity and thirst for Chinese culture.

 

For the three student-teachers, the teaching practice at Palacký University put what they had all learned in the classroom into authentic practice and experience, making them deeply aware of the key points in teaching Chinese. Each of them acknowledged that this was a valuable inspiration, and lessons were learnt from different angles. For example, Zhang Yu realized the importance of using English to explain Chinese grammar; Jin Mengdi learnt that Chinese language promotion in the Czech Republic is a task that needs every Chinese teacher’s efforts; Zhen Liumenglu stressed the teaching preparation and possible breakthroughs in teaching methods.

Upon their successful completion of the exchange program, the three students managed to improve their Chinese teaching ability and were able to put forward recommendations based on their direct observations of current Chinese teaching pratices in the Czech Republic. This exchange program sets a good example for the practice of students’ teaching, and further promotes the teaching of the Department of International Chinese.