"What is Super High-speed Railway?" Milan asks, who is from Serbia and currently studying Chinese in Chengdu.

"It can be understood as super high-speed railway or ultra high-speed railway, and its core word is ultra-high speed." Deng Zigang, a researcher at Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU), explains.

"Youth Link-online talks with global young leaders" is a talk show video with global young elites as the story tellers, produced by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) and co-produced by SWJTU and Chengdu Radio & Television (CDRTV). This program aims, through the eyes of the young home and abroad, to provide quality resources of cultural exchange for all the young learners all over the world with "talk show video + online Chinese course packs". It is also an innovative practice of multi-subject cooperation between language and culture institutions, universities and professional media.

Taking the thinking depth of the teaching subjects into account

Relevant data show that by the end of 2020, more than 180 countries and regions around the world are carrying out Chinese language education, over 70 countries have incorporated Chinese into their national education system, and above 20 million people in foreign countries are learning Chinese. How to expand the teaching pattern of international Chinese language education has been what professionals and experts are thinking about and exploring, and the launch of "Youth Link" is an attempt based on this background.

Liu Bo, head of the International Chinese Department at the School of Foreign Languages of Southwest Jiaotong University, is one of the leaders of the program. According to her, the core content of the program includes two aspects: one is talk show video, in which several young people from China and abroad are invited in each episode to start a dialogue on a certain field and topic, driving the topic discussion in a bilingual format; the other is the supporting language course, providing language learning assistance for learners on the ChinesePlus platform.

"One of the considerations of the program is to provide teaching resources for learners with a higher level of Chinese language proficiency, which requires the topics to take into account the thinking depth of the teaching subjects and not to ignore their thinking ability and knowledge level. The topic chosen for the first episode of the program is the super high-speed railway, the future mode of human transportation, which is a very popular topic, precisely based on the purpose of helping Chinese language learners know the emerging technology and experience contemporary China." Liu Bo said, "The accompanying curriculum also takes full account of the background of the course users, choosing language materials that match their knowledge structure and comprehension, expecting that the participants will build their knowledge of contemporary China through their Chinese studies."

According to Zhu Xiaoming, consultant of the program and Vice President of the Confucius Institute at University College London, the topic of the development of contemporary China has always been a point of interest for Chinese language learners around the world, and capturing this point really helps to motivate learning.

Integrating language education and culture education

In Liu Bo's opinion, in the process of international Chinese language teaching, language education and culture education should not be separated, and a good teaching model should be an integration of the two parts, ultimately achieving a virtuous cycle of learning Chinese for the love of Chinese culture and gaining a deeper understanding of Chinese culture for the learning of Chinese.

The "Youth Link" course is based on the integration of language teaching and cultural teaching, which not only provides Chinese language and culture learning services for the audience of the program, but also satisfies the audience's need to learn more about the language and cultural knowledge behind the topic.

Taking the first episode of "The Pursuit of High Speed-The Story of Maglev Vehicle Pioneer" for an example, Deng Zigang, a researcher at SWJTU; Ana, a doctoral student in the university's Vehicle Application Engineering program; and host Milan, discussed together about how super high-speed railway can make the means of transportation more convenient.

Deng Zigang (left), a researcher at Southwest Jiaotong University, demonstrating the relevant model.

Viewers of the program will not only learn Chinese vocabulary, sentence patterns, expressions and other language aspects related to the theme, touch the communication strategies from the dialogues and improve their language listening and speaking skills, but they also can learn about the cultural knowledge behind the theme and deepen their understanding of Chinese culture and the development of contemporary China.

Ana thinks that the program is "very attractive to foreign students who want to learn Chinese". "First of all, the topic of super high-speed railway is very popular, and by watching the program you can learn a lot of Chinese technical words related to the topic, and then you can start discussions around topics such as 'transportation' and 'super high-speed railway', like expressing thoughts about the relationship between transportation and life in Chinese, as well as reading related Chinese articles. Secondly, considering the different Chinese language levels of the program's viewers, Milan and I spoke relatively simple and slow Chinese. Mr. Deng speaks relatively fast and uses more specialized vocabulary, thus complementing each other and combining the depth of content." Ana said.

Uniting youth around the world

In the introduction of "Youth Link", the program emphasizes "leading communication with topics and embracing the world with openness", which is another goal the program hopes to achieve. This is another goal of the program - to link young people from all over the world who share the same interest in a topic, and to link young people who share the same love for Chinese.

The second episode of "Giant Panda Guardians", which was launched recently, features three guests who have close contact with giant pandas every day, including Chen Xin, a veterinarian at the veterinary hospital of Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, who guards the health of giant pandas; Abe Nobuko, a Japanese giant panda keeper; and James Ayala, who works on the conservation research and behavioral studies and training of giant pandas, to discuss giant panda conservation issues and the relationship between humans and nature. The program helps viewers to raise the awareness of protecting biodiversity, and experience the achievements of Chinese ecological protection, through discussing the issue of protecting the giant pandas.

James Ayala, who works in conservation research and behavioral studies and training of giant pandas, at work.

As Chen Xin said, although the giant panda is a rare and endangered wild animal unique to China, there is no national boundaries for its protection. "In the process of protecting giant pandas, I have met many foreign friends, such as Abe Nobuko."

Abe Nobuko has loved pandas since she was a child, and by the time she was a senior in high school, she was certain that her dream was to be a giant panda keeper. "Because I wanted to work near the wild areas of the giant panda base, I came to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and took up this job purely because I like pandas, and if my physical condition allows, I intend to stay here as a giant panda keeper." Abe Nobuko said.

Japanese giant panda keeper Abe Nobuko at work

"To protect the homeland of the giant panda is to protect the homeland of human beings." –These words of Abe Nobuko have been recognized by the audience of the program, which also reflects the purpose of "Youth Link" to "link" youth from different countries through the topic. (cited from  Center for Language Education and Cooperation, Information Sources： People's Daily Overseas Edition)

(All the pictures in this article are from the video screenshot of "Youth Link")