On July 4, the opening ceremony of the 2022 "Chinese Bridge" Mandarin Excellence Programme Virtual Intensive Study in China was successfully held online. Mr. Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education of China; Mr. Robin Walker, Minister of State at the Department for Education UK. ; Matt Burney, Minister of Culture and Education, British Embassy in China and the Director of the British Council China, and Mr. Li Wei, Director and Dean of UCL Institute of Education, attended the opening ceremony and addressed the speeches. Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 students and teachers from 64 schools in the UK and 16 host institutions in China, participated in the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony was presided over by Prof. Ma Jianfei, Director-General of the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC).
In his video message, Tian Xuejun spoke highly of the British side's efforts to actively promote Chinese language teaching, and expressed that helping the people of the two countries, especially the youth, learn each other's language had always been one of the key tasks in the field of education. He hoped that British students could know more about China's past, and understand China's present and future through learning Chinese. These British students can share their experiences with the Chinese students participating in the Virtual Intensive Study, build up sincere friendships, and come to visit China in person at the right time.
In his speech, Robin Walker recalled his visit to the schools of the Mandarin Excellence Programme, and acknowledged the fruitful achievements of the programme and the outstanding effect of the online study activities on the improvement of students' Chinese language skills. He expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the positive contribution of the Chinese and British partner organizations. He said learning Chinese would not only enable British youth to broaden their horizons and gain employment advantages, but also make the two peoples to form a close partnership to tackle future challenges together.
In their speeches, the distinguished guests summarized the progress and achievements of the Mandarin Excellence Programme and expected the Chinese language learners to continue their efforts, live up to their expectations, and learn Chinese well. Basing on these points, Chinese language learners would understand real China and Chinese people, be messengers of Sino-British language and culture exchange, and support, participate in and promote friendly exchanges and people-to-people contacts between the two countries. During the opening ceremony, student representatives also shared their Chinese language learning journey and expressed their love for Chinese culture and expectations for the online events.
After the opening ceremony, more than 1,500 British secondary school students will embark on their journey of a two-week Virtual Intensive Study. The 16 Chinese universities and colleges in 11 Chinese cities will focus on the following four themes---"Panda Zoo", "Sports and Modern Life", "Chinese School" and "History and Cultural Heritage". They will provide the British students with a variety of Chinese language teaching and cultural experiences, including live lectures, video tours, folklore experiences, musical evening parties and family visits.
Sponsored and funded by the British Government and organised by the British Council and University College London joining hands with the CLEC, Mandarin Excellence Programme aims to train 9,000 middle school students to be proficient in Chinese by 2023. As an important part of the program, the "Chinese Bridge" Mandarin Excellence Programme Virtual Intensive Study in China organizes an annual intensive training program for British students who have mastered some Chinese. The event was first held online last year and was warmly welcomed by students and teachers, and this year the event continues to be carried out online. (Source from Center for Language Education and Cooperation)
