metro extralife 16 metrolifeextra Thursday, September 24, 2009 Anyone for Orienteering? Chinese culture: Learning Mandarin is just one of the ways the Confucius Institute at UCD helps to develop links between Ireland and China BY ROSS MCDONAGH T he rich man plans for tomorrow, the poor man for today, or so the ancient Chinese proverb goes. Ask any business leader for their single most important piece of advice for the future, and youll hear the same answer repeated many times: Learn Chinese. China is one of the worlds fastest growing economies and has the worlds largest population and largest pool of consumers. China is Irelands sixth biggest trading partner and the fastest growing. Many economists predict China will overtake the US as the world superpower in economic terms. The Asian Development Bank recently updated its forecasts for China from slowly but steadily crawling out of the recession to sprinting out of it. And with strong economies not exactly two-a-Fen at the moment, its a no-brainer as to which cardinal direction anyone with business or future employment prospects should be looking. The Chinese language can be daunting at first. Much like Greek/ Hebrew/Latin/Arabic, its all, well, Chinese. Luckily, the International Chinese Language Council is here to help. The non-governmental, non-profit organisation (which is affiliated to the Ministry of Education of China) has made great strides towards putting the teaching resources and services of the Chinese language and culture at the worlds disposal. Along with Renmin University of China and UCD, the Council set up the UCD Confucius Institute at the Belfield campus in order to work with the Irish government, business and academia to develop stronger educational, cultural and commercial links between Ireland and China. Mandarin survey Recently, the Institute carried out an extensive survey of Irish schools to examine the provision of and attitudes to Mandarin Chinese teaching here. It found that while Mandarin Chinese has been increasing in popularity in schools in Europe and elsewhere in recent decades, up until 2006 there was no systematic provision for its teaching in Irish schools. While 33 per cent of schools believe its important to include Mandarin Chinese in the Junior and Leaving Certificate curricula, only three per cent had ever run Mandarin courses, while less than eight per cent ran any Chinese cultural events. The main reasons for not running Mandarin teaching courses were lack of staff expertise, insufficient numbers of Chinese students, lack of interest from pupils and parents, lack of teaching materials, the fact that Chinese is not covered in the curriculum and other curriculum topics being more important. Global outlook Nevertheless, 78 per cent of schools felt that the development of a more global and intercultural outlook was a potential benefit for students learning Mandarin Chinese in Irish secondary schools. Some 70 per cent listed future occupational opportunities; 69 per cent listed leisure/tourism opportunities, 65 per cent listed the development of transferable language skills and 57 per cent listed future academic opportunities as benefits. More than three quarters of the surveyed schools believed the staging of cultural activities relating to Chinese festivals, such as Chinese New Year, would be helpful in the promotion of Mandarin teaching programmes. Almost two-fifths of schools said theyd be interested in finding out more about a twinning or student exchange programme with a school in China, and almost half would consider organising a subsidised trip to China. With the support of the UCD Confucius Institute, five Irish secondary schools have to date introduced Mandarin teaching programmes since 2007: one as an extracurricular programme for first and second year students and the other four schools have it as an option for transition year students. www.confuciusinstitute.ie Courses at the Confucius Institute UCD Confucius Institute offers a range of courses, including Beginner, Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese Language; Chinese Calligraphy, Art & Appreciation; Chinese Culture and Society; Chinese Business; as well as the Chinese martial arts Changquan and Taiji. To mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Ireland and China, as well as to celebrate the 60th birthday of the Peoples Republic of China on October 1, the Institute is launching a special promotion rate of 150 for each ten- week course, and you can bring a friend for free (or if its someone you dont like as much, you can make them pay half). Evening classes begin on October 12, and can be undertaken at either Belfield or the Institutes second campus at 26 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. A special free taster evening has been arranged for Tuesday October 6, between 6pm and 7pm. Master Lan Li, a lecturer at the Irish Institute for Chinese Studies, will introduce the origin and background to the Chinese language, a secret method of speed learning, as well as some basic daily Chinese words and phrases, and participants will be invited to engage in a number of activities throughout the free lecture. Then from 7pm to 9pm, the RMU Youth Performing Arts Troupe, 30 young students of one of Chinas most renowned and award-winning arts schools, will put on a gala performance of Chinese music, dance and martial arts, all free of charge. Global challenge: Students at UCDs Confucius Institute, which helps develop links between Ireland and China Learning to write Chinese Chinese Language (Beginners) Chinese Language (Post-Beginners) Wushu (Martial Arts) for Beginners Chinese Culture and Society Chinese Language (Lower Intermediate) Chinese Language (Upper Intermediate) Chinese Calligraphy Tai Chi University College Dublin An Coliste Ollscoile, Baile tha Cliath The UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland offers a variety of 10-week evening courses, commencing October 12th, 2009. For details of the courses contact Ms Yi Bao at 01 716 4747 / china@ucd.ie, or register online at www.cii.ie Learning Chinese to meet Rising China Evening Courses at UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland The UCD Confucius Institute of Ireland is a joint venture between the Office of Chinese Language Council International,Renmin University of China and UCD.Its primary aim is to work with government,business and academia to develop stronger educational,cultural and commercial links between Ireland and China. Special promotional offer: Reserve two places, with a friend for only 150 ChoosingCollege,Courses&Careers index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html