“Chinese corner” was held in Faculty of Humanities
LatvianUniversity at 4:30 pm on 1st of June, 2016. It was again hosted by Dr. Agita Baltgalve, professor of Sinology at the Faculty. About twenty people took part in this activity. They included undergraduate and graduate students who specialized in Sinology, Chinese language teachers who taught at the Faculty and volunteer Chinese language teachers from Confucius Institute. The topic of Chinese corner this time was hobby. After everyone had made a short self-introduction, it was presentation period, in which some well-prepared students shared with audience their hobbies with PowerPoint illustration. A student showed how she loved cats, while another showed how she adored her dogs and in addition, how well she could dance and sing. Karina Jermaka, a local Chinese language instructor working at the Faculty, played some of her street dance videos that impressed everyone. It turned out that she was not only a Chinese language teacher but also a street dance teacher. Her explanations of characteristics of Hip-Hop and Locking held the audience’s attention; that her hobbies also included Chinese calligraphy and painting led everyone to marvel at her versatility. Another impressive talk was given by a volunteer Chinese language teacher whose hobby was jogging and who participated in marathon after some years of devotion to the hobby. In fact, interesting sharing of hobbies followed one after another. Some just enjoyed long hours of sleep; some liked cooking; some loved taking care of kids. Some found great pleasure in playing Ukulele, and some were keen on swimming and pin-pong game. In general, participants’ hobbies were about sports and artistic pursuits. The last phase was free talk. Because it was arranged that Sinology students and teachers sat next to each other so that each Sinology student was accompanied by a Chinese language teacher, they had plenty of opportunities to practice spoken Chinese. The meeting place just saw people engaged in in-depth talks on hobbies that interested them. The activity lasted approximately two hours with drinks and cookies served on the table. The “Chinese corner” activity this time furthered understanding between teachers and students, who learned some vivid expressions from the talks.
