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The May HSK exam diet offers candidates the choice of online or offline options to secure a Chinese language proficiency certificate. The exam, which runs globally, is offered at 6 levels with level one being appropriate for students who have studied for up to 40 hours.

The online format is most suitable for those who are familiar in using a keyboard to input pinyin and select characters. Offline i.e. a written exam is recommended for those who have not built up this skill.
An oral component (known as HSKK) is also available as an option.

Registration for the exam must be received by Thursday 11th April. Full details of the HSK and the registration form can be found at www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk/hsk

Three fourth year undergrads from the University of Edinburgh swept the boards at the 12th annual `Chinese Bridge` language competition with Meghan Ghent being awarded First Prize. In addition Edijana Obiakpani-Guest received 3rd prize and Anitra Williams was awarded best speaker.

Meghan will now go forward to represent the UK in Beijing where the global finals will take place later this year. Anna Brunner from SOAS who received the grand prize will also represent the UK.

The competition allows foreign students the chance to showcase their Chinese language proficiency and consists of an oral presentation, random questions regarding Chinese culture, and a talent show.

For more information and some pictures please click here.

Applications are now being sought for the Confucius Institute Scholarship Schemes which are open to candidates age 16-35. If you are currently in post teaching Chinese the upper age limit is extended to 45.

CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE SCHOLARSHIPS 2013

The deadline for submission of applications to the Confucius Institute for Scotland is Monday 15th April 2013.

There are three options – a one semester scholarship; a one academic year scholarship; a two year Masters in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages(MTCSOL).

To be eligible for the first two options you must be a non-Chinese citizen aged between 16 and 35 while MTCSOL language teachers must be aged below 45 when in post.

ELIGILITY CRITERIA

Type A
Scholarships for one semester can be taken in autumn semester 2013 or spring semester 2014. Applicants can choose to study Chinese Language and Literature, Chinese History, or Chinese Philosophy. Applicants should have a score of at least 120 on the HSK (level 2) and at least 40 on the HSKK (elementary level), or have completed a minimum of 60 hours of study at the Confucius Institute.

Type B
Scholarships of one academic year. Applicants can choose to study Chinese Language and Literature, Chinese History, or Chinese Philosophy. This scholarship runs for one year starting in autumn 2013. Applicants should achieve a score of at least 180 on the HSK (level 3) and at least 60 on the HSKK(primary level), or or have completed a minimum of 120 hours of study at the Confucius Institute.

Type C
Master in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages. (MTCSOL)

The scholarship lasts for two years and will run from autumn 2013. After successful completion of the study, the candidates will be awarded Master’s degree in MTCSOL and graduate certificate.
Applicants are required to have a bachelor degree or its equivalent with a score of at least 180 on the HSK (level 5) and a score of at least 50 on the HSKK (intermediate level). In addition the applicant must make a written commitment stating that he/she will be engaged in Chinese language teaching for at least 5 years after graduation. Applicants with specific teaching posts arranged will be given admission priority (certification by the institution where s/he will teach is required). Hanban will provide support for outstanding graduates to return to their countries to teach. Applications for this programme are particularly welcomed from outstanding students of Confucius Institutes (Classrooms), overseas local Chinese language teachers, outstanding performers on HSK exams, winners of the `Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competitions for Foreign College Students and outstanding graduates of Chinese language courses.

WHAT DO THE SCHOLARSHIPS COVER?

All three of the Confucius Institute scholarship types cover:

1. Registration Fee and Tuition Fees for basic learning materials
2. Accommodation on campus
3. A one-off resettlement subsidy
4. Monthly allowance
5. Outpatient medical service
6. Comprehensive insurance

Monthly allowances and resettlement allowances in CNY Yuan are:-

Type A: One Semester CNY 1400 per month plus CNY 1000 resettlement
Type B: One Year CNY 1400 per month plus CNY 1500 resettlement ]
Type C: Two Year MTCSOL CNY 1700 per month plus CNY 1500 resettlement

Please note that the one off resettlement payment will not be awarded to any student who has been studying in China for more than 6 months prior to being enrolled.

CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Please note this is a two part process. You must log on and register electronically and then print off your online registration documents and make a paper application with supporting documents to the Confucius Institute through which you are applying.

Step 1
Log onto http://cis.chinese.cn to set up your personal account then complete and submit the Confucius Institute Scholarship Application Form online.

Step 2

Print out the submitted form and send it together with other supporting documents as applicable from list below to the Confucius Institute for Scotland by Monday 15th April 2013.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

1/ Photocopy of passport photo page

2/ Photo copy of HSK and HSKK result report

3/ Notarized highest education diploma attained or proof of study.

4A/ Reference letter for one semester and one year applicant
Or
4B/ Two reference letters for MTCSOL and letter of commitment

Master’s Degree Scholarship applicants are required to submit reference letters (in Chinese or English) provided by two professors or associate professors.

Master’s Degree applicants should also provide a commitment in writing stating that the applicant will be engaged in Chinese language teaching for at least five years after graduation (written in Chinese and signed by the applicant).

5/ Applications under the age of 18 should submit relevant legal documents of entrusted legal guardians in China.

6/ Winners of the finals of the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competitions for Foreign College Students and for Foreign High School Students in China shall submit the scholarship certificate. Winners of preliminary rounds of the “Chinese Bridge” Proficiency Competitions in their countries shall provide award proof and reference letter provided by the organizers.

7/ Chinese language teachers shall submit certificate of employment and recommendation letters provided by institutes they work for.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

All applications will be reviewed initially by the Confucius Institute which will recommend outstanding applicants to those Chinese host institutions taking part. Host institutions will then review the applications and submit their proposed scholarship candidates list to Hanban.

Hanban will organise an expert panel to make the final selection and award the scholarships by 15 June 2013. This information will be published on the Scholarship website. The various Chinese Universities will send successful applicants an “Admission Notice” and enrolment package by 1 July 2013.

If successful you follow the processes outline by your Chinese host university and book your flight to China!

For the second year in a row, the Institute`s Chinese calligraphy and brush painting teacher, Chi Zhang, MSC BA, has had one of his Chinese artworks selected for the prestigious Visual Arts Scotland 2013 Annual Exhibition in the Royal Scottish Academy.

His brush painting entitled `January` is a Scottish contemporary scene created using Chinese brush painting techniques. This popular exhibition is FREE and will run from Friday 1st till 25th March 2013 in the RSA Lower Galleries, The Mound, Edinburgh. Chi Zhang will be in the gallery on Saturday 2nd March from 1pm-3pm.

For those who are in Glasgow a solo exhibition of Chi Zhang`s work (both calligraphy and brush painting) is running in Skypark in Glasgow from now until the end of March.

To find out more about Chi Zhang`s work please visit his blog here

As part of Innovative Learning Week in the UoE there are a number of free events organised by different departments which are focusing on Chinese language and culture. Here are two of general interest.

Tue 19th Feb: 1800-2100

An opportunity to enjoy a three part programme with a special talk on Chinese festival dances from Meiyi Chen; a exhibition and explanation of Chinese New Year symbols, icons, and ornaments; and an introductory paper on a Chinese movie `Ermo` followed by ashowing of this movie. FOr more information on the above please visit the AHRS Speaking My Language website.
This evening event will take place in the Languages and Humanities Centre in the basement of the David Hume Tower.

Wed 20th Feb 1430- 1530

Head over to the Chaplaincy Auditorium when the Language Cafe organised by EUSA Global is running a Mandarin Language Cafe. The Tandem programme focuses on sharing language and sharing culture through language cafes, help in finding a language partner and an occasional language cafe event. More information on their website.

Enjoy!

Event Date: 21/02/2013

The University of Strathclyde, SCILT and the Confucius Institute for Scottish Schools will host a lecture by artist Ying Sheng Yang from 6.00-7.30pm on Thursday 21st February in room 104 of the Lord Hope Building. The lecture is billed

`Where there is a compression, there will be resistance – A brief history of Contemporary Chinese Art through an artist`s eyes.`

Ying Sheng Yang was born in 1961 and at the age of seven was selected for his school Art Group. Over the period of the cultural revolution he was a `Child Painter` when he did what he called `my fair share of spreading Chairman Mao`s thoughts`. Later through his studies he became one of the 186 Avant Garde artists.

In his lecture he will postulate that real art never dies, no matter how hostile the environment. While in China the hostile environment may temporarily have stopped art from growing it also provided artists with a resource that made Chinese contemporary art stand out from the rest of the world.

Lord Hope Building is on St James Road. To book a space please email  grant.mclean@strath.ac.uk.

The year of the snake will start on Sunday 10th February and over the 15 days of the Spring Festival a wide range of China focused activities are taking place.

On Friday evening 8 Feb if you are in the west of Scotland, head to the Main Gate at Glasgow University to catch a Dragon Dance from 17.45-18.00 – as long as the weather is dry!

If you are in the east of Scotland join us to make Chinese New Year decorations at our Friday evening Chinese Corner 17.30-19.00.

Feeling suitability celebratory then just choose which of the many events below will form part of your Chinese New Year programme of activities.

SATURDAY 9 FEB

Join us for a 6 week evening course starting on Valentine`s Day, 14th February, which will help you begin to understand Chinese characters.

All you need is an interest in Chinese characters and just a little knowledge of Chinese sound system.

Content of Course

• Elements of Chinese characters: 8 kinds of basic strokes and some compound strokes
• Roles of the stroke order
• One/multi-component characters and structures of characters
• 4 Methods of constructing characters
• 40 basic radicals which are related to different meanings
• How to use a Chinese dictionary
• How to input Chinese characters by computer.

Teaching method

The course is tutorial based with multimedia support. Supplementary material is prepared by the teacher. In order to fully benefit from the course and to achieve the learning outcomes, students are expected to spend 1-2 hours per class on revision and homework.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students are expected to have mastered 100 characters and recognize 150-200 characters. With the systematic background knowledge gained students should establish a cognitive construct for Chinese characters and master a system, by which they will gain a better understanding of the characters and the words in context as well as be able to guess the meaning of a new character without knowing the pronunciation of it.

Sources
No textbook is required but students will receive printed materials about Chinese characters to help them learn and practice.

VENUE: Confucius Institute for Scotland
DATES: 6 x Thursday evenings from 14 February 2013
TIME: 6pm -7.30pm
COST: £75.00 (£50.00)

To check if spaces in this small class are available please first call our office on 0131 662 2180. We shall then send you a registration form which should be returned with payment in cash or by cheque made out to the University of Edinburgh.

Student support
Please contact us to arrange a confidential appointment if you think you have any specific study requirements that may need to be put in place to enable you to study a Languages for All course. Giving us this information will enable us to make arrangements to meet your requirements for studying in accordance with your rights under the Disability Discrimination Act.

Join us for our Year of the Snake Spring Festival party on Friday 15th February from 6pm till 9pm at Abden House.

A full programme of fun is planned for the evening:

A special Chinese Conversation and Culture Corner will take place on Friday 8th February when the focus will be on Chinese New Year traditions with the chance to make some special decorations to welcome the New Year.

Run by our teaching staff from Fudan University the Corner is a great chance to practice some Chinese no matter what your level and also find out more about aspects of Chinese culture. Simply drop in around 5.30pm till 7pm to the first floor teaching room of the Institute – no booking necessary.

Following this New Year themed evening the next CCCC will take place on Friday 22 February 2013.

With an extensive collection of books about China and Chinese language in the Institute library, our teachers have selected a number of books to make up a `Recommended Reading List` for members.

The subjects covered vary widely including Chinese history, geography, arts and culture, language learning, crafts, business tips, songs, and tourist information.

The 32 books selected by our staff can be found easily in the library by checking the shelves for those books which have a green star and an orange dot on the spine. Click here to see or download the recommended reading list. This list is also on the first floor notice board.

In addition the library has a special collection of English language books `The Scotland/China Collection` which have been donated personally by Graham Thompson and other friends of the Institute. Covering a range of topics from early diplomats, merchants, missionaries and travellers this collection shows that Scotland`s links with China stretch back over two centuries yet still have resonance today.

In the second global competition run by Shanghai Library, Institute student, Elspeth Hough has been awarded a third prize.

Shanghai Library have donated a number of English and dual language books to our Institute under an initiative known as `Window of Shanghai`. The writing competition required entrants to submit either a piece of writing in English or Chinese which focused on personal experiences or gave a book review, or an essay stimulated by the book selected.

From all the entrants around the world a total of 20 have been selected as winners. We are delighted to offer many congratulations to Esther who has been a language student at the Institute for just over one year.

Though missing out on the top prizes which saw first and second placed winners invited to an award ceremony in Shanghai with airline and accommodation costs covered, Elspeth was delighted to receive a certificate and a package of books about Shanghai for her essay which talked of her experience in learning Chinese.

Elspeth said `I used to love writing and when I saw the poster for the competition in the Institute I thought this would be a good stimulus to get startedagain and to reflect on my experience of learning Chinese at the Confucius Institute. I was delighted to receive my prize – an unexpected package of books from the Shanghai Library. I haven`t yet been to China but am keen to go and Shanghai will definitely be on the list of my places to visit`.

Drop in on Tuesday evening 15 January for a free taster session to try your hand at the age old art of calligraphy/Chinese brush painting.

Running from 6.30 to 7.30pm this free session will give you a chance to try using a calligraphy brush and ink to create works of beauty. Led by the Institute`s calligraphy teacher, artist Chi Zhang will give a talk on the historic background of Chinese calligraphy/brush painting, and guide the students to discover the unseen reality beyond the surface of Chinese paintings. This ancient art form has a unique meditative quality which brings its own tranquillity even for the beginner.

Chi Zhang will guide those taking up the brush for the first time and will be pleased to answer any questions.

Please email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk to book your place by 14th January 2013.

The programme of calligraphy/brush painting classes will start on 22nd January for ten weeks. For full details of the calligraphy class schedule this term and to book a place please visit the courses section of our website.

If you have any questions please call us on 0131 662 2180 or email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk

The CI for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh received its sixth consecutive award from Hanban when the title of `Confucius Institute of the Year` was awarded in Beijing at the opening ceremony of the seventh Global Conference on 16th December 2012.

In addition to its expanding programme of Chinese language and cultural outreach in 2012 the Institute organised the European Conference of Confucius Institutes and Classrooms, tripled the number of exam candidates sitting the HSK (the globally recognised Chinese language proficiency test) and organised a number of successful outreach events including its business lecture series which included speakers such as Jim O`Neill and Jim McColl.

In 2013 the Institute, which has renewed its agreement with Hanban, sponsor of the global network of CI for a further five years, plans to continue with its business lecture series and has a number of other outreach projects in the planning stage.

Professor Natascha Gentz, Director of the Institute said:

`This is the sixth award the Institute has received from Hanban for its continuous excellent performance. From the outset we set our sights high aiming to provide a platform for engagement with China at all levels helping to ensure that Scotland becomes a key partner for China in education, business and culture. We could not have become one of the leading Institutes in the world without tremendous support from Hanban, from our partner Fudan University, from our many partners in educational, business and cultural circles ­ and of course from the University of Edinburgh. Partnership has proven to be a key to our success and we are delighted that our joint efforts have been recognised again through this award`