Category: announcements

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`

The SCEN China Youth Summit at Gleneagles on 12 November, known as the G50 after the 50 schools, universities and other organisations represented and in memory of the famous G8 Summit held at Gleneagles in 2005 was an inspiring day for all those who attended the event.

The objective of the day were clear

• to bring together young people to experience Gleneagles in its international context
• to promote the importance of learning about China and learning Chinese
• to link Scottish and Chinese education, culture and business
• Whilst there was an array of influential and important attendees, the contributions from students were perhaps the most impressive element of the programme content.

Dr Judith McClure, convenor of SCEN and a tireless ambassador for the study of CHina and Chinese in Scottish schools is currently working on the `G50 Declaration` which will summarise the views and recommendations of those lucky enough to attend. G50 is the working title given to reflect the 50 schools, universities and other organisations in attendance at this memorable event.

The Confucius Institute for Scotland arranged to record the day through photographs and a video. To view the images please visit the download link and input the case sensitive password SCEN2012.

Event Date: 26/03/2013

The Glasgow branch of the Scotland China Association meets regularly at Garnethill Multicultural Centre, 21 Rose St, Glasgow, G3 6RE. All talks are open free to members of SCA with a £1.50 (£1) charge for non-members.

• 27 Nov 2012: The Silent Traveller in Edinburgh- Speaker Jim Gilchrist

Jim will speak about Chiang Yee`s book written when he visited Scotland in the 1930`s and 40`s. Originally published in 1948 the Victoria and Albert Museum will this autumn hold an exhibition on Chiang Yee`s work

• 11 Dec 2012: Annual Hot Pot Dinner at China Buffet King, Bath Street – details and booking arrangements TBC
• 29 Jan 2013: Preview of Takeaway China 2013- programme organised by Ricefield Chinese Arts and Cultural Centre.
• 26 Feb 2013: China-economic development and socialist objectives- Speaker: Dr John Foster
• 26 Mar 2013: TBC
• 30 Apr 2013: Branch AGM

Event Date: 11/05/2013

The programme of the Edinburgh branch of the Scotland China Association for 2012-13 is now available.

There is a fascination in Chinese characters – join us for this short course and learn how to write, read, understand and learn a number of useful characters.

In this six week course running Tuesday evenings from 23 October – 27 November you will be introduced to the basic strokes and stroke order; learn to use a Chinese dictionary; input characters onto a computer and start to develop a written vocabulary.

Join us for this short course and start to learn how to get to grips with one of the world`s oldest written languages.

Classes run on Tuesday evenings from 6pm-7.30pm and this six-week course is charged at £60/£42. A limited number of places are available. Please call 0131 662 2180 to check availability then click here to link to the registration form. Places are not secured until payment is received

Head to the Book Festival on Friday afternoon 24 August for a compelling double bill when Confucius Institute Director, Professor Natascha Gentz chairs `What future for China and Central Asia?`.

This double-bill book festival session features renowned political writer and historian Dilip Hiro`s whose latest book Inside Central Asia offers a lucid narrative that places the present-day politics and peoples of Central Asia and its neighbours into an international context. Meanwhile, Jonathan Fenby’s Tiger Head, Snake Tails looks at the future of China without resorting to the standard black and white story which insists that the country will either collapse or eventually rule the world.

Running on Friday 24 August from 14.00-15.00 tickets for this session are priced at £10 (£8). For more information and to book please visit the Book Festival Website.

Classical zheng performer, Yi Dong, is the most celebrated international soloist, of any Chinese national musical instrument, of her generation. Playing the zheng (zither), she makes her annual return to Edinburgh to give us a concert of the music of the many love stories of China. Part of the Glamour of Jasmine Chinese Arts Festival.

Appearing at St Cuthbert`s Parish Church just off Lothian Road her show runs 12.30-13.30 with tickets priced at £9 (£7).

Please visit the Fringe website for more information and to book.