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STARTALK

 Chinese Language Immersion Sports Camp

A STARTALK/Confucius Institute Program at University of Hawaii

News Coverage

An English translation is provided below:

 INAUGURAL CHINESE LANGUAGE SPORTS CAMP: "It was a blast."

A student participating in the Hawaii Chinese Immersion Sports camp commented: The Chinese language and sports activities of the third week of the Sports camp seemed to have just begun, and all were deeply involved, when suddenly a teacher announced that we had reached the wind-down stage.

In a short three weeks, students laid down a fine foundation in listening, speaking, reading and writing Chinese, learned something about Chinese history and culture, and even tried calligraphy and paper-cutting. In the first martial arts class, students were falling over each other, balancing unsteadily on their feet; by the end, each of their moves were recognizable and orderly. The first time they approached the ping-pong tables, they were mostly busy picking up balls; as time went on the rallies grew longer.

The inaugural sports camp jointly funded by the US federally supported STARTALK program and the PRC's Confucius Institute enrolled 28 high school students, 12 to 17 years in age, from different US states, who had previously never met. They all had the same goal: to travel to Hawaii to learn Chinese language and culture.

Among the students were fourth or fifth generation Chinese-Americans, Chinese children adopted by American parents, as well as blond, green-eyed European-Americans. Most of them had never had any previous contact with the Chinese language, and had never left their parents before to travel to a foreign place and live with strangers for three weeks. An unfamiliar environment, unfamiliar people, and an unfamiliar language and culture added up to a challenging and valuable experience for these young people.

The success of this learning opportunity was closely tied to the level of attention paid by the organizing unit as well as the diligence of the 19 staff members involved. These instructors took separate responsibility for language instruction, training in wushu and ping-pong, evening counseling, student life, as well as week-end hiking and other outdoor activities. They created a fine living and learning environment for the students.

At the closing banquet, all students received a certificate of completion from the university. The teachers were particularly moved to hear all the students recite in unison Li Bai's "Thoughts on a quiet night" in perfect tonal pattern. Two students, on behalf of their classmates, pronounced: The camp was a blast!

Caption: Phoenix claws are delicious but I can't open my mouth! ("My teacher asked me to eat chicken feet; this is harder to deal with than learning Chinese!")