Chinese Whispers

The Chinese Whispers is an interdisciplinary project. The goal of the Chinese Whispers project is to promote the understanding of language learning through music and to explore interdisciplinary teaching methods. Under this concept, the Confucius Institute at University of Hull established the Chinese Whispers choirs, which integrates Chinese language learning and choir singing and performance together.

The Chinese Whispers choir project encourages people of all ages and abilities to use music as a medium to learn Chinese language and culture through learning Chinese songs. It was highly praised by Chinese language learners of all ages in UK and was a very effective and innovative teaching experiment. Furthermore, the British Association of Colleges and Universities funded and provided the project, but it also received praise from the residents of the Humberse area, from students and teachers of the University of Hull, and from the partner schools.

Based on the Chinese Whispers choir project, the Confucius Institute at the University of Hull has built primary-school choirs, secondary school choirs, university choirs and community senior choirs, and has successfully held four Whispers concerts. The concert was designed to showcase the achievements of the Chinese song class at Confucius Institute in the University of Hull, and the performers were all students of the Chinese song class at Confucius Institute. The Chinese Whispers concerts have become a registered brand in the UK and are widely acclaimed by people from all walks of life in the UK.

The unique teaching method made the Chinese Whisper choirs famous in the local area. In 2016, the University of Hull Choir (based on the Chinese Whispers project) won the Silver Award in the Chinese Song UK singing contest. In 2017, the Chinese Whispers choir project won the Higher Education Academy's Award for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning, and in 2018, the Chinese Whispers PhD scholarship program subsidized three PhD students. The combination of Chinese language and music is a unique feature of the project, and its influence expands from the University of Hull to local schools and communities, and advancing teaching and research at the University of Hull and the Confucius Institute.

The teaching activities of the Chinese Whispers choirs are rich and fascinating. Tang-dynasty poetry, traditional children's songs, and even folk songs are all contained in the singing sessions. The choirs' director, as well as the mandarin teacher, Lu Yanyi, created songs that incorporated music pitch with Chinese four tones to help students learning mandarin four tones. At the same time, she also created many other songs that suitable for English students to learn and sing, and gradually build up a singing curriculum. She also integrated the learning of Chinese culture into every rehearsal, so that during warming ups, performance and daily activities, Chinese cultures can be used and interacted from time to time.

Susan-Lea, President of the University of Hull, said that the Confucius Institute at the University of Hull has been increasing its international influence in the past four years since its establishment, radiating to the surrounding primary and secondary schools and establishing a number of teaching centers. The brand project explores an innovative model combining art and language teaching, which has won extensive commendation and maintained the momentum of sound development.