Realizing the Chinese Dream Together: Story of Praiwan Kanyapan, a Local Chinese Language Teacher in Thailand

From learning Chinese at the age of 42, to becoming the head of Chinese language teaching at a school at the age of 47, and finally being honored with the "Thai National Model Teacher Award" at the age of 57, Praiwan Kanyapan (Hong Shaoling), a local Chinese language teacher in northeast Thailand, is not only diligent and ambitious, but also full of amazing stories.

Praiwan Kanyapan and her students

My Connection with Chinese Language: "A Late Gift"

Praiwan Kanyapan was born in Laos and returned to her hometown, Roi Et, Thailand, with her mother at the age of 14. During her school days, she had no connection with the Chinese language. In 2001, she entered an ordinary rural primary school in northeastern Thailand and became an English teacher. She thought she would continue teaching English in the future, but in 2006, she received a "late gift."

In 2006, she received a notice that the Thai Ministry of Education would organize a one-month Chinese language training program in collaboration with experts from China. She recalled, "At that time, there were very few Chinese language teachers in the whole of Thailand. If I seized this opportunity, I could explore a whole new world of Chinese language teaching." So, she decisively applied for this training and officially embarked on her journey of learning Chinese.

The intensity of that Chinese language training was very high. In just one month, the participants had a total of 200 classes. But Praiwan Kanyapan savored every moment of it, eagerly absorbing all the new knowledge. Later, she was recommended by the training organizers and obtained the opportunity to study in China.

Praiwan Kanyapan (second from right) attends local Chinese language teacher training

Reflecting on everything she has achieved, she said, "I started learning Chinese at the age of 42. For me, it was a late gift that opened up a whole new world."

Organizing Thousands of Students to Take Chinese Language Tests for Four Consecutive Years: Assisting Children to Study in China

Currently, Praiwan Kanyapan is in charge of Chinese language teaching at the Watklang Municipal School, which is a school featuring Chinese education, with nearly 3,000 students and teachers. Since 2018, Chinese language has been a compulsory course for all students at the school.

Scene of holding YCT test at Watklang Municipal School

Watklang Municipal School has made the YCT test a standard for assessing the quality of Chinese language teaching. Under Praiwan Kanyapan's efforts, the number of students from the school participating in the test has exceeded a thousand for four consecutive years. Now, the school has achieved its "small target" of having all students participate in the YCT test.

To date, she has assisted nearly 50 students in applying for various scholarships to study in China, achieving remarkable results. Recalling the first student in her class to receive a scholarship, she said, "Back then, the conditions were very poor. I took 13 students on a crowded minibus to the Chinese language test site in Udon Thani. After the exam, the students cried and said they couldn't understand the listening part at all." From then on, she consulted teaching resources such as CDs and audio courseware to help her students practice listening. She also encouraged her students to attend Chinese listening and speaking classes taught by Chinese teachers. Finally, her student Sunatthakan Phetchit passed the HSK exam with a high score and was awarded an International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship to study in China. Now, Sunatthakan Phetchit has graduated and works at the China Cultural Center Bangkok. Praiwan Kanyapan said, "Being able to help my students study in China is my greatest achievement."

Rural Chinese Language Education for Poverty Alleviation: Working on the Front Line

"My husband is much more amazing than me!" Speaking of her family, she proudly said. Her husband, Somkit Kanyapan (Chen Jiacai), is the principal of a remote rural school in Phra Yuen District, Khon Kaen Province.

Chinese teachers have visited twice the Nong Wannong Jidun School where Somkit Kanyapan works. Every time they visited, the teachers and students at the school would dress in traditional Chinese clothing and warmly welcome their arrival with standard Mandarin. The students at the school are all children of farmers from surrounding villages, simple and eager to learn. It is learned that currently, all teachers and students at the school have taken the HSK tests, and Principal Somkit Kanyapan is no exception.

Praiwan Kanyapan (Left) and Somkit Kanyapan (Right)

Praiwan Kanyapan and her husband Somkit Kanyapan have been local teachers dedicated to Chinese language education for many years. For the past decade, Somkit Kanyapan has served as a principal in four rural schools, and wherever he goes, Praiwan Kanyapan accompanies him to teach. On weekends, Praiwan Kanyapan sets off from Watklang Municipal School and drives dozens of kilometers to the school where Somkit Kanyapan works to teach Chinese classes to the children for free.

Chinese teachers visit the school where Praiwan Kanyapan (second from right) teaches

Local teachers like Praiwan Kanyapan, who are dedicated to teaching Chinese, are like torches, continuously burning with the "east wind" of the development of Chinese language education in Thailand. "Realizing the Chinese Dream Together" is not only a depiction but also a heartfelt voice, a reflection, and a promise.

(Reporter: Sun Guangyong)