Explore to Tell China's Stories Well through Innovation

His six years working in Brazil transformed Duan Shiguang from a volunteer Chinese Language teacher to an experienced and versatile international Chinese language teacher. His continuous exploration and innovation in teaching fostered his personal growth, and made his Chinese class energetic.

Let Chinese learning happen naturally 

How to spark students' interest in learning Chinese challenges all the teachers. To address the problem, Duan Shiguang skillfully integrated teaching into daily life. At students' birthday parties, he would lead everyone in singing Happy Birthday in Chinese. In the joyful atmosphere, students would quickly grasp new Chinese words and expressions. During the Mid-Autumn Day, he would watch Henan TV's cultural programs with his students, enjoying the graceful "Flying Apsaras" dance and the brilliant Silk Road. The spectacular performances impressed the students with the charm of Chinese culture, and easily taught them vocabulary and expressions.

When teaching, Duan Shiguang also learned Portuguese from local students to deepen his understanding of the language. When Brazilian students shared local specialties, Duan Shiguang became the "student", carefully learning the Portuguese names for each type of cake word by word. This interaction enhanced mutual understanding between teacher and students, and made language learning lively and fun.

When encountering teaching difficulties, he would promptly seek advice from local teachers, or actively search for solutions online. He then tailored his teaching methods for Brazilian students. Duan Shiguang continually refined his teaching materials, designed interesting educational games, and adopted approaches such as frequent questioning, regular check, timely guidance, and immediate feedback to improve their Chinese proficiency.

Find ways in  Traditional Chinese Culture

Over his six-year engagement in Chinese language education, Duan Shiguang made efforts to align with students' interests, and promptly adjusted teaching content to keep the courses appealing.

A few years ago, Brazilian students were amazed by China's "four new great inventions" (high-speed rail, QR code payment, shared bike, and online shopping). However, as mobile payment and e-commerce prevail in Brazil, the same content fails to keep students' interest.

In response, Duan Shiguang shifted his approach. Rather than emphasizing "tech trends", he returned to traditional cultural education. He found that Brazilian students remained highly interested in traditional cultural elements such as Chinese cuisine, the Chinese dragon, traditional Chinese medicine, and Tai Chi. Thus, he incorporated these topics into his lessons, guiding the students to explore them in depth. These ever-renewing topics never failed to engage the students. They began to explore Chinese people's ways of thinking, and reflecting on the cultural significance beneath Chinese language. This teaching method stimulated students' interests, and deepened their understanding of Chinese culture. "The world keeps changing, while China's excellent traditional culture remains unchanged," said Duan Shiguang.

While promoting Chinese culture, Duan Shiguang studied Brazilian culture. After experiencing local culture and ways of thinking firsthand, he integrated Chinese and Brazilian cultures, identified the entry point, and designed courses such as "social contexts" to deepen students' understanding of Chinese culture through intercultural exchange. He flexibly incorporated history, geography, and current affairs into the curriculum, enriched the details, and energized the classes. Students often raised interesting questions related to Chinese language and culture, which Duan Shiguang would patiently answer to improve their understanding.

To be a Versatile Teacher

"An international Chinese language teacher should know how to teach Chinese, and constantly improve their 'versatile skills'," said Duan Shiguang.

He is proficient in graphic tools like Photoshop to transform abstract text into visible images, enhancing teaching efficiency. For example, he used the brush tool in PS to teach radicals, turning the computer screen into a blackboard and guiding students to artistically learn Chinese character stroke order and rules. "On the drawing board, we can illustrate the origin of pictographic characters through creative designs, showing the beauty of Chinese writing."

In addition to leveraging his strengths in daily teaching, Duan Shiguang took on a lot of work to manage the Confucius Institute. As a volunteer Chinese language teacher, he had already mastered various computer software to design simple posters, then visualize creative ideas for on-campus student recruitment for Chinese language courses and cultural week at the Confucius Institute, demonstrating excellent planning abilities. Skilled in photography and video production, Duan Shiguang meticulously shot and produced thousands of photos and video clips, documenting precious moments of the Confucius Institute community.

Duan Shiguang is still working in South America. He hopes that when his students' study in China in the future, they will truly understand the knowledge gained in his classes, and experience Chinese civilization. He said, "When setting foot on this vibrant land of South America, I once felt hesitant and confused. Now, facing those who still care about me here, I am passionate and confident. I am not only an international Chinese Language teacher. In their eyes, I also represent China."