China's Stories Prevailing in A Small Town in North Wales

In October 2023, I was fortunate to be one of the volunteers at the Confucius Institute at Cardiff University in the UK. It was my first time setting foot on foreign land. Different from the three other volunteers, I was assigned to a secondary school in Conwy bay, a small town in North Wales, under the Confucius Institute's jurisdiction. With a strong sense of belonging and responsibility toward my homeland, along with some uncertainty and loneliness about the unknown, I arrived in North Wales.

Overcome Class Management Challenges

 The operation of Lunchtime Club and class discipline was one of the difficulties. Today, I could summarize some lessons:

1. Design the curriculum before the semester begins, and arrange cultural activities based on festivals. The twice-weekly Lunchtime Club can include language lessons and language games to attract students.

2. Establish and strictly enforce rules from the very first lesson, such as:

1) Students are not allowed to shout, wander around, or play loudly during lessons.

2) Students must greet with "Nǐ hǎo" before entering the club, and say "Xiè xie, zài jiàn" when leaving.

3) Students must clean up their own trash before leaving.

4) After two warnings, any student who continues to misbehave will be asked to leave the club immediately.

3. After classes begin, share activity details with teachers responsible for the weekly school newsletter to attract students interested in Chinese culture.

4. Keep attendance records and create name cards for regular students based on their participation and performance. If the club becomes too crowded, only students with name cards will be permitted. Ideally, the number of students should be kept between 8 and 12 to facilitate lesson planning and game design.

I was deeply touched by the immense support and assistance from the British school principal: replacing swivel chairs that easily distracted students, asking inspection teachers to occasionally assist with my class order, and having talks with disruptive students for persuasion or warning.

Sense of achievement and passion for teaching followed sound class order. These British children would wave enthusiastically from afar and loudly call out "Nǐ hǎo", "Zài jiàn", and "Xiè xie" whenever they saw me. Even with other Chinese teachers they didn't know, they proactively introduced themselves in Chinese: "Nǐ hǎo, wǒ jiào…" This sense of accomplishment and fulfillment was irreplaceable. When I left, they prepared Welsh gifts for me: Welsh cakes, postcards, a traditional Welsh "love spoon", and Welsh mugs, which moved me to tears as I struggled to say goodbye.

Students Sharing their Original Aspiration for Learning Chinese

"Why do you want to learn Chinese?" I asked every student the question before starting my class. Most of them learned Chinese due to a strong personal interest.

Some students love China for its culture and history, some are interested in its language and culture because they have Chinese relatives or friends, and some linguistically gifted ones who, already fluent in French, German, and other languages, want to challenge a completely different and fascinating language. Among them, a 13-year-old boy named Ethan deeply impressed me. Born into a family of businessmen, Ethan was taught about investment, finance, and trade by his parents from a young age. He believed learning Chinese would be greatly beneficial for his future due to China's thriving economy. His biggest dream was to travel around China someday. Even though Chinese language was only an elective course, he prepared a thick notebook, and worked part-time at a Chinese supermarket to practice his language skills.

Ethan's answer made me truly feel the prosperity and strength of my homeland. The significance of the work of volunteer Chinese language teachers precisely lies in opening a window for students unfamiliar with China to learn about its vibrant reality, and building a bridge for passionate Chinese language learners.

Warm Stories in the North Welsh Town

In North Wales, there is a sunny beach resort town called Colwyn bay, home to an elderly couple, Frances and Philips, both in their seventies. Since 2001, they have taken care of each Chinese language teacher to their town. For 13 years, they have welcomed and bid farewell to 16 Chinese teachers with homely warmth in a foreign land.

Shortly after I arrived in the UK, Frances and Philips invited international Chinese language teachers to bring me to their home as a guest. They prepared a lavish dinner and, after asking for my name, insisted on learning how to pronounce my Chinese name correctly, although I had offered them my English name. They show respect in that way. From then on, they never failed to address me by my Chinese name accurately every time we met. Every few weeks, they would invite us to their home, or drive us around North Wales.

When bidding farewell, they prepared a Welsh scenic map for me. The elderly couple saw me off at the train station, and urged me to stay in touch with them via email even after returning to China. They said they would always keep me in mind, and hoped we could meet again someday.

I will never forget the scene after I boarded the train. I thought they would leave after waving goodbye, but instead, they walked along the train, searching for me through the windows, just like how my parents had seen me off when I left home for university. I quickly tapped on the window, and they finally stopped upon hearing it. The glass kept their words out, but the overwhelming emotion needed no explanation.

I overcame teaching challenges, and received sincere feedback from students and warm care from local friends when teaching overseas. I realized that teaching Chinese language is beyond language instruction. It builds bridges of understanding, and exposes the real China to the world. The emotion and significance brought by this connection are my most precious gains.

About the author: Yang Chun, a volunteer Chinese language teacher in the UK (2023–2024).