Chinese Lessons - St Patricks BNS

Chinese Lessons

This year the fifth classes have been learning Chinese with the help of their Chinese teacher Lin. Every Wednesday the boys have the opportunity to learn a wide range of topics which explore both the language and culture of China. Lessons earlier in the year focused mainly on the Chinese language but the boys then explored some areas of the culture of China. Chinese family trees have been created and calligraphy has been practiced. The boys have taken part in a number of PE lessons using authentic Chinese PE equipments and practicing genuine Chinese games. In the most recent lesson, the boys got a taste for Martial Arts by watching the film IP Man 2 and in the coming months lessons could include work on Tai Chi, chopsticks and much more.
- Mr. Lettis

On 24th November, I set off on a one-week twinning mission to China. The aim was of this trip was to set up and maintain links between St. Patrick's B.N.S. and a primary school in Shanghai.

The Chinese Connection
Also, the groups had an overall objective of developing already existing links between Shangai and Cork. Fine Gael Senator for Galway West, Fidelma Healy Eames, led the educational trip to China which included 26 educators, principals and deputy principals from across the country, at the request of the Confucius Institute in UCC. Mr. Xia, the Co-Director of UCC Confucius Institute, and Mr. Ted Owens, CEO of Cork VEC helped make sure the trip ran smoothly every teacher on the trip was required to submit a dossier on returning to Ireland.

In May, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn was examining ways for Irish students to take Chinese as a Leaving Certificate exam subject and had introduced a transition-year course on Chinese language and culture, jointly developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the UCD Confucius Institute. There will also be a short course in Chinese language and culture in the newly reformed Junior Cert, due to commence in 2014.In the US, Chinese-language teaching has really taken off, and there is a growing awareness in Europe that learning Chinese will give students an edge in the job market of the future. Although this is set to have implications mainly for secondary schools, the long term effect may eventually lead to more of a focus in primary schools and we are already seeing this at St. Patrick's B.N.S. with a weekly lesson in Chinese for 5th Class on Wednesdays.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity of visiting a number of interesting sites including East China Normal University, a primary school in Baoshan District, the Imperial TV Tower at the heart of Shangai among others and daily activities included Chinese language classes, Tai Chi and calligraphy. Overall, it was a very worthwhile and memorable experience and I am grateful for the chance to explore such a scenic country with such a diverse culture.
- Mr. Lettis