International students receive Confucius Institute volunteer awards
At a special ceremony, a group of Chinese international students gathered at the Vivian Hall, Dylan Thomas Centre to receive certificates awarded in recognition of their remarkable dedication to volunteering at the University’s Confucius Institute.
The students are part of a much larger cohort of about 40 volunteers who regularly give up their time over the weekend to volunteer as teaching assistants at the Confucius Institute’s Chinese School. The ceremony also acknowledged those who supported the recent Chinese Spring Festival cultural activities across UWTSD’s campuses.
When asked why the students were so willing to volunteer, they said that they found the opportunity to be involved with the local Welsh community to be personally rewarding, giving them new experiences outside of their studies, whilst also giving them great satisfaction knowing that they were able to share their Chinese culture.
Shang Wenxuan, one of the student volunteers gave some very positive feedback to her volunteering experience. She commented:
“My time volunteering at the Confucius Institute has been very fulfilling and happy! Being a teaching assistant allowed me to have many useful experiences, and the training provided by the Confucius Institute was very helpful. The Lunar New Year event in the Year of the Dragon was very meaningful, and I made many friends through it. I am thankful to the Confucius Institute for giving me this opportunity to experience so many interesting activities.”
Lisa Liu, Chinese Co-Director, said : “I am pleased to see that the volunteer team primarily composed of Chinese international students, not only contributes selflessly to the Chinese teaching endeavours of the Confucius Institute Chinese School but also becomes the backbone of the CI’s major cultural events and daily cultural activities.”
Cindy Chen, Chinese tutor at the Confucius Institute, added: “As the headteacher of the Chinese School, I deeply appreciate the enthusiasm and dedication of the student volunteers. In this event, we awarded certificates to volunteers who have served over 60 and 100 hours of teaching assistance at the Chinese School. We also heard their experiences and feelings as volunteers at the Confucius Institute, which were very moving and inspiring.”
Following the awards ceremony, the students participated in safeguarding training, and then had the chance to relax, enjoy some snacks together and have fun playing games such as Chinese chess.
For more information about volunteering opportunities in the Confucius Institute please contact Lisa Liu by emailing her at yu.liu@uwtsd.ac.uk
Further Information
Arwel Lloyd
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Corporate Communications and PR
Email: arwel.lloyd@uwtsd.ac.uk
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