CEE Chinese language teachers training centre starts to operate in Budapest

The Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Chinese Language Teachers Training Centre started to operate with its first training course at the Confucius Institute of Eotvos Lorand University (ELTE) in Budapest on Thursday.

Dozens of local Chinese language teachers from 11 Central and Eastern European countries came to attend the training.

During the four-day training, Professor Zhu Xiaonong of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Professor Li Quan of Renmin University of China, and Professor Li Hongyin of Peking University were invited to give lectures on Chinese language teaching.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Hungary Xiao Qian congratulated the establishment of the training centre and the first training course.

The training center is a landmark between China and Hungary, as well as China and Central and Eastern European countries in terms of education, especially in terms of Chinese language teaching, Xiao said.

He hoped that through the training course the teachers will be better qualified and can act as a bridge in promoting friendly relations between people of their countries and the Chinese people.

Peter Wintermantel, Deputy State Secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Hungarian government paid special attention to the enhanced bilateral cooperation between Hungary and China, at the same time it promoted the advancement of the regional cooperation with China.

The knowledge about China provide by the Confucius Institutes becomes more and more important, and this knowledge also serves as a useful and practical tool in educating new generations of professionals who can and will play an irreplaceable role in furthering our cooperation, he added.

Tamas Dezso, Dean of Faculty of Humanities of ELTE and ELE Former Rector Ferenc Hudecz also attended the opening ceremony and addressed the audience.

According to an agreement signed by ELTE Confucius Institute with Hanban last November, the ELTE Confucius Institute established the CEE Chinese Language Teachers Training Centre, which offers local Chinese language teachers working at the Confucius Institutes and Chinese language teaching institutions in the region free training courses, in order to improve the quality of language teaching. Endi