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Feature: Chinese Open Door Day held in Sofia

Xinhua, February 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Open Door Day, dedicated to Chinese language and culture, was held here on Thursday to coincide with the celebration of the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.

The event, jointly organized by 138 High School in Sofia and the Confucius Institute there, was attended by Natalia Stoyanova, Mayor of Sofia district of Slatina, representatives of the local Educational Inspectorate, as well as many parents and children.

At the beginning, Svetlozar Zhelev, Director of the National Book Center at the National Palace of Culture, presented the Chinese literature translated to Bulgarian language in recent decades.

Then, a team from the Confucius Institute in Sofia told about the traditions of Chinese New Year, held games and a quiz for school students, and informed how the Institute can help in learning the Chinese language and culture.

A music and dance performance by 100 children who have been studying Chinese in 138 High School since 2012 came next, followed by a lecture on the history of Chinese cinema presented by Andronika Martonova, PhD, Associate Professor of the Institute of Art Studies.

The Chinese language was first taught in a Bulgarian school in 1992 in Sofia, followed by another school from the Danube town of Ruse in 2005, but over the past three years, Chinese language teaching has become increasingly popular in the Balkan country.

Data from the Confucius Institute in Sofia show that currently nearly 1,700 children are studying Chinese language in 15 Bulgarian towns.

"The main motivation of children from first to fourth grades is to get acquainted with Chinese culture, so we conduct training geared more to the culture, traditions, applied arts such as paper cutting," Yana Shishkova, a Chinese language teacher told Xinhua.

"In the eighth and ninth grades we have vocational classes oriented to professional development with Chinese language, therefore children come really highly motivated and learn very fast," she added.

Kalina Stankova, 15, told Xinhua she began studying Chinese in 2013, directed by her parents, who work in a private company.

"Spurred by them, I myself decided I had to learn Chinese language in order to be able to achieve better personal development in the future." Endit