Chilean primary school inaugurates "Confucius Classroom"

The Laboratory for Languages and Art "Confucius Classroom" was inaugurated at a school named the Colegio Yangtze in the Chilean municipality of La Reina on Wednesday.

The "Confucius Classroom," a center for Mandarin education and Chinese culture, was opened in the presence of Chinese Ambassador to Chile Li Baorong and Municipal Mayor Raul Donckaster.

The school's headteacher, Marcela Rojas, told local media that pupils have been getting to know about Chinese culture and improving their Chinese language skills since the school joined the Language Opens Doors Program in 2008.

Now Chinese is taught to children from nursery age to the eighth grade in the school and the students take workshops with various members of the Chinese community, added Rojas.

Li said that thanks to the constant efforts of the whole team, the school has become a bridge of friendship between both countries since 1987, when it was officially named Colegio Yangtze.

Chinese classes started to open in the school in 2008, with the support of the La Reina municipality. Currently the primary school is the only one offering basic Mandarin classes in Chile, added the Chinese ambassador.

These classes, supplemented with different cultural activities such as lion dance, martial arts and table-tennis, have opened a door for pupils to embrace Chinese culture and to widen their knowledge of Asia, Li said.

He donated four Lenovo computers to the school during the event, and expressed his hope that the children will learn Chinese well to deepen the friendship and understanding between the two nations.

The Colegio Yangtze has been sponsored by the Chinese Embassy since 1987 when the La Reina Municipality decided to link each school in the region with that in a different country. Endi