New Zealand schools embrace Mandarin Chinese learning

Kahutara School is hosting a Mandarin language assistant who will also share her knowledge with two other Wairarapa schools.

Kahutara School正聘用一位中国汉语教师志愿者在该校教授普通话课程，这名教师还将在Wairarapa的另外两所学校教授汉语普通话。

Principal Clare Crawford said Ren Yanan started at the school this week through the Confucius Institute after several days of orientation in the capital city.

Kahutara School校长Clare Crawford称，任亚楠老师从本周起开始在该校执教，她来自孔子学院，之前在惠灵顿接受了几天的指导后开始走上教师岗位。

For the coming year Ms Ren, 24, will teach three days a week at the 108-pupil country school, while also assisting to teach Mandarin for a day a week each at Pirinoa and Featherston schools. She is from the Shanxi Province and has studied English with a major in American literature at Nanjing Normal University.

任老师今年24岁，来自中国山西省，赴新西兰之前在南京师范大学就读英语和美国文学专业。在未来一年里，她将在这所拥有108名学生的公立校内每周上3节课，此外还将支援另外两所学校的汉语教学，每周分别在Pirinoa和Featherston两所学校各上一天课。

"I will be teaching some Mandarin and will also share some aspects with the kids of China and Chinese culture."

"我会教一些汉语普通话，同时与孩子们分享中国孩子的想法和中国文化。"她说。

Mrs Crawford said both Featherston and Pirinoa schools had previously enjoyed the benefits of the visiting language teachers from China, as had Martinborough School last year. "This is our third year of being accepted as a host school and Yanan will be living with one of our parents."

Crawford校长称，Featherston和Pirinoa两所学校此前均从来自中国的汉语教师项目中获益，Martinborough School也是如此，"这是我们连续第三年被选为目标校，亚楠将寄宿在一个学生的父母家里。"

Mrs Crawford said the New Zealand curriculum for Year 7 and 8 made study compulsory of a language other than English and Maori, "so we for the past three years have chosen Mandarin".

按照Crawford的说法，新西兰学校有义务在7年级到8年级时开设除英语和毛利语之外的第二外语课，"我们在过去三年中选择了普通话。"

"Because the Confucius Institute accepted us and we're able to be part of the programme, and it's an awesome opportunity. The chance to learn Mandarin is something we can't really turn down, and the teachers themselves become part of everyday school life, part of the school family."

他说，"因为孔子学院接纳了我们，这也使得我们有机会学习汉语，这个机会不容错过，而且汉语教师也可以融入到学校的日常生活中，成为学校大家庭的一部分。"

Ms Ren travelled to New Zealand with a group of 48 Mandarin language assistants and was welcomed to New Zealand during a visit to Parliament a fortnight ago. The graduates, from 16 universities in China, will spend the coming year assisting to teach Mandarin in 112 schools throughout the country.

与任老师一同到新西兰的汉语教师共48人，他们日前到访了新西兰议会，受到热烈欢迎。这些汉语教师毕业于中国的16所高校，他们将在未来一年里在新西兰的112所学校内教授汉语普通话。

About 128 Mandarin language assistants are today working in New Zealand primary, intermediate and secondary schools as part of a programme run by the country's three Confucius Institutes, with support from the Ministry of Education.

目前，在孔子学院的统一部署下，共有128名普通话教师在新西兰各类学校教课，这一项目得到了教育部的支持。

Please visit Chinlingo for Chinese learning.