On April 4th, the Confucius Institute of Cape Verde University gave a public lecture on the Chinese language at the invitation of the Foreign Ministry of Cape Verde. This was one of the activities to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between Cape Verde and China. Many people attended this public lecture, including Manuel Matos, the representative from the Foreign Ministry of Cape Verde; Isidora Fortes, Director from a branch campus of Cape Verde University; ZHEN Qingjun, Dean (on the Chinese side) of the Confucius Institute; some teachers, administration staff and students.

The representatives from the Foreign Ministry of Cape Verde

Manuel Matos, on behalf of the Foreign Ministry of Cape Verde, delivered a speech. He said that the establishment of the Confucius Institute deepened the communication and the cultural exchange between our two countries. He said that this activity, held on the island of St. Vincent, played an important role in boosting the relationship between Cape Verde and China. In addition, he hoped that the Confucius Institute could organize more cultural activities and teach Chinese in more places. Later, all the attendees watched a video about the Confucius Institute of Cape Verde University.

This public lecture consisted of three stages. During the first stage, students were taught about how to greet and introduce themselves in Chinese. They learned how to say some words and sentences such as “hello”, “China” and “Cape Verde” in Chinese.

During the second stage, another teacher, named ZHANG Chi, taught the numbers from one to seven in Chinese. This was quite difficult for these students, because it was their first time to learn Chinese. The teacher thought of an interesting way to teach the numbers. He told students to clap their hands after hearing the number. The number of times they clapped their hands depended on the number they heard. For example, if the number was one, these students just needed to clap their hands once. This interesting method helped students grasp the pronunciation of the numbers from one to seven in Chinese quickly.

ZHANG Chi teaching the Chinese numbers

The last stage of the teaching was important. Professor SU Chun taught students to sing the Chinese song Make Friends. To help students understand the song better, SU asked the secretary of the Confucius Institute to translate the song into the local language creole and sing it in the creole. In the lyrics, students could find some words and sentences they learned before, such as the numbers from one to seven. Under the teacher’s guidance, students shook hands with each other while singing the song, assuming that they were making new friends. Everyone had a good time there.

SU Chun teaching the Chinese song

This public lecture was a complete success. It not only strengthened the cultural exchange between Cape Verde and China, but also would help the Confucius Institute to attract more students.