Language Week—A Celebration of Cultures

Under the theme “A Celebration of Cultures”, our Chinese, English and Third Language Departments co-organised a series of activities in the Language Week from May 10-14, to get students immersed in the cultures and languages of different countries.

• Chinese: Students learned to make handicrafts like flowers and pouches with fragrant pearls in their Chinese lessons during the week. It could not only serve as a souvenir of the Language Week, but also a reminder of Mother’s Day and the Dragon Boat Festival.
• English: Students enjoyed playing charades games that were fun and beneficial to their language skills.
• Japanese: Our Japanese teacher demonstrated Origami, a traditional Japanese art by transforming a flat square sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques.
• German: God’s Eye was introduced in the German lessons. It has been a popular German culture representing the confidence in God’s all-seeing providence.
• Spanish: Mexican style skulls are the symbol of the “Day of the Dead”. People usually spend the holiday with their loved ones, in memory of their passed away friends and family members. It is also associated to the catholic religion.
• French: The knotting craft, Scoubidou, was originated in France, and has become a fad in the late 1950s and remained popular.

On the last day of the Language Week, we were honoured to have distinguished guests from diverse backgrounds to share with us their stories and paths to success. Gregoire Michaud—the founder of Bakehouse and Bread Elements, shared his insight and vision on his lifetime career as a pastry chef, as well as his language learning experiences. Students all showed interest and excitement especially when they had the chance to try the pastries brought by Chef Greg as gifts!

Collier Nogues—a creative writer and a lecturer in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, delivered her life story as a writer and hosted a writing workshop for our students. The Japan Universities Alumni Society was also invited to introduce the education in Japan and various paths to get into the universities in Japan. We hope all students enjoyed exploring different cultures and languages in a way to develop their global visions.