Some results of teaching and learning Chinese in high schools in Lao Cai

Chinese has been taught in Lao Cai province at secondary and high school levels since the 2008-2009 school year. Over time, although teaching this foreign language is still difficult, it has achieved remarkable results.

The Chinese lessons taught by teacher Vuong Thi Thuy, Le Hong Phong Secondary School, Lao Cai City are always enthusiastically received by students. Songs, fun puzzles and visual illustrations are used to help students easily absorb the lesson. The lessons are divided into different topics, such as family, objects, animals, utensils... that are familiar to students. With more than 10 years of experience teaching Chinese, Ms. Thuy believes that this is a foreign language that brings advantages to Lao Cai students in general and Lao Cai City in particular, because it is located on the border with China, not only creating a favorable learning and experience environment, students also have many job opportunities in the future with a second language.

In addition to studying in class, I also practice listening and speaking skills through TV channels and exploit online Chinese teaching software on the internet.

Le Ngoc Chau, class 8A1, Le Hong Phong Secondary School, Lao Cai city

As one of the first secondary schools in Lao Cai city to introduce Chinese into teaching since 2008 - 2009, up to now, Le Hong Phong Secondary School has chosen this as an additional subject for students in grades 6, 7, 8 with 1 period/week and as an elective subject for students in grade 9. Teacher Luong Thi Hanh, Principal of Le Hong Phong Secondary School said: The school regularly organizes online classes, the extracurricular program "Foreign Language Festival" with Ha Khau Vocational College, Ha Khau district, Yunnan province (China) so that students of the school have the opportunity to communicate with local people. During extracurricular classes, students also have the opportunity to show their singing talents, host programs or broadcast in Chinese. Every year, the school often has students participating and winning prizes in the city-level and provincial-level competitions for excellent students in Chinese, many of whom pass the entrance exam to the Chinese language specialized class at Lao Cai Specialized High School.

In the 2008-2009 school year, Lao Cai city introduced Chinese as a pilot subject in 4 junior high schools, and in 2017-2018, it was implemented at the primary level. In the 2023-2024 school year, the city has 7 schools teaching Chinese in the form of enhanced teaching and clubs (2 primary schools with 406 students participating; 5 secondary schools with 4,606 students participating); at the provincial-level Chinese language competition for 9th graders, Lao Cai city students won 1 first prize, 3 second prizes, 4 third prizes, and 6 consolation prizes.

Along with Lao Cai city, in the 2008-2009 school year, Muong Khuong district introduced Chinese language into teaching at 5 secondary schools: Ban Lau, Lung Vai, Muong Khuong town, Tung Chung Pho, Pha Long. However, due to the situation of Chinese teachers being transferred to work outside the district and the lack of new teachers, by the 2023-2024 school year, Muong Khuong will only maintain teaching Chinese as the main foreign language at 4 secondary schools: Na Loc, Lung Vai, Muong Khuong town and Pha Long, with a total of 4 teachers, 14 classes, and 473 students.

Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Muong Khuong district, assessed that with the characteristics of a border district, many ethnic groups and families bordering the border often have family relations with families in neighboring countries, so the introduction of Chinese into teaching in Muong Khuong district is suitable for reality. From the 2015-2016 school year (when the Department of Education and Training began organizing provincial-level competitions for excellent students in Chinese), Muong Khuong district has had 22 students win prizes, including 5 second prizes, 5 third prizes and 12 consolation prizes; many of these students have passed the Chinese Specialized classes, Lao Cai Provincial High School for the Gifted; many students after graduation have had stable jobs related to Chinese.

It can be seen that the introduction of Chinese into general education institutions is appropriate. This activity not only meets the implementation of the new general education program of the Ministry of Education and Training, but also expands cultural exchanges between countries, and helps to form and develop foreign language skills for students to use for learning and communication.

Lao Cai currently has 5 primary schools with more than 1,400 students accessing Chinese; 14 secondary schools teach Chinese as a first foreign language, with more than 1,800 students; 13 schools teach Chinese as a second foreign language (optional) with nearly 1,700 students; 5 high schools teach Chinese as a first foreign language, with more than 800 students, and 3 schools teach Chinese as a second foreign language (optional) with nearly 500 students. At the 2022-2023 national excellent student selection exam, Lao Cai province had 3 students winning prizes in Chinese (2 second prizes, 1 third prize).

In the coming time, the Department of Education and Training will encourage units with Chinese teachers to organize teaching Chinese as a first foreign language; actively promote and expand the teaching of Chinese as a second foreign language (optional) for English classes in the direction of developing communication skills; mainly teaching listening and speaking skills, transcription; it is not mandatory to teach Chinese characters, the content is selected by the school from the current textbook program. Along with that, schools are encouraged to teach Chinese in a socialized form based on students' voluntary participation.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/mot-so-ket-qua-day-va-hoc-tieng-trung-quoc-trong-truong-pho-thong-o-lao-cai-post383446.html