On the morning of Oct 4, 230 pupils visited the Global Village of JISU. They were guided by Chinese and foreign teachers around 13 language country villages. In addition, they took part in some knowledge and culture-based activities named “Little Diplomats live together in the Global Village.”

The opening ceremony held in the hall of the Global Village.

The event was sponsored by the Teaching and Training Center for Chinese as a Foreign Languange (Jilin Hanban), the Education Department of Jilin Province and hosted by JISU.JISU selected 41 undergraduate volunteers to help with all aspects of this important event.

JISU’s volunteers helped pupils in various activities.

JISU’s volunteers read questions for pupils.

Liu Shaomin, a student of Class 1803 with a major in Spanish, and Liang Huiqi, a student of Class 1802 with a major in Chinese International Education said, “Though the event occurred during the National Day holiday, volunteers from various majors proactively joined to help. We communicated with foreign teachers and students so as to improve our foreign language. We also demonstrated the fruits of our majors by introducing the Global Village and foreign cultural knowledge to these young students.”

JISU’s Russian students read questions for pupils.

Moreover, foreign teachers and students from Russia, the United States, Germany, Brazil, Indonesia, Mongolia, Japan, Spain, Tajikistan and other countries proactively joined the event to introduce language and cultural features of different countries.

Michael, JISU’s German teacher, gave out seals to successful pupils.

As a German foreign teacher of JISU, Michael is also an expert of German national culture. “Although we come from different places, we all live in one world. Cultures should be shared and celebrated in countries all over the world all the time.” Michael said, “As JISU’s teachers, we expect more Chinese students to foster a great passion for learning about and appreciating foreign cultures by attending this kind of event from a young age. By doing this, they will establish a global perspective. At the same time, we hope they will learn environmental knowledge about other countries and promote a sense of environmental protection to build a beautiful earth together.”

Photo of the foreign teachers, students and volunteers of JISU.

It is well known that the Global Village of JISU is the only large-scale comprehensive language and culture education base with distinctive characteristics in China. In total, it occupies 3991 square meters and contains 13 language villages for the pavilion of China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Arab, Africa, English countries and the United Nations. Each village is equipped with e-learning equipment and displays the country’s political, economic, historical, scientific, educational, environmental, folk and food cultures through miniature landscapes, display panels, sand table simulations, and physical representations of iconic buildings. The Global Village is a collective place of teaching, practicing, researching and communicating, which was created as a Provincial Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center by the Education Department of Jilin Province in 2011. In 2013, it was regarded as the National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center by the Ministry of Education, the “World Multicultural Education Center ,” and the “JISU UNESCO Association Club” by UNESCO. The 30,000-square-meter new global village is currently under construction, with more than 20 language villages for creating a better world-culture education environment for students.

“Here, almost every cultural element is infiltrated with the rich cultural heritage of each country. Students can integrate language and cultural learning more closely, and they can experience the different cultures and unique customs of the world without leaving school. The unique style of enhancing cultural learning through language and language learning through culture, improves cross-cultural communication ability." Wang Jie, Vice President of JISU, said, “In order to adhere to the function of the university's services to the community, the global village has been, and will be, opened to primary and middle school students in Changchun City many times.” It is hoped that, through such events, opportunities for communication between Chinese and foreign students will be created in order to bridge the gap between Chinese and foreign cultures.