We are delighted to welcome Mr. Kang Qingqiu from UCD Confucius Institute to the school where  Mandarin lessons will run throughout the year in S12 Home Economics room.

The first Mandarin Chinese lesson got off to a flying start with a celebration of Mid – Autumn Festival, which is the second biggest celebration in the Chinese calendar after New Year. It is a get together of families and is usually noted at home by a special meal together.

Mr. Kang ( as he prefers to be known as) all the way from Xinjiang province in China instructed Mandarin Club students how to make & decorate traditional Chinese lanterns to mark the occasion. He also brought in a sweet pastry called ” Mooncake”,  it is so called because it depicts the mid – Autumn moon, for students to try. There are lots of flavours available and ours were lotus bean curd & egg yolk!! Delicious!! No leftovers were to be found afterwards!

As well as these cultural and practical activities, students learned how to say ‘hello ‘ and how to say ‘ I love you Mum & Dad’! More language to follow next week!

For homework , students must find out more about the mythological Chinese moon goddess ‘Chang E’……Discovery learning at it’s best!!

With Mr. Kang’s warm personality and engaging presentation, along with the varied activities, the hour and a half lesson went very quickly and students were left eager to learn more and are certainly in anticipation of next week’s lesson.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival,