The Youth Services department is offering a weekend course in Chinese culture and language for tweens and teens! Learn about Chinese culture and language with Mengmeng, teacher and principal of the Peoria Chinese Language School. She starts each class by reading popular Chinese storybooks, then students learn Chinese games and crafts, and try authentic Chinese food.
A study by Drexel University School of Education determined multiple reasons why multicultural education is valuable for young people. Students become more empathetic and open-minded. Young people who learn about different cultures feel more comfortable and safe with differences later in life. This allows them to interact in a wider range of social groups and feel more confident in themselves as well as in their interactions with others.
We hosted the first course in March, the topic being the Chinese Spring Festival. Participants heard stories about the history of the festival, and learned about lucky and unlucky numbers in the Chinese culture. They rounded out the program by making Chinese lanterns AND got to try sticky dumplings with sesame paste!
The next class is Saturday, April 6. The topic is basic Chinese characters. Students will learn four ways of forming the characters by practicing calligraphy, then carve a rubber stamp to take home with their names in Chinese. The featured food is wontons!
The third course on May 4 will introduce conversational Chinese dialogue. Participants do not need to have attended all of the classes. Chinese Culture and Language is open to ages 13-19. Students can be registered online for the April 6 class here: https://fondulac.librarycalendar.com/event/chinese-culture-language-353 .
Follow this link to register for the May course: https://fondulac.librarycalendar.com/event/chinese-culture-language-365
