Yan Pei, an employee of the Confucius Institute of Tomsk State University, took first and second places in the two most prestigious competitions in China for teachers of the Chinese language. In particular, her course, created for TSU students, became second in the nomination “Best Practices” according to the estimates of the Global Network of Confucius Institutes. These institutions are the main conduits of Chinese language and culture.
– The teaching methods used by Yan Pei received two awards. One of them is the "Heroes of Teaching the Chinese Language," – says Irina Shvedova, director of the Confucius Institute of TSU. – In China, there is a territorial division for this competition. Our direct partner – Shenyang Polytechnic University – is located in the northeastern part, Yan Pei participated there and won the best teaching practice.
All contestants are evaluated not only by teaching methods they use, but also by the knowledge of students. Together with Yan Pei, TSU student Yulia Fedoseeva, who has a very high level of knowledge, took part in the tests. TSU representatives reached the final and won the competition.
Irina Shvedova notes that China is very scrupulous about teaching the Chinese language, especially in cases when it comes to teaching foreigners. China imposes high demands on the level of specialists, and only if they fully comply with them, the evaluating organizations give their confirmation.
Another achievement of the TSU Confucius Institute is the second place in the Global Network competition, which includes several hundred Confucius Institutes and classes around the world.
– I did not specifically prepare for this competition, – said Yan Pei. – Earlier in China I worked with international students at Heilongjiang University, including summer schools. I really liked the students from Russia, they respect the teacher, but at the same time it is easy to communicate with them. We went on excursions a lot, visited shops, cafes to take a deeper dive into the language environment. I made videos and photos, and then created a spoken Chinese course for TSU students.
It should be noted that for 15 years of its activity, the Confucius Institute of TSU has become one of the leading organizations in Russia in terms of the quality of teaching Chinese language and culture.
Specialists of the TSU Confucius Institute developed and launched a variety of educational programs for preschool children, professional translators and businesspeople who want to work with China.
China strongly appreciates the merits of the TSU Confucius Institute in promoting the Chinese language and culture. Several years ago, the Confucius Institute was among the top 20 best institutes and classes of the Global Network and was the only winner from Russia. In 2024, the director of the TSU Confucius Institute Irina Shvedova was awarded the medal of the Chinese government for outstanding contribution to the development of the Chinese language and culture. This award significantly expands the possibilities of TSU in terms of cooperation with a wide variety of educational organizations in China.