On Saturday April 15
th, 2023, The Confucius Institute at The University of the West Indies Cave Hill and The National Library Service of Barbados, held a Chinese Character Treasure Hunt and Picnic. The event in celebration of the 14
th annual International Chinese Language Day, took place at the National Botanical Gardens in St.Michael. Along with the teaching staff and Co-Directors of the Institute, students from various Confucius Institute classes were also in attendance, including those from The National Library Service Learn Chinese Together course, The University of West Indies Cave Hill Software Engineering course and The Barbados Community College Oral Chinese course. Also in attendance were Director of The National Library Service Jennifer Yarde and Head of IT at The National Library Service John Downes.
Figure 1. Picture of all the participants at the event.
In order to allow the participants to get further acquainted, coordinator of the event Ms.Wendy Hu and her assistant Ms.Alexandria Payne, led everyone in an icebreaker game which encouraged the students to learn the names of the others and match a face to a name. The small game "Who's next to you" livened up the atmosphere, resulting in laughter and further comradery amongst the participants.
Figure 2. CI Teachers demonstrating the icebreaker game.
Following the icebreaker was the actual Treasure Hunt. Students were divided into four teams which each team having a captain and a teacher to assist. At the sound of the whistle, the students rushed to the designated place to search carefully for clues: in tree trunks, between stones, no corner was spared. The search lasted for 15 minutes and then it was time to tally up the scores. In order to receive the maximum number of points, each team had to pronounce the characters correctly and provide the accompanying meaning. After the tally, the Blue Team was crowned the winners of the Treasure Hunt.
Figure 3. Students locating the Chinese characters.
Figure 4. Students providing the pronunciations and meanings for each character.
Figure 5. Students expressing their thoughts about the event.
Figure 6. Students expressing their thoughts about the event.
At the Prize Giving Ceremony, Director Jennifer Yarde delivered a speech. She stated that starting in 2020, the National Library Service of Barbados and the Confucius Institute began their cooperation in order to offer an online Chinese course "Learn Chinese Together", which enabled Barbadians to experience the charm of Chinese language and culture. She then thanked the Confucius Institute for organizing the offline event to celebrate Chinese Language Day. Director Yarde is looking forward to the next Chinese Language Day event.
Figure 7. Director of The National Library Service Jennifer Yarde addressing the students.
Figure 8. Students accepting their prizes.
After the Prize Giving Ceremony, all the participants were treated to Chinese food provided by CI in partnership with a local Chinese Restaurant. The Picnic atmosphere in the park was enhanced by the smiles and laughter which were experienced by the CI party.
This "Chinese Character Treasure Hunt" is the second Chinese character-related activity held by the Institute, preceded by the "Chinese Character Golden Egg Hunt" in 2022. International Chinese Language Day coincides with the Easter Holiday and the traditional "Easter Egg Hunt" in Barbados mirrors the Chinese Character Hunts of Chinese Language Day.
Students who were unable to attend the event expressed their hope of joining next time and look forward to what CI has in store. The attending students expressed their thoughts that it was very interesting to experience the culture of Chinese characters in a form of entertainment they are familiar with. The Confucius Institute is grateful that this educational and entertaining activity was so well-received, and we look forward to holding more events in the future.
Images: Gema Fang, Yuki Shi
Text: Jackie Chen
Translation: Alexandria Payne
Editor: Grace Li
巴巴多斯孔院成功举办“汉字挖宝”活动庆祝国际中文日
当地时间4月15日，巴巴多斯西印度大学凯夫希尔分校孔子学院与国家图书馆（National Library Service）在国家植物园（National Botanical Gardens）举办了“汉字挖宝”活动，庆祝第十四个“国际中文日”。孔院“一起学汉语（Learning Chinese Together）”、西印度大学凯夫希尔分校（The University of West Indies）软件工程专业2+2项目、巴巴多斯社区学院（Barbados Community College）等20名学生、国家图书馆馆长詹尼弗·雅德（Jennifer Yarde）及工作人员约翰·道恩（John Downe）、孔子学院中方院长李仁燕博士、外方院长大卫·布布里亚(David Bulbulia)及全体教师参加了活动。
（图一 全体合照）
为了让来自来自不同的课堂的同学们尽快熟悉起来,在公派教师胡玮和本土教师爱乐特意安排了破冰游戏作为开场，大家依次做了自我介绍，随后两位老师带领大家做“我是谁旁边的谁”小游戏，让整个活动的气氛一下子热烈起来，现场笑声连连，大家很快熟悉了彼此。
（图二 破冰小游戏）
紧接着进入了本次活动的第二部分——寻找汉字。两位老师采用抽签的方式，将学生分成四队，每队分配一位志愿者教师，和学生一起寻找汉字。哨声一响，同学们马上奔到指定地点仔细寻找起来：树干里、石头缝里、树梢上，每一处角落都不放过。十五分钟后哨声再次响起，各组都有收获，学生们捧着战利品回到主席团，通过展示挖宝成果，朗读并正确说出每个汉字意思后，获得相应分数。最后蓝队以最高分获得了第一名。
（图三 学生寻找汉字）
（图四 学生朗读并解释汉字意义）
最后，参与本次活动的所有学生和教师一起在公园野餐，大家边吃边聊，非常开心。
（图六 学生分享感悟）
（图七 学生分享感悟）
詹尼弗馆长致辞，她讲道：2020年开始，国家图书馆与孔子学院之间开始合作开设线上中文课程“一起学中文”，使巴巴多斯人体会到汉语与汉字的魅力，感谢孔子学院组织这次线下活动，让大家在游戏中学习知识、庆祝中文日。期待下一次中文日的到来。
（图八 图书馆馆长发表讲话）
（图五 颁发奖品）
本次“汉字挖宝”活动是继2022年孔院举办寻“汉字金蛋”之后的第二次寻找汉字相关活动，国际中文日正值巴巴多斯复活节期间，与巴巴多斯的传统“砸金蛋”活动有着异曲同工之妙。当老师们在各自班级里分享照片的时候，因故未能参加活动的学生纷纷表示下次一定踊跃参加活动。学生们认为以他们熟悉的娱乐形式，来体验中国汉字文化，非常有趣。活动寓教于乐，收到了非常好的效果。
图片：房庆敏 石雨欣
文字：陈文妍
审核：李仁燕