Learning Chinese on Culture Day the Red Panda Way

A Chinese Culture Day for children would not have been complete without the enriching fun of making Water Lily craft and traditional Chinese dumpling, and learning how to master calligraphy. That is why these were the highlights at the Chinese Culture Day programme organised by two Chinese Bridge Language Centres (CBLC) for a total of 60 children over two days in March. Furthermore, there were two “red pandas” to cheer them on.

The holiday programme was designed to expose the children to Chinese culture and help them further improve their linguistic skill and confidence in using the Chinese language through speech and drama. Held at the Marine Parade and Jurong East centres, it was also aimed at dispelling the stereotype that Chinese language is for the old.

Shuang Shuang and Quan Quan, a pair of lovable girl and boy red pandas featured in the Chinese Bridge workbooks were always there to liven up things.  They helped to make the speech and drama activities more fun and memorable.

The programme was developed by Crestar’s speech and drama expert, Sun Xiao Peng, who has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Theatre Arts from the University of Essex, United Kingdom and a Diploma in Theatre from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). He has many years of experience in teaching Chinese, acting and directing.

Feedback from the parents was very positive, as they were glad their children had the opportunity to be immersed in Chinese culture for about half a day to further strengthen their command of the language.