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你好 Nǐ hăo,
Only ten weeks to go before we celebrate New Zealand Chinese Language Week for 2023.
We are excited!
The week is fast approaching. We are excited to hear about the events planned in your workplace, school or community. If you're still unsure what to do here are some fantastic ideas that you can draw inspiration from:
Treat your team to a delightful dumpling morning tea.
Take it up a notch by organizing a dumpling workshop for the entire team. They can learn how to make their very own dumplings from scratch.
Engage your team in a fun activity by participating in the "5 Days 5 Phrases Challenge". Record a video of your team members saying the phrases and share it on social media. Remember to tag us so we can join in the excitement and showcase how your team embraces the Chinese language.
Hold a book reading of Weka’s Waiata.
Remember to share your event with us! We can't wait to see everyone having a blast and celebrating New Zealand Chinese Language Week! Make sure to mark your calendar and let us know what activities you have planned. By sharing your plans with the community, we hope to inspire and encourage others to participate as well.
September 26 is Dumpling Day!
Use it to book a gathering of friends and family to share good times and good food together. Share your dumpling experiences with us and others, tagging us and using the hashtag #nzdumplingday
Encourage your favourite dumpling house or cafe to get involved in Dumpling Day this year.
We are looking forward to finding some new dumpling flavours and chefs to check out and share. Until then, don’t forget to follow us on Social Media so we can keep you up to date with our Dumpling Day Celebration ideas and competitions!
This year’s Five Days Five Phrases Challenge is linked to Dumpling Day.
With a bit of daily practice (one phrase per day), you will be ready to enter our Five Days Five Phrases social media challenge. More exciting, you’ll also be able to order a serving of dumplings, say thank you and express how delicious they are with confidence!
We’ve put each of the five phrases onto a poster. You can download these and pin them up at home, at work, or on the noticeboard at your community organisation.
The Five Days Five Phrases Challenge will be live from 10–17 September, the week before NZCLW. We’ll be inviting you to upload a short video of yourself rolling those five phrases right off the tip of your tongue. We’ll share your videos across all our social media platforms and on 17 September we’ll pick a winner!
Every year, we produce a children’s storybook translated into three languages, Mandarin Chinese, Te Reo and English. And this year, we will produce an audiobook, so children can read along on their own.
This year’s book is called Weka’s Waiata by Nikki Slade Robinson. We will be sending copies out, free of charge, to all primary schools and libraries across the country.
Weka’s Waiata will also be available for purchase on our website, with pre-orders already open! Secure your copy here:
Congratulations to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on leading a successful trade delegation to China. Among other things, it was a trade delegation visit to China that inspired inaugural New Zealand Chinese Language Week Trust chairs Raymond Huo and Jo Coughlan to set up the Trust in 2014. None of the delegation members spoke any Chinese. This was something the chairs felt needed addressing and hence the New Zealand Chinese Language Week Trust was launched with the purpose of encouraging New Zealanders to learn some Chinese.
The Trust readily acknowledges that there are many Chinese languages, but the Trust’s primary - but not only - focus is on Mandarin language learning because Mandarin is: the most widely spoken Chinese language in the world, including New Zealand; the national language of China; the official language of Taiwan; the national language of Singapore; and the language taught in schools and universities – in New Zealand and internationally.
Given our focus on the New Zealand education system, and the fact that Mandarin is the Chinese language taught in that system, it makes sense to spend much of our time and resource on Mandarin.
However, we are also conscious that Cantonese is an important heritage language in New Zealand and we welcome suggestions from the community to profile Cantonese alongside Mandarin.
New Zealand Chinese Language Week is a collective effort by community groups, schools and others to encourage Chinese language learning. The Trust and its project management team welcome the diverse ways in which language learning might be encouraged, whether through the learning of Mandarin or the promotion of Hakka, Cantonese, Hokkien, or other Chinese language events.
It is great to see NZCLW Trustee Chris Lipscombe taking part in the Wairarapa events focused on China and the sister-city relationship between Masterton and Changchun in China.
Encountering China is a book co-edited by Duncan Campbell, that pulls together a wide range of contributions written about different aspects of the 50 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and China. There is much insight and things to learn from it – well worth a read!
Spread the word about New Zealand Chinese Language Week. You can help by following us across our social media platforms, sharing our posts and encouraging your friends and colleagues to follow us too!
Xie Xie!
