Classical Golden Verses – A Contemporary Interpretation
Receives Professional Award in Language Learning

Classical Golden Verses – A Contemporary Interpretation, published by Yew Chung Publishing House was awarded Publishing Award in Language Learning category in the 1st Hong Kong Publishing Biennial Awards Competition which was organized by the Hong Kong Publishing Professionals Society. The Award Presentation Ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on July 20, 2017. The ceremony was officiated by the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam and the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau.

More than 80 publishing houses submitted more than 400 publications to the competition. Experienced professionals from 40 local publishing houses selected the winners of Publishing Awards in each category. The judging panels consisting of the publishing professionals from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan then selected the winner of Best Publishing Award from the winners of Publishing Awards in each category. 

Yew Chung Publishing House belongs to Living Learning Culture & Education Co. Ltd. Mr Terry Cheng Wai-ming, the company’s Executive Director received Publishing Award in Language Learning category for Classical Golden Verses – A Contemporary Interpretation. Mr Cheng said, “The book is not only recognized among publishing houses, but also very popular in the market. We’re going to make the second print run of the second edition of the book to meet the demand from the readers.”

The Latest Inspiration of the Hong Kong Story

Mr Yip Kwok-wah’s new book, The Hong Kong Story: It Takes Two to Tango, received a review in “Books and Literature” column of March 30, 2014 issue of Yazhou Zhoukan, an international Chinese newsweekly. Headlined “The Latest Inspiration of the Hong Kong Story”, the column said the book writes about Hong Kong’s development from a fishing village to a business hub and what Hong Kong can and should be. It commented that the book’s main theme is to analyze the history of the relationship between Hong Kong and mainland China. The column pointed out that topics are presented in time sequence with the author’s opinions interposed in between, which allows readers to grasp effectively the historical information.

The column mentioned that in his earlier publications, Yip Kwok-wah's Series of Commentaries on China's National Affairs, the author encourages readers to reach out for the world, understand their motherland, care about Hong Kong and realize personal dreams, and The Hong Kong Story: It Takes Two to Tango is the continuation of the series. The column said “Tomorrow may not be better without learning from history” as the subtitle of the book points to the fact that some force tries to separate Hong Kong from Mainland China, but history shows that the two places should not only complement each other, but Hong Kong’s important experience and democratic reform will prompt mainland China to further reform.

Quality Training in Cebu School

Living Learning Culture and Education organized a two-week teacher training course for Cebu Cherish School on July 2-13, 2012. The training aimed to redesign the school’s Chinese curriculum and strengthen the teaching quality of its teachers.

The training was conducted by Ms Zoe Wang, a Master Chinese Teacher from Yew Chung International School of Shanghai, and attended by ten newly appointed Chinese teachers of Cebu Cherish School. Ms Wang started with the basic skills in teaching words, dialogues and sentences and demonstrated Liberate the Joy of Learning Chinese teaching material and video lessons. The participants were then asked to plan part of a lesson in small groups to put what they had learned into practice. During the second week of class observation, Ms Wang gave specific comments to each teacher on lesson plans, classroom activities, classroom management, etc.

The participating teachers said they had benefited a lot from the training; they had gained a better understanding on the usage of Liberate the Joy of Learning Chinese teaching material, and mastered practical teaching skills.

An Inspiring Chinese Teachers’ Workshop

A partner of Living and Learning Culture and Education (LLCE)—Yew Chung International Schools (YCIS)—has successfully concluded the Chinese Teachers’ Workshop 2011 in Chongqing. This has truly been a grand event for the Chinese teachers from YCIS and its sister Yew Wah International Education Schools to learn from each other and to exchange teaching experience. Chinese teachers from Yew Chung and Yew Wah, school leaders and guests, totaling nearly 200 people, met in enthusiasm and excitement.

Held for the sixth time, this year’s workshop took place from August 17 to 19, 2011 and was themed “The Future Development of Education”. Professor Sang Xinmin from the Nanjing University’s Institute of Education was the keynote speaker. Professor Sang’s discourse was incisive and profound, and members of the audience were deeply inspired. Thanks to the thorough preparation of the speakers, the 22 sessions of talks by teachers and workshops by master teachers were rich in content, including reflections on teaching, handling of various cases and experience sharing. Covering both theory and application, the talks and workshops were undoubtedly of huge benefit to the teachers.

Staff from the “iLearn Chinese” platform run by LLCE also made great use of the occasion. They set up booths to assist teachers in activating their accounts and solve their problems. The online learning platform was effectively promoted.

In order to facilitate communication among different groups of participants and to promote the integration of Chinese culture into language teaching, visits to the campus of Yew Chung International School of Chongqing and the Three Gorges Museum of China, as well as a boat trip along the Two Rivers were arranged. All of these activities further enriched the three days of the workshop!

A Fruitful Workshop for MGC Teachers

A total of 17 Chinese teachers from MGC New Life Christian Academy (MGC) joined a three-day workshop in Manila, organized by Living Learning Culture and Education (LLCE), to gain practical skills on teaching Chinese in a fun and interactive way. The workshop focused on vocabulary teaching, dialogue teaching and teaching planning based on Liberate the Joy of Learning Chinese.

Training Manager Ms. Zoe Wang, who is a Master Chinese Teacher from the Yew Chung International School of Shanghai, flew to the Philippines to conduct the workshop held between May 30 and June 1, 2011. In the morning session, Ms. Wang used cases and sample lessons to explain the relevant theories, and then analyzed the details and design concepts of each sample.

Group discussion was the focus in the afternoon session. Participants were divided into two groups, and each had to prepare a lesson plan and conduct the lesson. The purpose was to put what they had learned in the morning session into practice. The participants’ skills were consolidated by means of exchanging ideas among group members. Based on what the participants had learned in the morning session, they commented and analyzed the presentation and gave advice to the presenters. Some participants were able to provide constructive comments on the last training day.

Though the workshop lasted for only three days, the participants all expressed that they learned a lot and they had confidence in using Liberate the Joy of Learning Chinese. All in all, the set of materials is not just for liberating students’ joy of learning Chinese, but also teachers’ joy of teaching Chinese.

Teaching Chinese at MGC has improved greatly since one year ago when the school adopted Liberate the Joy of Learning Chinese, jointly developed by LLCE and Yew Chung International School. Now students enjoy learning and speaking Chinese, while parents and teachers are confident in using the set of materials. Principals from other schools in Manila have also shown strong interest in the program.

Chinese Teachers’ Workshop 2011

A partner of Living and Learning Culture and Education (LLCE)—Yew Chung International Schools (YCIS) —will later in the summer holds its 6th Chinese Teachers’ Workshop with the theme “Future Development of Education”. LLCE will send its staff to the workshop and provide support.

The workshop, scheduled for August 17-19, 2011 in the city of Chongqing, has invited Professors Sang Xinmin and Li Shuhua of Nanjing University to give speeches on the theme. The two scholars are renowned for their research on the future of education, especially education through the I nternet. In addition, eight Master Chinese Teachers from YCIS and teachers from various campuses will host group discussions to share their experience.

Learning from one another and exchanging ideas about teaching on an open platform is an important opportunity for teachers to develop their professionalism. YCIS held Chinese Teachers’ Workshop for the first time in 2004, and its activities include speeches on special topics, forums and group discussions. LLCE has involved in the organization of the workshop in the recent years. Since 2009, Chinese teachers from Yew Wah International Education Schools—YCIS’ sister schools—have also participated in the event to share experience for mutual advancement.

Chinese Teachers’ Workshop, now in its sixth year, has its participants risen from 40 plus in the first year to close to 200 this year. In seven years, the number of the attendees has risen nearly five times.

Workshop for MGC Teachers 2011

Living Learning Culture and Education (LLCE) will soon organize a three-day Chinese Teacher Training Workshop for MGC New Life Christian Academy (MGC) in the Philippines. The objective of this workshop is to help teachers gain practical skills on teaching Chinese in a fun and interactive way. 

The workshop will focus on the following areas:

•  Review MGC’s teaching achievements since adopting LLCE teaching pedagogies in 2010;
• Learn creative teaching skills including immersing lessons in Chinese songs, role plays, movement activities, and learn how to lead them;
• Learn effective classroom management techniques;
• Learn how to design lesson plans;
• Learn how to assess students’ Chinese language development.

The interactive workshop, scheduled for 30 May--1 June 2011 in Metro Manila, will be conducted in small groups. Trainees are welcome to discuss the problems encountered in their daily teaching, and seek professional advice from the LLCE trainer face to face.

In the summer of 2010, Living Learning Culture and Education Company Ltd (LLCE) ran three Chinese language classes in Manila, leading to a marked improvement in the class students’ Chinese speaking ability.

The classes in the capital city of the Philippines were offered at MGC New Life Christian Academy (MGC) and United Evangelical Church of Greenhills-Metro East (The Church).

MGC had in one class 23 students ranging from Kindergarten 3 to Grade 4, starting on April 19 and lasting until April 30 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.. Ms.  Cherry Chen, a Chinese teacher of Yew Chung International School (YCIS), was the instructor of the class.

The Church ran two classes in the summer—one for 12 primary students and another for two secondary students. The classes started on April 19 and lasted until April 30 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.. Ms. Chen taught the primary students while Ms. Zhang Meng Ling, a local teacher trained by Ms. Chen, taught the secondary class.

The three classes used the materials and facilities of the “Chinese Teaching Easy/Chinese Learning Easy” program which were developed by LLCE in conjunction with YCIS which has more than 20-year experience in teaching Chinese to international students.
 
As Ms. Chen found out, most of students in the classes had basic knowledge of Chinese, but were rather poor in speaking. It might be due to the one-way and passive learning method in the Philippines. Therefore, one important task of  Ms. Chen was to encourage and motivate the students to speak Chinese.

After 11-day intensive training, students became more confident in speaking and more interested in learning Chinese. Their improvement was evident in the closing ceremony where students were able to sing Chinese songs and express their feelings about learning Chinese in Putonghua.

Some 25 people attended the training by Ms. Zoe Wang held at Le Jardin Academy, Honolulu during the two weekends in the first half of August, 2009. Ms. Wang enthralled the participants with her tips on delivery of Chinese designed to make learning fun and classroom management.

Agreeing with others’ comments about the training’s exceptional value, Ms. Daisy Pei, Mid-Pacific Institute’s Chinese teacher, noted that the most useful aspect was the practical illustration of teaching methods.

“Chinese Teaching Easy/Chinese Learning Easy” is developed by Living Learning Culture & Education Co. Ltd (LLCE) in conjunction with YCIS which has more than 20 years in teaching Chinese to international students.

The program offers quality teaching material and comprehensive teaching aids on multi-media platforms, including textbooks and exercise books, e-learning and teachers training. The just-concluded Honolulu workshop is the first such training in America.

LLCE plans to hold more such workshops in conjunction with YCIS in Hawaii and other places in the future.