Toulouse is burning hot in July and the approaching holiday makes the students of Catholic Private Middle school of Jean XXIII too patient to wait. At this very moment, the school welcomed its annual year-end performance. Different from previous years’ arrangement, this year the school takes China as the theme of the year-end celebration day. Nearly 800 teachers and students from the primary school department, secondary school department and parents attended the event. And the performance received warm welcome and sincere appreciation from both school leaders and parents.

The event was jointly hosted by volunteer teachers dispatched by the Confucius Institute of Toulouse and Ms. Bobot, Principal of the High School. The performance was opened by dances rehearsed for long by the students of the kindergarten and primary school grade by grade. All dances were selected based on Chinese culture and Chinese elements. “The Little Swallow”, “Dragon”, “Yin and Yang” performed by the kindergarten students; “Panda Babies”, “Prince and Princess”, “Flying Butterflies”, “Descendants of the Dragon”, “Martial Arts Fighting” by students of the primary school department not only showcased the long-standing and profound Chinese culture, but also conveyed the vigorous and positive spiritual attitude of modern China. Then, students sang Chinese songs. At last, all teachers and students sang “Le Drapeau” (meaning the same flag) while waving flags of the two countries.

Since offering Chinese courses last October, Chinese language teaching has not only gained strong support from leaders of Catholic Private Middle school of Jean XXIII, such as Ms. Bordeaux-Gérard and Ms. Bobot, but also been warmly welcomed by the students, who have learnt language knowledge and gained an understanding about traditional culture full of Chinese characteristics. When teaching primary and secondary school students of lower age groups, the school has taken proper teaching methods to avoid making the Chinese course a burden for them; rather, to encourage students to learn Chinese actively and love China. Laying a foundation for deepening understanding and knowledge about China is the ultimate goal of the Chinese course.

The teaching site at the Catholic Private Middle school of Jean XXIII affiliated to Confucius Institute of Toulouse has achieved enviable results within one year of its establishment. It has not only been highly appreciated by teachers and students, but also been highly spoken of by people from all sectors of the society. More and more French youngsters are willing to take Chinese language and culture as their learning object. For more and more French people, China isn’t strange and remote at all. The Confucius Institute of Toulouse will be committed to enhancing understanding between the peoples, playing the bridging role and contributing its due share to international Chinese language promotion and Chinese culture transmission.