The China Workshop Program for Foreign Chinese Language Teachers is specifically designed to encourage foreign teachers to become Chinese language teachers and promote the Chinese language and Chinese culture outside China. I participated in one such workshop last month, organised by BICC (Beijing International Chinese College), with cooperation from the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban).

After 3 weeks of language lectures and practical cultural workshops, I took my turn teaching a 15 minute lesson. Despite my linguistic skills being seriously lacking, an over-reliance on ppts (please, really, don’t ask!), and no mobile device to turn my ppt pages, I believe my students enjoyed the physicality of the lesson and will remembering how to say the Chinese verb ‘to swim’ for some time to come!