From March 3rd to 6th, the “Job, Training and Education Fair” in Austria—the biggest and highest-leveled fair of its kind in this country—was held in the Exhibition Hall of Vienna.  As one of the most important education fairs in Europe, it attracted a large number of educational organizations.  Austria’s Federal Chancellery, Federal Police, Federal Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance and other government departments joined this fair. More than 350  universities including University of Vienna, Vienna University of Economics, vocational schools and many well-known art schools in Europe, education organizations and Employment Centers took part in this fair, According to official statistics, the Fair attracted about 78, 000 visitors in total.

This year marks the second year that CIUV participated in the Fair. CIUV provided consultation of Chinese courses and introduced its cultural activities, and prepared two speeches as well.  The Fair was unveiled on March 3. The stand of CIUV stood out among other language education organizations, attracting attention of many visitors. Austrian Director of CIUV Trappl Richard introduced to the audience basic information and roles of CIUV, and patiently answered every question from the audience about learning Chinese in CIUV. Later, vice Dean of the School of International Business of BFSU, Liu Peng, made an introduction titled “Experiencing China” about BFSU’s overseas students programs and their advantages, sparking enormous interest from the audience.  The two speeches were quite vivid and interesting, and were  welcomed by the audience.

To offer to the visitors a basic understanding of learning Chinese language, the volunteer teachers from CIUV designed a Chinese Language Games Corner, teaching Chinese numbers and greeting expressions and designed Chinese characters scrabble games. During the Fair, the stand of CIUV was surrounded by learning atmosphere and filled with laughter attracting visitor of all ages.

Comparing with last year, visitors this year are obviously larger in number and with a clearer purpose.  CIUV stand received hundreds of visitors, indicating an increased influence of Chinese language in Austria. Learning Chinese, even studying and working in China, have become a good choice for Austria’s young generation.  A senior participant of the Fair said that with the growing influence of this fair, more and more people were willing to come.  He was glad to see that CIUV, as a professional language education and cultural organization, added unique features to the Fair, and provided more choices for the young people. CIUV, through providing consultation services on education and culture, could better integrate into the local community.