The Confucius Institute in Krakow was co-established by Beijing Foreign Studies University and Jagiellonian University in Krakow on September 29th2006. With a history of 650 years, Jagiellonian University is the best university in Poland, ranking top in the list of excellent European universities, and is one of the most ancient universities in Europe, even in the world. The Confucius Institute in Krakow is the first Confucius Institute established in Poland.
The Confucius Institute in Krakow actively carries out Chinese teaching and promotes Chinese culture, enjoying a good reputation and high popularity in the local area. The Institute provides Chinese course at different levels for people of all ages and all walks of life, attracting people of all sectors in Poland to learn Chinese. There are two Chinese teachers from Beijing Foreign Studies University and Tianjin Foreign Studies University respectively, and four volunteering Chinese teachers from Confucius Institute at BFSU. They not only are highly proficient in Polish and English, but also have rich teaching experiences, and win consistent praise from students and local cultural and educational organizations. The Institute provides the students with Chinese courses of primary, secondary and high levels, including comprehensive language courses aimed to train their ability of listening, speaking, reading and writing and more specialized courses, such as Business Chinese and Chinese for children. Currently, the Institute sets up 12 classes for adults, 5 classes for children and a traditional program that has been offered since the very beginning ——Chinese calligraphy class, which can increase people’s interest in Chinese culture and Chinese language learning through writing Chinese characters in happiness. The Institute organizes HSK twice a year and offers a tutorial class for HSK before the examination.
In addition to those courses, the Institute has developed active cooperation with the local primary and secondary schools: offering Chinese classes in 10 schools and making Chinese as a compulsory course in one of the secondary schools, which is the pioneering case in southern Poland. The Institute promotes the “China Day” activity in different schools, launches lectures about China, organizes Chinese knowledge contests and encourages students to play Chinese games and learn Chinese calligraphy. The Institute has also maintained good collaborative relationships with several elderly universities, holding lectures about China for the aged. Besides Jagiellonian University, the Institute also cooperates with other universities in Krakow. For example, the Institute offers Chinese teaching classes and courses to display Chinese language and culture at some universities, co-launching lectures about China with Krakow University of Economics on the annual MBA meeting. Since September 2014, the Institute has established the university for young students cooperating with Krakow University of Economics, providing children with Chinese course and culture experiencing activities of different topics. With all these lively activities, children indulge in the happiness of learning and get in touch with the interesting Chinese language and culture, even though they are far from the country geographically.
The Institute has an independent library and reading room. The library is available to university students and Chinese learners in the Institute. Students can borrow books about China and Chinese learning, and use the multimedia library equipment. The books collected in the library are very precious and rich in Krakow, even in Poland. Most of books about China are available only here, which attract a large amount of readers who are interested in China. The reading room is available to everyone.
Other than Chinese language teaching and Chinese culture promotion, the Institute has dedicated to supporting the studies of young scholars on contemporary China, bilateral relation and the localization of Chinese language teaching. The Institute published two series books entitledChina Road, written by young scholars in 2014 and two local Chinese teaching textbooks——Shortcut to Chinese GrammarⅠandⅡin 2013, written by Dr. Adina Zemanek, a Polish expert in Chinese, which is also the first set of grammar textbooks meeting the demands of Polish Chinese learners. In 2014, Mao Rui, Adina Zemanek, Chinese teacher in the Institute and Dr. Joanna Wardega, the local director of the Institute, cooperated and finished the adaption and translation of the textbookModern Chineseof middle and senior levels. The textbook is the first localized teaching material, meeting the demands of Polish Chinese learners, who need to learn from the very beginning to the high level.
The Institute organizes plenty of colorful and delightful cultural activities, having a widespread impact in the local area. For example, every week, it will organize Chinese culture promotion activities in different forms, launch lectures on Chinese culture, classical literature, martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine and other different topics, and it will project Chinese movies. During the Spring Festival, the Institute organizes various Chinese New Year celebrating activities. The Institute organized the fourth “Happy Spring Festival” with the Chinese Embassy in Poland in the Auditorium Maximum of Jagiellonian University. The largest performing hall in the Auditorium Maximum, which can accommodate 1200 people, was filled with people then. Polish people appreciated the folk music, songs and dances, and martial arts performance brought about by Henan Art Troupe coming all the way from China. In addition, there were also other Chinese culture promotion activities on that day, such as lectures, Chinese classes, Taiji and Kungfu performance, calligraphy performance, Chinese knotting performance and so on. All these cultural activities make more Polish people get involved in the happy atmosphere of Chinese Spring Festival and get to know Chinese culture. Every month, the Institute organizes “Hello, Panda” activity for preschoolers, cultivating them through entertainment, which was awarded the “Best Activity” by the municipal government of Krakow in 2013.
The Confucius Institute in Krakow, on the premise of guaranteeing the quality of Chinese teaching, will continue to promote Chinese language and culture in Poland, and let more Polish people learn Chinese and understand China; it will carry out more cultural activities to establish a Confucius Institute cultural brand image and expand the influence of the Confucius Institute. The Institute will keep on supporting scholars to conduct researches in various fields of China, recommending students to study in China with the scholarship of the Institute and promoting more exchanges of students and scholars between Beijing Foreign Studies University and Jagiellonian University.
Address: ul. Radziwiłłowska 4, 31-026 Kraków, Polska
Contacts: Poland Director Joanna. Wardęga, Chinese Director Mao Rui
Email: info@instytutkonfucjusza.pl
Website:http://www.instytutkonfucjusza.pl
Phone: +48-12-421-10-61
Fax: +48-12-422-87-16
(As of December 31st, 2014.)
