The Confucius Institute at Palacky University was established on September 27, 2007, co-founded by Beijing Foreign Studies University and Palacky University. It is now the only Confucius Institute in Czech Republic.

The Confucius Institute at Palacky University covers an area of 110 square meters, including regions for both teaching and administrative purposes. The Director from Czech is Lucie Lanikova (2011-now) and from China is Huang Xiaoming (2012-now). Nowadays, there are 4 Chinese volunteer teachers and 1 Chinese teacher in the Institute. At least 3 Chinese volunteer teachers and 1 Chinese teacher have been teaching there all these years. Besides, it also hires about 5-7 postgraduates or undergraduates who major in Chinese as part-time teachers.

In 2014, the Confucius Institute set up 7 classes which offer Chinese electives for the students and teachers of Palacky University. Meanwhile, it opened 10 classes for the public, such as Chinese class, calligraphy class, cooking class, shadowboxing class, Chinese musical instruments class (Erhu class), Chinese martial arts class, etc. Besides, it also opened 6 Chinese teaching centers in such places as Charles University in Prague, Masaryk University in Brno, and the middle schools emphasizing on language education in Ostrava, Olomouc, Zlin and Prostejov. The total number of the registered students reaches 300 and the number of non-registered students reaches 176 this year, which is a large rise compared with the previous years. The Confucius Institute also offers a series of HSK courses to the graduates and postgraduates who major in Chinese in Palacky University, providing more and more opportunities for the students of the university, local or nearby middle schools and the public to learn Chinese and to have a better understanding of Chinese culture.

So far, Confucius Institute at Palacky University has been the only Chinese Test Center in Czech, which is responsible for holding HSK test and HSKK test three times a year. In 2014, the institute held YCT test for the first time.

Every year, the Confucius Institute holds “Chinese Culture Month” regularly in October and November. It also offers “Chinese Culture and Language Courses” throughout the year to meet the needs of middle schools. Besides, it organizes various kinds of “Chinese Summer Camps” for middle school students and undergraduates to cultivate and improve their passion for Chinese and enhance their understanding of Chinese culture. Cooperating with the local government, elementary schools and middle schools, the institute has taken part in big cultural activities and exhibitions in Olomouc or nearby regions for many times, actively incorporating into the local community activities. In 2014, the institute held 15 cultural activities which involved 3,000 people and 10 lectures of various kinds which involved 550 people, and the audiences increased by 100% over previous years.

Moreover, our institute vigorously pushes the “Confucius China Studies Program”. In 2014, it organized “the International Conference of A Dream of Red Mansions Translations in Europe”, which is the first high-end A Dream of Red Mansions themed academic conference held in Czech. 17 experts and researchers on A Dream of Red Mansions from 11 universities in 6 countries, namely, China, Czech, Slovakia, Denmark, South Korea and German were invited to the conference. Also in 2014, it cooperated with Confucius Institute for Traditional Chinese Medicine, London, and organized an “acupuncture training class” in Palacky University, which lasted for a week.

In November, 2014, the Prague Branch of Confucius Institute at Palacky University was established. For the Czechs, especially students from different schools and universities and people from all walks of life in the capital of Czech, it would further satisfy their needs of learning Chinese and desires of knowing more about Chinese society and culture.

In 2012, Confucius Institute at Palacky University has formulated the first “the Second Five-year Plan of Development (2012-2016)”, putting forward the following goals for the next five years. The first goal is to build the Confucius Institute into a platform of communication and cooperation between China and Czech. It would not only provide more opportunities for the Czechs to learn Chinese, but also offer more chances for them to understand Chinese culture, history, society and people, thus providing more channels of communication and cooperation for these two countries. The second goal is to build the institute into the largest Chinese learning center, Chinese teacher training center, Chinese test center, cultural exchange center, Chinese research center and other centers in Olomouc area or even in the whole country. Through all these plans, the friendship between China and Czech will be deepened and strengthened and we can jointly build the world into a more harmonious and beautiful place.

Address: Confucius Institute, Palacky University in Olomouc, Krizkovskeho 8, 771 80 Olomouc, Czech Republic

Contacts: Lucie Lanikova, Czechic Director; Huang Xiaoming, Chinese Director

E-mail: konfucius@upol.cz

Tel: +420 -585-631-256/+420-585-631-253

Fax: +420 -585-631-254

(As of December 31, 2014)