School children in Washington, sing in Chinese to send a message of peace and love to China

   

The Alice Deal Middle School auditorium in Washington DC hosted a one-of-a-kind event, where an audience of about 700 people awaited the show's grand finale: the chorus of a Chinese song "I love you China."

The song, written in the 70s, tells the beauty of the Chinese landscape, the virtues of the Chinese people and expresses unreserved affection for China. This time, it was sung by two dozen Alice Deal middle school students. The pronunciation needed to be polished, the melody a little more practical, but the passion for China and Chinese culture was genuine. The students belonged to a group of 2288 DC Public Schools students who took Chinese as a foreign language and, on this occasion, celebrated the Chinese New Year in advance with Chinese students from other schools. After two months of preparation, the show they put together was impressive. There were classics of the time like "My Chinese Heart" and "Jasmine Flower", and new hits like "little apple" and "Mouse loves rice". For high school students, the combination of Taichi and modern dance may seem interesting, for elementary school children, a recital of poems about the twelve zodiacs was equally enjoyable. Among the numerous dance programs, the public was presented with a taste of the culture of Chinese minority groups, while on the stage there were Uighur, Tibetan and Miao dancers with matching costumes. Lindsey Miller, a child from Alice Deal's constituent who participated in the choir, said it was really fun to perform in front of all the students in other schools. "I have been studying Chinese for three years," he said, "Learning Chinese is fun for me, it's also intriguing and unique." Wearing a pair of baggy silk pants with Chinese embroidery was Chidimma Orusakwe, a sophomore from McKinley High School who joined his classmates to wear a "Chinese fashion show." "We chose the clothes for ourselves," he said, "I really enjoyed myself on stage." Zhi Yanming, a Chinese teacher at Alice Deal and main organizer of the event, said this is the second year that schools offering Chinese classes in Washington have decided to join for a party. "Last year there were 13 schools, this year all 15 schools participated," Zhi said. The DC Public School system offers seven language courses, with the number or students learning Chinese following the Spanish and French lessons, but far exceeding the Italian, Latin, Arabic and American sign language. Although Chinese is not the most studied foreign language here, only the Chinese program has been able to bring all the participating schools together for an event like this, Zhi said. Zhi attributed the celebration's success to the enthusiastic support of teachers, students, parents and schools. “Many families are in favor of their children learning Chinese because they think they will have an extra chance in adult life. Allyson Williams, head of world languages ​​at DC Public School, said it is clear that the Chinese language is gaining momentum and that the idea of ​​offering Chinese courses in more local schools has been actively explored.

Category: NEWS ', PRP Channel