HADIA SAKKAL & SAMIA MEGUERDICHE

In 2013 we met in our first Chinese class in the Confucius Institute.

It was quite challenging to undertake such initiative and for sure we were not aware that 8 years after we would be as eager to continue..

In fact learning Chinese is a long life journey..

Acquiring the four tones was not easy,(and still is not evident) ,  step by step , we moved  from the Pinyin to reading and  writing Chinese Characters (hanzi)…

Even though the Chinese Grammar and Conjugation are not difficult , Memory is a fundamental skill.

The sooner one start learning Chinese the easier it will be…

Thanks to our different Chinese  teachers (Hao Loshi, Feng Laoshi , Sun Laoshi,  Jin Laoshi, Wang Laoshi and Li Laoshi) we learned a lot about the Chinese traditions and every thing related such as History, Art, Festivals, Cooking…

Because of  the confinement period the classes continued  on line. It was an opportunity to be in direct contact with Sun Li Laoshi and Mike Laoshi who  both were  in Shenyang . We thank them for their disponibility despite the time difference.

2013年，我们在孔子学院的第一堂汉语课上相遇。  

我们主动报名学习汉语对我们来说是非常具有挑战性的，当然，更让我们没有想到的是8年后我们还渴望继续学习。  

事实上，学习汉语是一个漫长的人生旅程。  

习得四个声调是不容易的，(仍然是不明显的)，一步一步，我们从拼音到读写汉字……  

虽然汉语的语法并不难，但记忆是一个问题。  

一个人越早开始学中文，就会越容易……  

感谢教过我们的几位中文老师 (郝老师、冯老师、孙老师、金老师、王老师和李老师)，我们知道了很多中国的传统以及历史、艺术、节日、烹饪……等相关的知识。  

由于新冠疫情的原因，网课持续进行。 我们只能在网上与沈阳的孙荔老师和迈克老师见面， 他们克服了时差带来的种种坚持给我们上课。 对此我们深表感谢。

MARIA MOUNZER

I've been taking Professor Sun's class for 5 years now, and participated in different cultural events organized by Confucius Institute, including a summer camp to China (Shenyang and other cities) where we profitted from a first hand experience in extending our knowledge in using, applying and understanding Mandarin.

This class has not only helped me receive the language in a very efficient way, it has also opened my eyes at new and fascinating cultural horizons in the far east, especially China.

The approach adopted in class (online as well as offline) has provided me with the perfect learning environment, where interaction is key. A lot of patience and support from the teacher made me reach Level 5A2 with ease and focus.

I deem this class to be highly recommendable and efficient for those seeking to learn Mandarin at the hands of professionals and at very reasonable fees.

我跟孙教授学习汉语已经5年了。我参加了孔子学院组织的各种文化活动，其中包括到中国沈阳和其他一些城市的夏令营。在那里我亲身体验将所学的汉语知识应用于实践。  

通过汉语课的学习，我不仅非常有效地学会了语言，它也拓宽了我在远东，特别是中国的文化视野。 令人着迷。

在课堂上(线上线下)所采用的方法为我提供了完美的学习环境，其中互动是关键。 老师的耐心和支持让我轻松而专注地达到了5A2。  

我要向那些想学习汉语的同学强烈推荐此课，他们专业、高效，收费合理。

NAWAL EL MEOUCHI

I decided more than 10 years ago to learn Chinese and registered at Confucius Institute. The idea was lingering in my mind since many years but I did not know how to proceed. I did not wish to study Chinese online and wished my teacher to be Chinese.

Then for my luck Confucius Institute opened at USJ.

I began to study Chinese out of curiosity and continued out of passion. This could not have happened if the successive teachers we had were not excellent and so willing to share with us their love and pride of their language and of their country, which they succeeded in doing. It was fascinating to discover Chinese and China. Such a different culture, so many unknown values, such willingness to work hard and to always do “what you have to do”, simply one’s duty.

The celebrations, the festivals, the meanings of so many things, often meaningless in other cultures, such as colours or physical positions in theatre or masks or festivals decorations, every detail counts in Chinese culture.

The values, respect of the elders, ways to educate, to work, to support, the decency in life, all of this is reflected in the Chinese language.

I wish CI a flourishing future and a long presence in Lebanon, and will continue with CI as long as I can.

I also wish that CI presence in Lebanon develops in broader ties, positive ones taking into consideration the interests of China and Lebanon, my beloved country.

With my sincere thanks to all of you at CI.

诺娃

十多年前，我决定学习中文，并在孔子学院注册。 这个想法在我脑海里徘徊了很多年，但我不知道该如何去做。 我不希望在网上学习中文，希望我的老师是中国人。  

幸运的是，孔子学院落户黎巴嫩的圣约瑟夫大学。  

我开始学习中文是出于好奇，继续学习中文是出于热情。 如果我们的后来的几位教师不是那么优秀的话，这是不可能发生的！他们愿意与我们分享他们对自己的语言热爱并且为自己的国家感到自豪。他们成功地做到了。 探索中国和中国人是一件令人着迷的事情。我发现了不同的文化，未知的价值观，还认识了一群如此努力工作的人，他们总是尽着每个人的责任，做着“你应该做的”的事情。  

庆典、节日、许多事物的意义，在其他文化中往往是毫无意义的，比如戏剧中的颜色或物理位置、面具或节日装饰，但在中国文化中，每一个细节都很重要。  

价值观、对长者的尊重、教育方式、工作方式、赡养方式、体面的生活，所有这些都在汉语中得到了体现。  

我祝愿孔子学院常驻黎巴嫩，越办越好。只要我可以，我将继续与孔院同行。  

我也希望孔子学院在黎巴嫩与各方建立更广泛，更积极的联系，助力中黎关系健康发展。

衷心感谢孔院的所有同仁！