Resources

Chinese@OU - free character learning app

This free Chinese character learning app is developed by the Chinese team led by Dr Kan Qian at the Open University. It provides fun and interactive activities to help you write, recognise, and memorise some of the most frequently used characters in a clear and enjoyable way. The app contains over 200 frequently used characters for beginner Chinese learners and introduced in the Open University’s new module Beginners’ Chinese.

Download the app here from the Apple App store or from the Google Play Store

Read more about the key features of the app and the interactive activities 

After you have used the app, we would very much appreciate if you could complete this short survey.

Recordings and materials for public talks on Chinese philosophy and history

‘The Chinese diaspora's fight for belonging and survival in America’ by Hugo Wong.

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‘Chinatown across timescales: Ethnographic approaches to linguistic landscape’ by Dr Jackie Jia Lou from University of London.

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‘The Good Life: What ancient philosophers can tell us about living well today’ by Dr Jingyi Jenny Zhao.

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‘Confucian China in a Changing World Cultural Order’ by Professor Roger T. Ames.

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‘China and the shaping of its own modernity’ by Professor Roger T. Ames.

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‘Chinese Labour Corps of WW1-China's efforts to regain territorial integrity’ by Peng Wenlan

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Watch the film referenced in the talk

Recordings and materials for public talks on Chinese culture

‘The Dunhuang Collection -17,000 Chinese Manuscripts & a dozen Printed Books’ by Dr. Frances Wood of the British Library and Dr. Lars Laamann from SOAS.

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‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ 寻踪异兽, 品读山海 , a talk in Chinese with English simultaneous English transcription, by Professor Wang Chuan from the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

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‘Loot from China’s Summer Palace in auctions, exhibitions and museums’ by Professor Louise Tythacott from Emerita of Curating and Museology at SOAS, University of London

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‘Living with Dragons – life and work in China between 1988-2008’ by author Giles Chance.

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‘China's Transformation in the Anthropocene’ by Professor Stephen Peake and Dr James Warren from The Open University.

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‘Harmony in Diversity - Navigating life and work in China with intercultural competence’ by British Council China Director Nick Thomas.

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'China through a glass of wine' by Janet Wang.

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‘Public talk followed by demonstration of Chinese character writing with soft brush‘ by Dr YAN Tong.

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‘Chinese Face over centenaries’ by Gu Yueguo.

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Recordings and materials for the Modern Chinese Literature Book Club series

The book club series provides thoughtful discussion on contemporary Chinese writers' work and related translation issues, which brings together those interested in contemporary Chinese literature and translation studies. Each session focuses on an author and a particular piece of their work. The discussions are in English and are facilitated by Paper Republic, an organisation set up by expert translators Nicky Harman and Emily Jones, as well as special guest translators representing their translated work.

1st Session: Sissy Zhong (钟腻哥, Zhong Ni Ge), by Yan Ge (颜歌), translated by Nicky Harman.

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2nd Session: Hitchhikers (搭车客), by Sanmao (三毛), first published in Stories of the Sahara, translated by Mike Fu.

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3^rd  Session:  Two pieces of work by A Yi (阿乙):  Who's Speaking Please? ( 您好！),  translated by Michelle Deeter; and  A Message Held to the Flame (我们所处的人的环境), translated by Dylan Levi King.

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4^th  Session: Backflow River (倒流河) by JIA Pingwa (贾平凹), translated by Nicky Harman.

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5^th  Session:  Seeing ghosts (靈視) by Chan Ho-Kei (陳浩基), translated by Bill Leverett.

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6^th Session: Winter is Coming (凛冬将至) by WU Ang （巫昂）, translated by Kelly Zhang.

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7^th Session: Mister Lover (舅舅情人) by WANG Xiaobo (王小波), translated by Eric Abrahemsen.

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8^th session: Notes from a Consulting Room (诊疗室手记）by Sophie Zuo Fei (昨非), translated by Dylan Levi King and Yun Qin Wang (王韵沁).

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9^th session: Ying Yang Alley (鹰扬巷) by Fan Xiaoqing (范小青), translated by Helen Wang.

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10^th session: The Nursing Home Rightist (老院的右派) by Yuan Ling (袁凌), translated by Nicky Harman.

Further details, discussion topics, video and transcript of the session  

Chinese New Year Activities

These downloadable activities are suitable for both young learners and adults.

• Explanation of the 福 (happiness) character
• 福 (happiness) character tracing sheet

Useful video clips for teaching

Chinese at the tip of your tongue: East, west, south and north

A collection of four short video clips (3 – 5 minutes) on different aspects of Chinese culture, explained in English. They can be shown to students when the following topics are introduced:

A glimpse of Chinese – Chinese script and tones 

Culture behind the numbers 

East, west, south and north 

How do you translate brand names? 

Open Access academic publications in teaching Chinese as a foreign language

Special Issue: Technology-enhanced Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language

This open-access special issue is published by the peer reviewed Journal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning (JCCALL). It is co-edited by Dr SHI Lijing and Dr KAN Qian. This special issue aims to bridge the gap between research and pedagogy in the intersection of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL). It explores and showcases innovative approaches, research findings, and practical applications in the field of technology-enhanced teaching of Chinese as a foreign language.

Read the editors’ introduction to this special issue to find out more about the topics and contributors.

View and download the full paper.

Workshops in language teaching and learning materials

25^th April 2025 - A hybrid teacher training day Sharing Good Practices in Teaching Chinese Language and Cultures in the AI Era in collaboration with Lancaster University Confucius Institute for teachers of Chinese as Foreign Language. There were here will be six keynote speakers online and in-person. Below are the topics:

• "An Innovative Approach to Teaching Chinese Culture through the Integration of Cultural MOOCs and AI Technologies" - LUO Rong (Associate Professor in Cultural Studies at the School of International Studies, Zhejiang University) and LI Wenjing (Associate Professor, College of International Education, Hangzhou Normal University) ( in English for Part 1 and in Chinese for Part 2)  
• "Practical Exploration of AI Agents in the Field of International Chinese Education" -  XIE Junjie (General Manager of Taoli Chinese)  (in Chinese)
• "Combination Punch and Differentiation Strategy: How Chinese language teachers address opportunities and challenges in the AI era" - CHEN Ye (former Mandarin teacher at the Confucius Institute of Peking University and UCL)
• "Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Online" - Dr Zsuzsanna Bárkányi (Senior Lecturer in Spanish, The Open University)
• "Bring Vitality to Language Teaching with Self-made AI Bots" - XU Xin (Associate Professor, School of English, Beijing Foreign Studies University) (in English)
• "Navigating AI in Foreign Language Teaching: Balancing Innovation and Integrity in Course design and Assessmen"t - Dr KAN Qian (Senior Lecturer in Chinese, The Open University) (in English)

Read the details of the training day content and presentation slides.
 

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23^rd April 2024 - A hybrid training day in collaboration with Lancaster University Confucius Institute for teachers of Chinese as Foreign Language. There were four presentations:

• "What is virtual exchange", by Dr Mirjam Hauck 
• "Running VE in a Chinese language programme at a University in the UK", by Professor GUO Zhiyan
• "Continuation Theory and Its Application in Chinese Language Teaching", by YANG Mei
• "Exploring Chinese characters - Learning and Teaching Strategies", by Dr KAN Qian and Richard McCurry

Read the details of the training day content, watch the recording and presentation slides.

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1^st March 2024 - ‘Playfulness in Language Learning and Teaching - Online Workshop’ - delivered by Ximena Arias-Manzano

Read the details of the workshop content and watch the recording

View the presentation slides here with the consent by Ximena Arias-Manzano.