ABOUT US
CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE
The Confucius Institute at the University of Banja Luka is an education and cultural centre established in December 2017, with the aim to promote the Chinese language and culture. The Chinese language and culture are taught by native Chinese language speakers and professors of Chinese language. The premises of the Confucius Institute are located at the first floor of the Faculty of Political Science, in the University Campus.
The Confucius Institute develops Chinese language and culture сourses for pre-school, primary and secondary school children, students and adults interested in learning the Chinese language and culture. At the end of the programme, the students are awarded certificates on successfully completed course in Chinese language, and they may take the YCT or HSK Test (Chinese proficiency examination) at the Confucius Institute, which is also the Test Centre of this internationally recognized examination.
In the library of the Faculty of Political Science, the Confucius Institute has over 2 000 titles in Chinese and English language on China and Chinese culture, which may help citizens learn more about this country and its culture as well as about its social and economic trends.
The Confucius Institute organizes Chinese language courses in autumn and spring cycles lasting 3 months per cycle. Depending on their level of knowledge, students are divided into five groups: HSK 1, HSK 2, HSK 3, HSK 4 and HSK 5. Some of them also got the opportunity to visit China and improve their knowledge there, and many have the opportunity to go to a ten-day summer camp during the summer and study the language, visit the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and visit some of the most important cultural and historical sights in the People's Republic of China.
The Institute organizes free Chinese language courses for primary and secondary school students. On 5 October 2020, the first modernly equipped specialized classroom for the study of Chinese language and culture, the Confucius Classroom, was opened in Banja Luka Grammar School, where students and professors have the opportunity to, through classes and different activities and projects, learn and improve their knowledge of Chinese language and get to know Chinese culture.
Every year, it also organizes free one-month Chinese language courses for children and adults during January (winter intensive course) and July or August (summer intensive course), at which they can learn the language or improve their knowledge and better prepare for the next regular course.
In addition to the Chinese language courses, the CI also offers the Business Chinese Course, intended for those who wish to learn the basics of business correspondence in Chinese and familiarize themselves with the Chinese business culture and etiquette, while this year it also started with online Chinese language courses for all those who live in remote places or those who prefer to attend the classes from their homes.
Students of the Chinese language courses at the Confucius Institute regularly participate in the “Chinese Bridge” contest, organized every year for students, secondary and primary school students, at which they achieve great results and often win the contests and get the opportunity to represent their country in China.
Supporting and encouraging children and young adults in the process of learning Chinese is the most important contribution of the Confucius Institute. In addition to activities conducted to promote the Chinese language, the Institute has also been active in promoting the Chinese culture, history and art, as well as the economic and social trends, by organizing various public events, workshops and lectures. Citizens are always particularly interested in the Chinese tea ceremony, as a part of tradition and philosophy that exudes harmony, peace and gratitude. The older population is mainly interested in the TaiChi classes, which have been organized regularly during all these years, as they find them useful for both their physical and mental health. The youngsters find different education and cultural workshops interesting, such as Chinese calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, paper cutting art, table tennis, Chinese chess, martial art kung fu etc.
The vision of the Confucius Institute is to become a relevant source of knowledge on China in the Republic of Srpska. In addition to promoting the Chinese language and culture, i.e., presenting Chinese language and culture to professionals and the general public, the Confucius Institute aims to advance the cooperation in the field of education between China and the Republic of Srpska and provide assistance in establishing cooperation between different institutions of the Republic of Srpska and the institutions of PR China. The Institute organizes the Chinese language courses in primary and secondary schools as well as in higher education institutions, and educates and informs the business society of the Republic of Srpska on how to do business with China, helping them master everything necessary to make their business with China and other Asian countries as successful as possible. By regularly organizing education workshops that promote the cultural values of the Chinese people, the Institute actually strives to enable the citizens to take active part in the workshops and thus better understand and learn more about the different aspects of the Chinese culture.