To facilitate postgraduate students' smooth transition of living in Hong Kong, the LEAP (Learning Enhancement and Activity Plan) under School of Graduate Studies co-organized a 2-month Cantonese course with hand-on practices with the Chaplain's Office. Reunion gathering and award ceremony was successfully held on 2 December 2022.  Students not only learnt Cantonese inside the classrooms but also actively participated in the outing for hand-on practices of using the language.  The course particularly arranged over 10 local participants to serve as group leaders to assist students to conduct small group discussions after each lecture.  The serving heart of these local volunteers made the challenges students faced in their new learning journey in Hong Kong a lot easier.  The course also has its featured project titled “I can speak Cantonese” video shooting which is a showcase of good learning outcome. Under the guidance of the team leaders, each group had to prepare a short video in Cantonese.  Topics included life in Lingnan, local Hong Kong food and culture. Students did an amazing work. The screening of these videos attracted rounds of applause in the last class and left a fond memory of their life in Hong Kong. 

Student Song Tianyi from Mongolia excited about her fruitful learning and used Cantonese to share her experience - “I benefited a lot from the Cantonese course.  I realized the differences of consonants and tones between Cantonese and Putonghua is not significant.   However, the word order in expression between two languages is quite different.  This course also helped me to get familiar with Lingnan University - our group used Cantonese to shoot a video at different corners on campus.  Besides, I also learnt how to order food in Cantonese and communicate with locals.  It greatly strengthened my confidence.  Also, the loving and caring acts of the leaders and instructors touched my heart deeply.”

Tianyi said she looks forward to be a big sister for the forthcoming students in the Cantonese course!