On the 24^th Dec of 2006, it was a really cold day outside but in the Tianjin Foreign Service Corp¡¯s hall it was very warm and jolly. A bilingual Christmas Party for the Tianjin Friendship Int¡¯l Exchange and Training Centre (TIETC English) was celebrated there. More than one hundred people attended the party including the students from different schools together with their parents. Flashing lights, smiling Santa Clause posters, colourful balloons, a beautiful Christmas tree, and fancy gifts, all made the people at the party feel joy and happiness.

 

At the party, students were the focus of everybody there all along. They performed many diverse English ballads and songs. A song performed by the TIETCs¡¯ English students (Edelweiss) brought the entire audience into a clean and bright snowy world.

 

TIETC always wants to put students into a carefree atmosphere to learn English. At the party, they had some easy games to play, like nip the orange and balloons, however most games were related to English. Such as guessing letter and guessing games, it not only made the students happy but they also learned lots of new vocabulary from it. Many parents also joined the tongue twister, and draw and guess games. They made a good example for their children. Between the games, the foreign teachers gave us some new stories about Christmas that I never heard before, that let the students not only enjoy the games here, but also gain knowledge on western culture.

 

Letting the students have more opportunity to communicate with foreign teachers was another purpose of TIETC, we wanted the students to learn English through games. At the beginning, the foreign teachers introduced themselves to the students and their parents. They were humorous and their special introductions made the students very happy. When the games were over, the Friendship Cards were handed out by the foreign teachers. After Santa Claus gave gifts to the students, the party was rounded off with the song ¡°We wish you a Merry Xmas¡±. Lots of students took pictures with the foreign teachers and didn¡¯t want to leave. Everybody wished that we could have more and more activities like this in the future.