Interviews with some of our students

We would like the readers of our blog to get to know some of the people we work with a little better. Therefore we have interviewed some of our students from the different places we work. Meet Tao Jun, He Qing, Yong Hui, Qiao Xiao Hui and Yu Ji.

The Ningxia Red Cross:
Tao Jun (James)

What is your name?

- My Chinese name is Tao Jun and my English name is James

How old are you?

- I am 30 years old.

Where are you from?

- I am from Yinchuan, in the Northern part of Ningxia.

What is your job at the Ningxia Red Cross?

- I work as a district communicator.

How long have you been working at the Red Cross?

- I have been working here for seven years

How long have you been learning English?

- I have been learning English for ten years.

What is your favourite food?

- My favourite food is porkmeat.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

- I like to do outdoor activities and especially fishing. I am also found of tea culture.

He Qing (Anne)

What is your name?

- My Chinese name is He Qing and my English name is Anne.

How old are you?

- I am 27 years old.
Where are you from?
- I am from Zhongwei in Ningxia province.

What is your job at the Ningxia Red Cross?

- I am in charge of the volunteers.

How long have you been working at the Red Cross?

- I have been working four years at the Ningxia Red Cross.

How long have you been learning English?

- I have been learning English for fifteen years.

What is your favourite food?

- Boiled chicken with sauce.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

- I like to play badminton and to travel.

Yong Hui (Peter)

What is your name?
- My Chinese name is Yong Hui and my English name i Peter
How old are you?
- I am 30 years old
Where are you from?
- I am from the city of Zhongwei, in the Western part of Ningxia province.
What is your job at the Ningxia Red Cross?
- I do advertisements among teenagers, and recruit volunteers for the Red Cross
How long have you been working at the Red Cross?
- I have been working at the Red Cross for two years now.
How long have you been learning English?
- I have learned English for ten years.

What is your favorite food?
- Small peeled noodles.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
- I like to watch movies, TV and to play basketball.

Xinhua College:

Qiao Xiao Hui (Alice)

What is your name?

- My Chinese name is Qiao Xiao Hui, my English name is Alice.

How old are you?

- I am 20 years old.

Where are you from?

- I come from Guyuan, in the South of Ningxia.

What do you study?

- I am majoring in English.

How long have you been learning English?

- I have been learning English for eight years now.

Why did you choose to study English?

- Because I like English, and in the future I hope to become an English teacher.

What is your favourite food?

- Rice, fruit, potato and meat.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

- I like reading, go shopping, sleeping and to write in my diary.

Prep School for Ethnic Minorities

Yu Ji (Robert)

What is your name?

- My Chinese name is Yu Ji and my English name is Robert

How old are you?

- I am 20 years old.

Where are you from?
- I come from the city Yantai in Shandong province

What do you study

-I am majoring in Science.
How long have you been learning English?

- I have studied English for ten years.
What is your favourite food?
- My favourite food is watermelon.

What do you like to do in your sparetime?

- In my sparetime I go to the internet bar, I read books and play basketball.

What does the Ningxia Red Cross work with?

Two of the main things the Ningxia Red Cross work with is teaching first aid to people, and stem cell research. Teaching first aid is an educational part of their work, and working with stem cells is the research part of their work. They make people donate blood to use in research, to help people with leukemia (blood cancer). The Red Cross in Ningxia have been doing this since 2003. They also have other focuses but these two are the most important. Here you see pictures where we are joining the Red Cross in their work - first aid course in the old city of Yinchuan, and getting students to donate blood for stem cell research at North Campus og Ningxia University.

Teaching at the The Ningxia Red Cross Society

Between 15.00 and 17.00 every Wednesday we teach the staff at Ningxia Red Cross's administration building. The students we have are members of the staff at the Red Cross administration. They're a group of between 10 to 15 people, varying from one week to the next. Aged between 21 and 50 makes them a diverse class. They are a busy crowd, often picking up their phone in class and running out in the hallway to talk. This is because we teach them during their working hours. The first time we had to start from scratch. Some of the younger members know a little bit of English, but most of them know next to nothing. But they are very eager to learn, and they see that in order to get connections with other Red Cross Societies around the world, they need to learn and improve their English.

We have started the teaching by letting them learn single words, which are important for their work, and personal interests. They are learning to count, to greet and to introduce themselves. And we are trying to learn them simple, but useful sentences. When we teach there we have an interpreter with us, Jia Lei. He is crucial to us now in the beginning because of the language barrier. Teaching there is fun, and we learn about the Red Cross and their work here in Ningxia. We are dreaming about being able to join them for an excursion to the more rural parts of the region during this year. Their building is situated in the Old Town of Yinchuan.

The Ningxia Red Cross Society's homepage: http://www.nxredcross.org.cn