CHINESE INSTITUTE GENEVA FOUNDATION

(New website from 2024 : www.cigswiss.ch )

 

 

 

 

 


 

We adopt a holistic approach, which is designed to emphasize the development of communication skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing. We aim to develop confidence in using Chinese to communicate either orally or in written forms. We recommend students to participate in YCT (Youth Chinese Test), HSK (Chinese proficiency test for all age) and/or HSC (Heritage Chinese Language Proficiency Test for native speakers), which all provide official Chinese proficiency certificates. We are the only test center for YCT in French-speaking Switzerland,and one of the test centers in Switzerland for HSK, and the only test center for HSC in Switzerland (except the Bern region). We are also the ELCO member recognized by canton of Geneva. It means that we use public school benchmark for end of school year exams, and the result note is recognized by canton of Geneva.

International Diploma in Chinese 

     

                             

CHINESE INSTITUTE GENEVA FOUNDATION

Welcome to CIG - Director Mrs. Chu  

CHINESE INSTITUTE GENEVA FOUNDATION 

CHINESE INSTITUTE GENEVA FOUNDATION 

Chinese Institute Geneva Foundation (CIG) was established in 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland. It is a politically and religiously neutral non-profit foundation, recognized by the Swiss federal government and the cantonal government of Geneva. The main goals of CIG are to teach standard Mandarin, whilst to promote Chinese culture and incorporate cultural exchange. The founder is Mrs. Jun CHU, also the current director. At present CIG has 18 teachers and 180 students. In 2017 CIG has been awarded the honorary title of “Chinese Education Model School” by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of China.

 

Chinese lessons are adapted to various needs: there are classes for primary and secondary school students with Chinese as mother tongue or as a foreign language; classes for adults (including professional business language class), preparatory classes for examinations, such as HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) and YCT (Youth Chinese Test), and IB Chinese (International Baccalaureate). CIG also provides Chinese course to the International School of Geneva (LGB campus) and Moser School (campuses in Geneva and Nyon). CIG also organizes frequently events and activities to introduce Chinese culture, as well as cultural tours and summer camps to China. 

 

Features of our Chinese lessons:

  • Flexible curriculum: small class teaching with personalized service.
  • Multiple teaching locations in Geneva, Nyon and Lausanne. According to the needs of students, we will continue to open more locations.
  • Flexible schedule: class schedule can be adjusted to match the different needs of groups.

 

In 2020, CIG becomes a qualified Chinese teaching institution recognized by the Geneva canton government for Chinese teaching and test scores.

 

For 10 consecutive years, CIG has been the organizer of the Hanban YCT test center in Switzerland, managing and operating annually the exam. In 2021, CIG became the organizer of HSK exam (all levels) in French-speaking Switzerland. In 2020 CIG also established an official cooperation with the Heritage Chinese Language Proficiency Test(HSC), which serves as a standardized examination worldwide for overseas Chinese teenagers. 

In 2019 CIG had great honor to host the cultural exchange and performances for Davos Forum on “Davos Chinese and Foreign Entrepreneurs Exchange Night”, assisting Chinese state-owned enterprises to welcome more than 100 heads of Fortune 500 companies. In February 2019, CIG principal Mrs. Zhimin SUN was invited to participate in the live “Infrarouge” focus talk show at the Swiss national TV RTS Un (Radio Télévision Suisse). She introduced China's development from an objective perspective. 

 

CIG attended annually the “Chinese Language Day” activities organized by the United Nations Geneva office at Palais des Nations. Since its establishment in 2008, CIG has participated annually in the Chinese Cultural Immersion Youth Camp and the International Students Summer Camp – Beijing.

 

On 19th January 2020, before the global outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, CIG exclusively hosted a Chinese spring festival celebration, which became the largest and most influential Chinese community activity in the Geneva area. The Geneva Tourism Bureau and Chinese domestic newspaper "Economic Daily" reported on the scene.

 

After the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic in China, CIG donated 21,000 medical facial masks to hospitals in Beijing, through the Beijing Returned Overseas Chinese Federation and the Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China.

 

During the lock-down period in Switzerland, CIG kept delivering online Chinese course to local students. In June 2020, principal Mrs. Zhimin SUN represented CIG at the 2nd Global Chinese Education Internet Teaching Seminar, and addressed the meeting as one of the keynote guests. She was also interviewed by the Swiss French-speaking national radio station Radio Lac, and made a statement against the discrimination against Chinese during the pandemic. In the post-pandemic era, we are also actively preparing for transformation and integration, gradually launching offline activities and flexible online and offline course arrangements.

 

Main activities:

 

A. To carry out language and cultural activities in cooperation with the Embassy of China and local Swiss government and to continuously enhance CIG’s influence in Switzerland

  • Since 2009, we have given presentations on Chinese culture to primary and secondary school students at the International School of Geneva. 
  • Since 2011, we have held a series of lectures to the public on Guzheng, Chinese tea art, Chinese films, Chinese calligraphy and tourism etc. 
  • In 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2020, we hosted Chinese New Year celebrations for our students, teachers and guests.
  • In 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015, we organized 5 sessions of "Talking about China, Knowing about China" themed culture events. 
  • Since 2012 we have been a qualified test center of YCT for French-speaking area in Switzerland.
  • In 2017, as the only Chinese cultural community, CIG was invited by the Mayor of Geneva, Mr. Guillaume Barazzone to a brunch meeting prepared for multinational cultural communities in Geneva. Mr. Barazzone expressed his appreciation to the contribution of CIG to the promotion of Sino-Swiss cultural exchanges.
  • In March 2017, CIG developed its own children’s choir. Our choir dedicated its first performance to the EMS Résidence de Saconnay, Geneva in June 2017, and performed officially at the 1st Swiss Chinese Culture and Tourism Festival in September 2017.
  • In March 2018, CIG students participated in the Language Day event at the International School of Geneva. Our students showed their achievements in Chinese language learning through performances of recitation, songs and Chinese drama.
  • In April 2018, CIG was invited by the United Nations Geneva office to the opening ceremony of the large-scale exhibition of Chinese Language and Culture “Charm of Chinese Culture: from Characters to Literature” at Palais des Nations. Speeches were given by Mr. Michael Møller, the Director-General of UN Geneva, and Mr. Jianhua Yu, China's Ambassador, Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland. CIG participated in the opening with a group of 60 Swiss local high school students and adults.
  • In June 2018, CIG co-organized the 2nd Swiss Chinese Culture and Tourism Festival. In addition, we successfully planned and hosted Chinese festival activities for large local enterprises. At the request of Sino-Swiss joint ventures and Swiss local enterprises, we held a series of lectures on Chinese calligraphy and cultural differences between China and western countries. We also provide them long-term in-company Chinese course.
  • On 30th July 2018, CIG founder and director Mrs. Jun CHU was invited to the celebration activities at the Switzerland Embassy in Beijing. Mrs. Chu met with Ambassador Jean-Jacques de Dardel, and Mr. Erich James Hoesli, the senior advisor of Switzerland Embassy in Beijing. Mrs. Chu introduced the history of CIG in the past 10 years. Ambassador Jean-Jacques de Dardel also expressed his support for Sino-Swiss cultural exchange.
  • In January 2019, CIG had great honor to host the cultural exchange and performances for Davos Forum on “Davos Chinese and Foreign Entrepreneurs Exchange Night”, assisting Chinese state-owned enterprises to welcome more than 100 heads of Fortune 500 companies.
  • In February 2019, CIG principal Mrs. Zhimin SUN was invited to participate in the live “Infrarouge” focus talk show at the Swiss national TV RTS Un (Radio Télévision Suisse). She introduced China's development from an objective perspective.
  • In 2017, 2018, and 2019, CIG students participated in the "Chinese Language Day" activities at the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva. In 2020 and 2021, our students took part in the online "Chinese Day" short video collection activities.
  • Since its establishment in 2008, CIG has joined annually in the Chinese Cultural Immersion Youth Camp and the International Students Summer Camp - Beijing.
  • On 19th January 2020, before the global outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, CIG exclusively organized a Chinese spring festival celebration, which became the largest and most influential Chinese community activity in the Geneva area. The Geneva Tourism Bureau and Chinese domestic newspaper "Economic Daily" reported on the scene.
  • In 2020, CIG was interviewed by the Swiss French-speaking national radio station Radio Lac. We stood against the discrimination against Chinese people during the pandemic.
  • In September 2020, CIG director Mrs. Jun CHU was interviewed by the Chinese public opinion field (online forum) to talk about the pandemic prevention and control for the new school year in the fall of 2020.
  • As the Spring Festival of the Year of the Ox approached in February 2021, CIG director Mrs. Chu accepted a video interview with the special program "Global Chinese Celebrate the New Year" of China Central Radio and Television General Station's Chinese Universal Broadcasting. She introduced how the Swiss Chinese celebrated the Spring Festival and sent Chinese New Year wishes.
  • At the Spring Festival of 2021, the extension of the epidemic in Switzerland has still affected the full recovery of offline Chinese classes. Our students took online classes again. Although the annual Spring Festival Gala was missing, CIG has prepared various activities both online and offline. CIG also presented the Year of the Ox mascots and Spring Festival couplets to our teachers and students. From February 5th, our Chinese class has started to celebrate the Spring Festival. Teachers in Geneva had online classes, doing traditional Chinese handicrafts and telling stories. Classes in Lausanne and Nyon maintained the form of offline classes. Teachers lead students to recite poems, pay Chinese New Year's greetings, do handicrafts and write Spring Festival couplets. CIG Principal Mrs. Sun specially made a PPT about the cultural knowledge of the Spring Festival, turning the language class into a cultural class. The Spring Festival of the Year of the Ox was special, but warm.
  • From December 6th to 13th, 2021, an International Cultural Week was held at the LGB campus of the International School of Geneva. Among the various activities, CIG hosted the Chinese Culture Day. We focused on encouraging students to participate in it, disseminating and promoting Chinese culture.
  • In February 2022, we ushered in the Year of the Tiger. Due to the restrictions of the epidemic policy in Switzerland, it was not possible to hold the whole school Spring Festival gala as in previous years. All CIG classes have held a variety of activities to celebrate the Spring Festival. CIG also prepared Chinese New Year gifts for our teachers and students: the mascots of the Year of the Tiger. Our students made paper-cuts, origami, tiger head pendants and tiger red envelopes. They also learned about the traditional customs of the Spring Festival, and used a brush to write blessing characters. The classroom activities were carried out vividly and brilliantly, creating a lively festive atmosphere.
  • On February 1, 2022, the first day of the Year of the Tiger, CIG carefully prepared the "Lunar new year, year of the tiger" Chinese Day event at the La Chat campus of Ecolint International School of Geneva, Switzerland. CIG presented colorful Chinese New Year activities from 12:00 to 14:00, and received high praise from thousands of students and teachers. This is the first stop of CIG's 2022 Year of the Tiger cultural event.
  • On April 2, 2022, CIG teachers and students as well as our guests from the surrounding areas who are interested in Chinese culture, experienced a collection of folk culture in the early spring. As the second stop of CIG's 2022 Year of the Tiger cultural event, the theme this time was folklore and history, we tasted the origin of Chinese traditional culture through a variety of activities such as history telling, handicrafts making, kite flying and dragon dancing. It was not only for young students but also for local Chinese and Chinese lovers. The purpose is to build a warm Chinese community, so that both children and parents can benefit from it. 
  • On May 22, 2022, CIG organized the first summer outdoor activity for students, parents and teachers from Nyon and Lausanne. On June 11, 2022, a second summer outdoor activity was held for students, parents and teachers from Geneva. These activities strengthened the bond and interaction between teachers and students, as well as between the school and families, fostering understanding and trust.
  • On the 2nd day of the Year of the Rabbit in 2023, CIG organized a celebration of the Chinese New Year at the LGB campus of Ecolint International School of Geneva. The event attracted thousands of students and teachers across the high school, middle school, and elementary school departments. The activities included traditional Chinese paper-cutting for the Year of the Rabbit, calligraphy experiences and rabbit-themed relief printing, among other handicraft activities. There was also a live dragon dance performance, creating an immersive experience of Chinese New Year customs. The dragon dance heightened the atmosphere, with students eagerly taking turns to dance with the dragon's head and embroidered ball, personally experiencing the unique charm of Chinese culture.

B. To strengthen contact with Chinese educational departments and institutions

  • Since 2009, CIG teachers have successively attended professional training programs provided by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of China, and received certificates for teachers of Chinese language. In 2020, we participated in several remote teacher-training courses and customized training courses.
  • We successfully organized cultural tours to China during summer 2011 and spring vacation 2015.
  • Since 2013 we have organized annually the Chinese Cultural Immersion Youth Camp for overseas Chinese as well as Beijing summer camp and Shanghai winter camp for international students.
  • In January 2018, CIG founder and director Mrs. Jun CHU participated in the 2018 Spring Festival Gala for overseas Chinese in Hunan, China. Mrs. Chu was the one and only representative on behalf of more than 20000 overseas Chinese schools around the world.
  • 26th April – 3rd May 2018, CIG successfully organized the teachers training project in Switzerland initiated by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of China. The lecturers group consists of 3 famous experts from China: Prof. Xiaolu Wang from Sichuan University, Prof. Ying Wan from Central China Normal University and Mrs. Jing Wang, President of the primary school sector of the middle school attached to Shandong University. The lecturers group provided a number of training sessions in Geneva, Bern and Nyon in 7 days. Nearly 100 overseas Chinese teachers from French and German speaking areas of Switzerland benefited from the trainings, which caused a sensation in the local society.
  • In April 2019, CIG had the honor to invite Mr. Tiangang Gu, Director of the Beijing International Education Exchange (BIEE) Center, to visit us in Switzerland. We exchanged ideas and discussed on topics of internationalization of Chinese education, overseas Chinese teachers training and students summer camps, etc.
  • In June 2019, CIG built a bridge for Sino-Swiss cultural exchange. With the coordination of CIG, Nyon high school principal Mr. Yves DELUZ and four vice principals hosted a delegation from China’s “double first-rate” universities led by Mr. Xiaolong LIU from the Confucius Institute Headquarters/HANBAN, Chinese Testing International. It involved 12 Chinese key universities and colleges including Beijing University, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiaotong University and Beijing Normal University etc.
  • From 2019 to 2020, we actively organized students to participate in the real scene remote classes and animation classes provided by the Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China.
  • In 2020, CIG student Yuwa AN won an award in the 3rd "Chinese Creative Song" Overseas Chinese Youth Composition Competition.
  • From May to August 2020, 12-year-old CIG student Qixin ZHENG participated in the "Super Speaker" Global Youth Speech Contest, and won the "Best Internet Popularity Award" in the overseas competition. It is a competition program that has been broadcast for nearly ten years. 
  • From July 20th to August 15th, 2020, CIG teachers organized 93 students (covering French and German-speaking areas in Switzerland, and even students from neighboring France) to participate in the Grand Canal online culture activities for overseas Chinese youth organized by Jiangsu Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. This online summer camp was to meet the needs of overseas teenagers who cannot go back to China for physical summer camps. Parents and students actively participated in the daily interaction, uploading various handicrafts, cooking homework and written homework.
  • On August 13, 2020, a total of 1,136 campers from CIG and 9 other overseas Chinese education institutions, gathered online to participate in the "Family China · Telling Story for You" 15-day online summer camp. It was hosted by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and undertaken by the Sichuan Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. 
  • During the summer vacation of 2020, CIG teachers were trained by the customized "famous teacher lecture hall" remote training course through the platform of Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China.
  • On the last day of 2020, CIG participated, as a founding member, in the online inaugural meeting of the Global Chinese Schools Alliance. More than 400 principals of overseas Chinese schools attended the meeting.
  • During the Spring Festival in 2021, the China Children's Center affiliated to the All-China Women's Federation held an activity, together with the Education Office of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, for Chinese primary and secondary school students and overseas Chinese students to pair up and exchange Spring Festival blessings. Four teenagers from CIG participated in this special event.
  • On February 12, 2021, 15 CIG teachers from three campuses met online for Chinese New Year greetings and teaching experience exchange. Four of them shared teaching experience in online courses, introduced and demonstrated commonly used PPT production methods and teaching software.
  • From April to June 2021, CIG teachers participated in the Chinese Language Teacher Quality Improvement Course organized by the Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China. This online course aims to help overseas Chinese teachers grow rapidly and improve their education and teaching level. There are 100 lessons in total, including 30 live lessons and 70 recorded lessons. After an evaluation by the organizer, 100 outstanding teachers were selected from the 2,800 in total and received certificates. Three CIG teachers won the honor, namely Qinan LI, Jie LI and Yu SUN.
  • On September 11 and 18, 2021, CIG teachers attended the Chinese teaching workshop organized by the Confucius Institute in Geneva.
  • On December 12, 2021, CIG teachers participated in a training course customized by the Swiss Chinese Language Teachers Association for local teachers.
  • In 2021, more than 3 million Chinese students at home and abroad participated in the 21st World Chinese Student Composition Competition, sponsored by the classic brand "Happy Composition" magazine with a history of more than 20 years. CIG students Yuwa AN and Wu ZHANG participated and won the first and third prizes respectively. CIG teacher Mr. Ruiping AN won the Outstanding Instructor Award.
  • In March 2021, CIG students attended a public welfare class on hard pen calligraphy organized by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Jiangsu Province, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Changzhou City of Jiangsu Province and Changzhou University. Our school CIG and the Lisbon Chinese School in Portugal are also co-organizers. A total of 15 courses (every Saturday from March to June) were scheduled, aiming to cultivate students' good writing habits and comprehensively improve their writing ability, standardize and beautify the writing of Chinese characters.
  • On the occasion of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, CIG teachers Leshan FAN and Qijin LIU were interviewed by Swiss TV LemanBleu and talked about their impressions of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. CIG produced a video for our students to introduce the Beijing Winter Olympics, and filmed a video of blessings for the Beijing Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, the Beijing Overseas Chinese Federation and the Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China, which was broadcast in a loop in the Winter Olympics Village. CIG also awarded Winter Olympics mascot souvenirs to the students who actively participated.
  • From July 11th to 22nd, 2022, CIG students participated in the 11th online Chinese Culture Park European Station, organized by Jiangxi Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. CIG is also a co-organizer for this activity.
  • As the control of the Covid-19 epidemic gradually stabilizes in 2022, CIG continues to carry out various offline Chinese activities. From July 11th to 15th, 2022, CIG organized a Chinese language summer camp for the first time. It was an all-day summer camp for 5 consecutive days. We received high satisfaction feedback from parents.
  • On June 25, 2022, CIG organized eligible students to participate in the "Chinese Bridge" world high school student Chinese proficiency competition (Swiss regional). CIG student Gabriela Aubert participated for the first time and won third prize.
  • In the Swiss finals of the 15th "Chinese Bridge" held in May 2023, Olivia CHAILLOU, our representative from CIG, achieved first place in the elementary school category.

 

C. To strengthen contact with overseas Chinese education organizations

  • In May 2017, CIG participated in the 7th Netherlands Mandarin Recitation/Speech Competition. Our student Lila Mansourian won 1st prize in the foreigners’ group. 
  • In April 2018, 16 CIG teachers paid an official visit to Dan Hua Culture & Education Centre in Rotterdam, one of the biggest Chinese schools in the Netherlands. Teachers from both schools exchanged experiences on teaching methods, class management and website designs, etc.
  • CIG was selected by the Swiss Embassy in China, to work together with them for the selection of 2-3 candidates (aged 13 to 18 from Switzerland) to attend an autumn exchange program in Beijng (1st September to 30thNovember 2019). After several months’ selection, 2 students (Oscar Meng and Natalie Meiyun Wüst) were short-listed and finally admitted to the exchange program on behalf of CIG. They successfully completed their study in Beijing by the end of November 2019.
  • In December 2019, CIG teachers visited the Little Panda Chinese School in Lyon, France, to exchange teaching experiences.
  • On April 10,2021, the first European Chinese Education Conference and Principal Forum was held online, with nearly 260 Chinese education representatives from 18 European countries. CIG had the honor to be one of the 15 co-organizers. CIG director Mrs. Jun CHU attended the online seminars. 

In 2020, CIG becomes a qualified Chinese teaching institution recognized by the Geneva canton government for Chinese teaching and test scores. 

 

Info of CIG: 

Website: www.ciggeneva.ch

Director: Mrs. Jun CHU

Principal: Mrs. Zhimin SUN

Email: ciggeneva@gmail.com    contact@ciggeneva.ch

Contact address:

Chinese Institute Geneva Foundation

Rue d'Italie 11, 1204 Geneva 

Switzerland

Website: www.ciggeneva.ch

Email: ciggeneva@gmail.com   contact@ciggeneva.ch

 

 

signChinese Institute Geneva Foundation 日内瓦华文教育基金会

   

 

Rue d'Italie 11 
1204 Geneva 
Switzerland
076 4292045 (English and Chinese) 
077 4137201 (French and Chinese)
Email: contact@ciggeneva.ch

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