2015年9月23日上午，诺丁汉孔子学院应邀前往为诺丁Rushcliffe中学举办了一次中国书法文化工作坊活动。学校两个班约60位学生各学习了一个小时的汉字和书法，感受了中国书法的独特魅力。

图一：孔院教师指导学生们练习书法

    学生们在欢声笑语中了解了文房四宝——笔墨纸砚，并学习使用毛笔写汉字，同时学习了几个简单的汉字的读写，并欣赏了一些书法作品。当学生们自己写出一个完整的汉字时，他们的欣喜激动之情溢于言表，老师们也饶有兴趣地拿起毛笔和学生们一起练习书法。经过一个小时的学习，不少学生可以写出较为工整的方块字，一笔一划都像模像样。

 图二：学生们在练习书法

    经过这次工作坊，学生们不仅喜欢上了书法，还对汉语和中国文化表现出极大的兴趣。Rushcliffe中学的师生们对诺丁汉孔子学院表达了诚挚的谢意，同时希望日后能每年都邀请诺丁汉孔院前往，展示更多的中华文化，让学生们更好地认识中国，了解中国文化。

Nottingham Confucius Institute successfully carried out Chinese Calligraphy Culture Workshop in Rushcliffe School

In the morning of Sep.23th, 2015, the teacher of NCI were invited to go to the Rushcliffe School to hold a Chinese calligraphy workshop. There were almost 60 students came to the classes to experience Chinese characters and Chinese calligraphy. During an-hour study they really felt the differences and unique attraction about Chinese calligraphy.

The Classes began with the students’ expectation and happiness. What’s more, everyone have known the four important materials of Chinese calligraphy, containing Chinese writing brush, the ink, the inkstone and rice paper, which were called “Wenfang Sibao” in Chinese. Also, they have learned how to use them, especially how to hold a writing brush. The teachers taught them with enthusiasm as well as students learned carefully. After watching several different types of calligraphy, they can’t help writing by themselves. When they completely write a character, big smiles appeared on their faces from their hearts. Teachers and students got together to practice calligraphy for almost one hour. What made Chinese teachers feel amazing was that after just one hour learning, some of them could write a beautiful character like a Chinese. Not only the pupils but also the teachers felt so proud of their achievements.

After this workshop, the pupils are not only keen on calligraphy but also interested in Chinese culture very much.At the end of classes, the teachers and students expressed their appreciation and hoped that every year they could get the experience to know more and learn more about Chinese culture with the help of NCI teachers.

(Liu Xiaodan)