************************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR):
The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) organises eight school and community activities this year to promote ¡°lively learning and use of Putonghua¡±.
Speaking at the launching ceremony of SCOLAR¡¯s Promotion of Putonghua Activities 2009, SCOLAR member Mr Hui Sau-yan described these activities as ¡°providing an environment to learn and use Putonghua outside the textbook¡±.
The activities include singing, public speaking, debating, radio drama and stage drama. To encourage more participation, SCOLAR appointed artiste Alex Fong as the ¡°Ambassador for Promotion of Putonghua 2009¡± to help in the publicity and to spread the message of ¡°lively learning and use of Putonghua¡± to the community.
SCOLAR has been organising large-scale activities for students and the community since 2002 to promote Putonghua. This year¡¯s school-based activities include: the ¡°Putonghua Radio Drama Training and Competition¡± and the ¡°Inter-Varsity Putonghua Debating Competition for Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau¡± co-organised with RTHK; the ¡°Putonghua Singing Competition for Primary and Secondary Schools¡± with the Hong Kong Professional Teachers¡¯ Union; the ¡°Putonghua Public Speaking Competition for Primary and Secondary Schools¡± with the Cultural and Educational Association of the New Towns; the ¡°Putonghua Training Programme for Student Tourism Ambassadors¡± with the Hong Kong Community College of Hong Kong Polytechnic University; and the ¡°School-based Putonghua Drama Training Programme¡± with Prospects Theatre.
For the wider community, SCOLAR will co-organise the ¡°Putonghua Broadcaster Competition¡± (for public and secondary school students) with RTHK. A radio programme introducing the Putonghua pronunciation of some terms commonly found in economic news will also be broadcast on Metro Radio. The series of activities will be wrapped up with a finale show which will bring this year¡¯s promotion to its climax.
For more details of the promotion of Putonghua activities in 2009, please visit SCOLAR website (http://www.language-education.com).
Established in 1996, SCOLAR advises the Government on language education issues and on the use of the Language Fund.
Ends/Sunday, March 15, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:13
NNNN