CHF CHINA Teacher Exchange - CIN-LIU 

SISTER-CITY Program with Liuzhou, China, co-sponsored by the Cordell Hull Foundation

Cincinnati-Liuzhou Sister City Committee (Cin-Liu) is a member of Sister Cities International (SCI) founded by Dwight Eisenhower in 1957.  The mission is to create a platform for people-to-people (citizen-based) cultural exchanges. Details can be found at their website:  www.sister-cities.org.  Beth Hoffman is current Chair of the Cin-Liu Sister City Committee.  email contact is  btutu@mac.com

Cincinnati and Liuzhou are celebrating our 20th anniversary this year.  Since 1992, we have been actively engaged in ESL language training exchange called "Teachers Exchange" (TE).  To date, we have provided nine total immersion two-way exchange programs to over 40 high school and college ESL teachers from our sister city Liuzhou and have won five international awards related to our TE program.  Our TE program lasts 21 weeks and covers all the fall and winter national holidays.  We provide free home stay experiences and structured ESL remedial classes.  Our program, designed by ESL retired professionals, includes an in-house self evaluation system that measures the gains and losses of each participant.  

The Chinese guests are often very lonely in a strange country with strange food and habits.  The home stay experience is key to the total immersion program.  Both parties benefit from the program gaining life-long friendships and memories.  The kindness from the Chinese sister city organization helps overcome their burden and be a more effective exchange scholar benefiting all. 

Located in southwestern China, Liuzhou does not have the access to foreigners enjoyed by coastal cities. As a result, our TE program has not only been well received, it has spun-off many other exchange programs. We liken our work as "bridge building" between two cultures.  The most recent cultural and language bridge is a "reverse" exchange:  providing Chinese language teachers to Nativity School, a K-8 Catholic school with a strong international program, sponsored by the Cordell Hull Foundation in their Exchange Visitor Teacher Program.  The spin-off of our cultural bridges have led to more award winning programs related to youth and parks and garden exchanges.  We will be celebrating the grand opening of a Cin-Liu Friendship garden to  commemorate our 20th anniversary November 2008.  

A Chinese sister city organization can implement the same kind of foreign language exchange and provide the loving and nurturing home stay for the Chinese teacher, which will help him/her totally immerse into the American culture in the best possible way - through friendship. 

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