Chandra Schwab taught students some Chinese characters Tuesday.

NEW ULM — A new International Language Camp for kids has come to The Grand Center of Arts and Culture.

This week students enrolled in the day camp will learn about the language, culture and cuisine of countries around the world. Tuesday 3rd-6th grade students learned about Mandarin Chinese from instructor Chandra Schwab.

A New Ulm native, Schwab lived in China for five years. She teaches the language to high school students. For the day camp class, she led instruction on how to write in Mandarin using Chinese characters. Each student was able to write their name using the characters.

Schwab said that Mandarin Chinese is spoken and written as a first language by one-fifth of the world’s population.

The day camp also gave the kids a lesson on Chinese culture through arts and crafts. The kids learned how to make basic Chinese lanterns and fans. Jefferson Elementary music teacher Madeline Cacciatore taught traditional Chinese songs.

The class even included a cuisine element complete with instructions for using chopsticks.

The size of the language camp was limited due to COVID, but The Grand has plans to expand the camps in the future, with multiple day camps held each year.

The Grand received grant money for this camp from the New Ulm Area Foundation and New Ulm Community Education.