STORY: Thailand publishes Chinese Braille textbooks to help visually impaired students learn Chinese
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 3, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 5, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:04
LOCATION: Bangkok
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of visually impaired people reading Braille
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Thai): TEVAPONG PUANGPETCH, Chairman of the Thai National Braille Promotion and Development Fund
3. various of visually impaired people reading Braille
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): NANTAPORN GONRAM, Teacher from Bangkok School for the Blind

STORYLINE:

Before Jan. 4th, World Braille Day, Tevapong Puangpetch, chairman of the Thai National Braille Promotion and Development Fund, showed to Xinhua reporters the Chinese Braille textbooks which were published recently.

The fund is affiliated with the Thailand Association of the Blind. There are currently 17 blind schools in Thailand. With the economic and cultural exchanges deepening between China and Thailand in recent years, more and more blind schools have begun to offer Chinese courses, and the demand for Chinese Braille textbooks has become increasingly urgent, said Tevapong.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Thai): TEVAPONG PUANGPETCH, Chairman of the Thai National Braille Promotion and Development Fund
"We decided to compile the Chinese Braille textbooks in Thailand and try to make the textbooks more widely used among Thai blind students and teachers. We need to cooperate with professionals, especially those with experience in teaching Chinese and knowing Braille."

After two months of compilation and revision, the Chinese Braille textbooks were completed in the middle of last year and the first batch of 300 copies were printed with the funding of Bank of China (Thailand) for training teachers in Thai blind schools.

This year the association plans to print another 200 textbooks and promote them to many blind schools in Thailand for visually impaired students, said Tevapong.

Nantaporn Gonram, a 30-year-old teacher, works at the Bangkok School for the Blind. Though Nantaporn was born blind, her love for Chinese has become a shining light during growing up. Nantaporn has been fascinated by Chinese songs since childhood and has been learning Chinese since high school.

As the first blind student who graduated from the School of Sinology of Mae Fah Luang University in 2022, Nantaporn participated in the first Thai Chinese Braille textbook training last year.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): NANTAPORN GONRAM, Teacher from Bangkok School for the Blind
"I hope more and more blind students will learn Chinese. If he can listen, speak, read, and write Chinese Braille, he will have a better chance of working."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Bangkok.
(XHTV)