On Sunday 8th August, Confucius Institute at University of Canterbury hosted the 14th 'Chinese Bridge' Proficiency Competition (汉语桥) for NZ Secondary School Students.

Dr Kevin Watson, Action Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of Arts, UC, Mr Andrew Turner Deputy Mayor of Christchurch, Mr Zhijian Wang, Chinese Consul General in Christchurch and Mr Zhixue Dong, Education Counsellor of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Wellington were special guests.

The Final National Competition was hosted at University of Canterbury from 10am to 4pm. The Christchurch candidates presented at the competition venue, the rest of the candidates delivered their speech on Zoom. The live stream can be viewed here.  

https://www.facebook.com/Confucius-Institute-UC-2074145109494151

Kayla Smith (Year 10) junior category, Anise Maclean (Year 11) and Maya Bromby (Year 12) senior category represented South Island and competed with 14 junior category students and 18 senior category students.

At the Chinese Proficiency Competition, our students presented a 2 minute Chinese speech and a cultural performance. Anise and Maya, as senior category students, had been challenged to answer a Chinese question from the judge. For her cultural performance, Kayla sang the Chinese song “Can't help falling in love" (情不自禁爱上你). Anise and Maya did Chinese calligraphy writing.

Congratulations to Kayla, Anise and Maya who each won “Outstanding Performance” awards. Since the South Island Chinese Speech Competition in June, these three students have made a commendable effort to draft their new speeches, prepare their cultural performances, and practise their speech at school during lunch and after school. 

Well done Kayla, Anise and Maya - we are very proud of you.