The Durban University of Technology (DUT) Mandarin Lecturer, Mr Sanele Ntuli was recently announced as the winner of the Second International Chinese Classroom Teaching Short Video Contest (2022). This global competition was co-sponsored by the Singapore Crestar Confucius Classroom and Chinese Test International, and jointly organised by the International Chinese Teacher Certificate.
Ntuli (27) from Ntuzuma, Durban is currently a Mandarin lecturer, which is a form of Chinese, under the Confucius Institute (CI) at DUT. The Confucius Institute at DUT was established in 2013 after the university partnered with Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) from Fujian Province, China. Since the Confucius Institute was established, it has been operating as a bridge to promote cooperation between DUT and the Chinese Universities to advance collaborations in the various fields. DUT CI has also focused on Mandarin vocational training programmes and recommended excellent students to work in local Chinese enterprises.
In his winning video, Ntuli was showcased teaching students the basics of writing the Chinese characters, in particular how to write the Chinese strokes, which form the Chinese characters. He chose to demonstrate his teaching abilities on Chinese characters as he believes “they are more than just strokes, but an art.”
After a month of reviewing from the organisers, Ntuli’s video was chosen in the Top 59 videos to receive prizes. He is the only winner from South Africa, and upon receiving these exciting news, Ntuli expressed his delight and appreciation of his video being chosen.
“I am very excited that I was named amongst the international winners. This nomination has motivated me to work even harder in increasing the knowledge in the discipline of teaching Mandarin,” said Ntuli.
According to Mr Frank Lin Wu, the Co-Dean of the DUT CI, the aim of the competition was to show the international Chinese teachers professional competence standards. He indicated that some of the objectives of the competition was to promote the professional development of international Chinese teachers, demonstrate the teaching style of international Chinese teachers, and promote in-depth exchanges and cooperation among the teachers innovation.
“With the strong support of the co-organisers, this competition has innovatively set up 22 different competition areas including Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Egypt, Madagascar, South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, and China, and has been well-received by international Chinese teachers abroad. During the competition’s registration period from 10 October 2022 to 10 December 2022, a total of 347 entries from 27 countries were received,” explained Lin Wu.
Speaking about how he became a Chinese teacher, Ntuli revealed that he learnt Mandarin in 2018 at DUT CI and in 2020, he got an opportunity to study a one year language course for Mandarin in China. He indicated that after the Mandarin training in China, he decided to make the teaching Chinese language his career path. Ntuli strongly believes that through Mandarin a lot of opportunities are available for DUT students in China.
“I never thought Mandarin could make my life so wonderful and full of opportunities. In 2019 and with the encouragement of my Mandarin teachers, I participated in the final competition in South Africa of the 18″ Chinese bridge Chinese proficiency Competition for foreign students and won third prize. In 2019, I went to China to participate in the Chinese Local Teacher Training at the Zhejiang Normal University for two weeks,” he added.
Ntuli further commented that from September 2019 to October 2020, he was in China for the Programme of the one year Chinese Language study at the Fujian Normal University.
“I have enrolled at the Rhodes University Confucius Institute to study the Honours Programme in Chinese Studies with the target being acquiring a Master’s Degree in 2024,” he said proudly.
Pictured: Mr Sanele Mtuli, DUT Mandarin Lecturer.
Simangele Zuma
