The 2017 South African preliminary rounds for the 16th Chinese Bridge Competition for Foreign College Students was successfully held at Wallenberg Research Centre Stellenbosch recently. It was hosted by the Confucius Institute Headquarters and organised by the Confucius Institute at Stellenbosch University.
Led by the Co-Deans Professor Graham Stewart and Professor Eddie FU, the DUT CI delegation of nine people attended this competition and the Mandarin learners from the DUT Confucius Institute impressed the audience with their fluent Mandarin, stunning Chinese cultural talent show and good knowledge of Chinese language and culture.
The function was welcomed by Ghaleeb Jeppie, Director of International Relationship, Department of Higher Education and Training; Cao Li, Deputy Consul General of China in Cape Town, and Song Bo, Director of Education Division, Chinese Embassy in Pretoria, who have appraised highly on the good platform of the Chinese Bridge Competition in promoting the people-to-people engagement between China and South Africa.
On behalf of DUT Confucius Institute, Nomvuyo Sharon Majola, Sizwe Sisoka, Nceba Nathi Ntshanga, Thabile Mhlongo and Julius Moses Mnisi excelled themselves among the 20 contestants from six South African universities. By delivering presentations on designated topic, the five DUT CI excellent learners showcased their language talent with their fluent Mandarin and dreams of learning a global language. Their versatile Chinese culture talent shows on Chinese Martial Art, Chinese folk song, Chinese folk dances, and Mandela speech recitation in Mandarin was so well-received that they all scored high in this round. Finally Nomvuyo Sharon Majola, whose Chinese name is Xiyue which means “Happiness”, was among the top few winners with her extremely super language proficiency. The other four DUT delegates were also given Excellency Awards for their wonderful achievements.
“The DUT CI’s proactive participation and excellent achievement in this national Mandarin Competition very well showcases the principal aim of the Institution: by contributing to the educational and cultural exchange and communication between both countries, the CI is dedicating itself to helping both peoples understand each other better, and to pushing ahead the cooperation between China and South Africa in different fields,” said Prof Stewart and Prof Fu, Co-Deans of the DUT CI.
With the theme of “Dream Enlightens the Future”, the “Chinese Bridge” Competition for Foreign College Students is held annually globally. By participating in this competition for three years continuously, the DUT CI candidates all scored high every year; more impressively, Hadebe Nokuthula topped the third place in 2016 and represented South Africa to travel to China for a Summer Camp for two weeks, all sponsored by the Confucius Institute Headquarters.
Pictured: The DUT CI Team headed by Dr Eddie Fu and Prof Graham Stewart.
Copy: Dr Eddie Fu
