Western students win the Chinese Language Bridge Competition for the second year in a row
Western Sydney University student Kristen Le has taken out the top spot in the Australian University division (NSW) of the prestigious international Chinese Language Bridge Competition 2023 for non-native Chinese learners.
Fellow student, Illia Chapliiov was awarded third place in the competition, against 18 other students from six major universities.
Comprising three rounds, the students had to undertake a written test on general knowledge regarding China, give a speech in Chinese to showcase their spoken skills, and a Chinese cultural performance.
As the winner of the Australian university division, Kristen will now represent Australia in the international final being held in China against students from 120 countries and will receive a government scholarship opportunity to study in China.
Studying a Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Teaching Secondary), with a major in Chinese and International Business, Kristen had only learnt a little Chinese before starting to study it in 2019.
She amazed the judges with her near-native mastery of Chinese tones as she shared her story of learning Chinese while blending in classic Chinese poetry, before singing a song.
“To me, learning Chinese is an unexpected and surprising coincidence. I enjoy speaking in Chinese the most, as there are thousands of characters, and each of them have their own beautiful meaning. It is hard but the language is meaningful and beautiful, so I try my best to study and improve my reading and writing skills,” said Kristen.
“My Chinese teachers at Western helped me a lot in perfecting my pronunciation and the way I performed when I delivered my speech. Without them, I would have found it very hard to win the competition.”
Illia developed his skills quickly, beginning a Bachelor of Languages and Linguistics, with a major in Chinese and linguistics at the start of 2023.
“I had already studied Japanese and figured that taking up Chinese would be beneficial for obtaining a fuller understanding of both the Japanese language and culture, as it makes up some of its origins,” said Illia.
“Chinese seemed very foreign to me and so unlike anything I had encountered before, linguistically speaking, that I was naturally very curious of it.”
Professor Matt McGuire, Dean of the School of Humanities and Communication Arts, praised Kristen and Illia for their excellent results, with the University achieving first place in the competition for the second year.
“With one of the best Chinese language programs in Australia, the University prides itself on offering innovative teaching programs that allow our students to build on their language skills to foster further career opportunities,” said Professor McGuire.
“Kristen and Illia have done an outstanding job. They have worked hard on their intercultural communication skills and are a shining example of how speaking another language will benefit them and their global engagement.”
Associate Professor Ruying Qi, Chinese Program Founder, Convenor and Director of the Bilingualism Research Lab in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts, said the students' results were a testament to the sustained excellence of the language program.
“Over the past 15 years, 18 Western Sydney University students have either won the competition or placed in the top three which is phenomenal,” said Associate Professor Qi.
“We are once again extremely proud of our performing students and achieving this outstanding result in consecutive years is a testament to the passion and commitment to teaching excellence of our Chinese staff, students, language program and the School.”
In addition, to support from the School and Associate Professor Qi, the students underwent two months of intensive mentoring with their coach and teacher, Mr Lijiang Zhao, to prepare for the competition.
ENDS
20 July 2023
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