Regional Preliminary Round of 17th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students Held in San Francisco

On May 13th, local time, the San Francisco Regional Preliminary Round of the 17th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students was held at the Chinese Consulate-General in San Francisco (CCPRCSF). Nine university students and six secondary school students from six Confucius Institutes in California, Washington, Alaska and Oregon participated in the contest. The 15 contestants had a heated competition.

Contestants from the college student group

The theme of the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students was “One World, One Family”. Kira Kondratkova, a graduate student recommended by the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University, won the first place. Her splendid speech in fluent Chinese, profound Chinese cultural knowledge and beautiful singing of a Chinese song favorably impressed the judges.

Kira, first place winner of the college group

Nguyen Thanh Van, a student recommended by the Confucius Institute at University of California, Davis, was a Vietnamese girl who had been studying in the U.S. since she was 12 years old. She loves China, Chinese language and culture.

Nguyen making her speech

In her speech themed “One World, One Family”, Nguyen demonstrated her deep understanding of “One World, One Family”, that is, regarding the whole world is a big family lives in harmony and peace. She said that no one could seclude himself from the rest of the world and no country could develop in isolation. Cooperation was the only way to win-win results. Her fluent and passionate speech impressed the judges and the audience and earned her a second place.

Willian Wells Werts, a contestant recommended by the Confucius Institute at the University of Oregon, told a story about himself and his Chinese friends in his speech We Are a Family. His humorous and witty remarks won applause from the judges and audience time and again.

Willian delivering his speech

In the Q&A session, Willian did well in answering the judges’ questions about Pinyin. In the talent show, he demonstrated his excellent paper-cutting skill by cutting the Chinese character “Xi” (double happiness). Eventually, his outstanding performance won him the third place, equaling Harsimran Bhandal, another third place winner from the University of California, Berkeley.

Contestants from the secondary school group

Like the contestants from the college group, those from the secondary school group also performed well in the contest. Nathaniel Beaumon, a contestant recommended by the Confucius Institute of the State of Washington, displayed excellent Chinese proficiency.

Nathaniel performing well in the Q&A session

In his speech titled Chinese Widens My Horizon, Nathaniel talked about his experience in learning Chinese and his close tie to the Confucius Institute of the State of Washington. In the Q&A session, he wittily answered the questions raised by the judges by using what he had learned.

In the final session of the talent show, Nathaniel recited a famous Song poem (poem of the Song Dynasty) with deep feeling, Prelude to Water Melody: How Soon Will the Full Moon Appear? He also played the melody written for this Song poem with saxophone. What’s more, he showed the artistic conception of this poem by doing a splash-ink painting. Such excellent performances earned him the championship in the secondary school group.

Nathaniel receiving his prize

Nathaniel was very happy for his achievement. He expressed his gratitude to “Chinese Bridge” for providing him an opportunity to fully show what he had learned and to learn from other players in this competition. He also said this competition strengthened his tie to the Confucius Institute.

Second place winners of the secondary school group

Two students from the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University also performed well. Sophia Rowe from the Confucius Classroom at Western Sierra Collegiate Academy won the second prize of the secondary school group. Karthik Guruvayurappan from Monta Vista High School won the third prize of the secondary school group with his remarkable Chinese speech and martial art performance.

The contestants

The competition ended but Chinese learning never ends. The contestants believed that “Chinese Bridge” offered a good platform for them to improve their Chinese proficiency and make friends with other Chinese learners, making “One World, One Family” possible.

Yang Jun, Counselor of the Education Office of CCPRCSF, said that the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College and Secondary School Students provided a platform for the communication between China and the US. Meanwhile, he hoped such events would facilitate more and more extensive transnational cooperation.

Source: the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University, the Confucius Institute of the State of Washington, the Confucius Institute at the University of Oregon and the Confucius Institute at University of California, Davis