On Friday 26 May, Samantha Cox and Greta Frieslaar – two of our Chinese Honours students at the Department of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) – took part in the 22nd annual “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for College Students. The competition was hosted in-person at Durban University of Technology, for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
It consisted of three rounds. First, a Chinese language, culture, and geography quiz, then a speech on the topic “One world, One family’ and, finally, a talent performance.
After months of preparation, Samantha and Greta danced their way into joint second place – along with another student from the University of the Witwatersrand. The competition was highly competitive, with only a few decimal points between the top contenders. Of the second-place winners, Samantha was selected to participate in a two-week Summer Camp in China later this year.
At the end of the day, both students left the competition with not only a silver medal, but with new experiences, new friends, and new skills!
Chinese Bridge (Hanyuqiao) is a contest for foreign students on their mastery of the Chinese language, promoted by the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation. Students from the Chinese Section of MFL have won first place in several competitions in the past and have represented South Africa in the finals in China.
