Silk Road School (SRS) hosted their first Chinese Speaking Competition on the 25th October 2019. The topic of the competition was “Me and China”and the competition was divided into 2 sections, a 3 to 5-minute speech anda 3-minute talent performance. 14 students from Brazil, Ghana, India, Italy, Latvia, Pakistan and Singapore participated.

The competition started off with the speech segment. Participants had presented their perspective of the topic.

Helena Avdjukevica presented onhow gender equality is portrayed in countries with gender equality index 100 and China. For example, gender equality and gender inequality have different definitions, however, during communication one could be mistaken for the other due to cultural differences. Using pictures, she compared differences of gender equality at the working place, at home and in general in China, Latvia as well as the ideal perception of gender equality.

Shahzad Bhattispoke about the Belt and Road initiative between China and Pakistan, while Janamejay Kumar shared about his experiences while learning Chinese. Their speeches provided unique perspectives and more insight on the topics.

Through the perspective of her grandmother, Lim Yin Ru had narrated a story titled “Father”. She portrayed the role of a daughter deeply missing and in search of the remains of her father, who participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War and passed away on the battlefield. Besides studying here, Yin Ru aims to help her grandmother search for the whereabouts of great grandfather. Although, there is not much progress, she remains hopeful.

For the talent performances section, students showcased their variety of talent such as dancing, singing, playing the guitar, Chinese calligraphy writing,recital of jokes, tongue twister and poems.

An Indian dance chorography performed by Disha Sen lightened up the mood in the room. The catchy music and elegant moves brought the crowd moving along with the beats, bringing a refreshing light moment to the competition. Ratul Das recited and explained a poem titled击壤歌——远古民歌, providing the audience with deeper understandingof the traditional poem and the Chinese culture. 甜蜜蜜performed by Ayo Michaels, who played the harmonica along with the song was a sweet ending for the competition.

Lim Yin Ru was the winner of the competition. Daniele Broccoli and Disha Sen the held the 2nd position in competition. Ayo Michaels,Fernando Arida Ferreira Velloso, Ratul Das and Satyam Negiheld the 3rdposition.Edward KwameTenadu, Helena Avdjukevica,Janamejay Kumar, Maria Nazeer and Shahzad Bhatti received the outstanding awards.

Daniele who gave the audience many words of wisdoms during his speech such as “Friendship is not an accidental choice but the result of like-mindedness” and “seeking common ground while reserving differences, strengthening communications and reducing differences” shared that he felt very honoured to take part in the competition and mentioned that he was very impressed by the performances. He did not expect to win the second prize and was honoured to win the title. “I did it not only to win prizes but to have fun and to share the experience with my classmates coming from all over the world.”

Kwame,who has been learning Chinese for only1.5 months talked about his country and performed a Chinese song 朋友(friend) during the competition. He expressed that he was very excited by the thought of participating in the ChineseSpeaking Competition and would like to express his gratitude to the organizers for the opportunity to express himself in Chinese. He shared that the contestants did very well and that he will be looking forward to the next competition.

Satyam who shared the story of his journey on learning Chinese and performed the Chinese song 老鼠爱大米,expressed that he had enjoyed himself during the competition and it was a nice experience to be part of this contest.

Maria who has been studying Chinese for nearly 1.5 months shared her journey and reasons for coming to SRS and performed the Chinese song 月亮代表我的心。Shesaid that her decision to participate in the Chinese Speaking Competition was proven right when she felt the support fromthe audience. She was initially nervous about her performance during the competition but thoroughly enjoyed herself during the process.

Fernando shared his journey exploring Gansu Province for 10 days during the summer vacation with Helena. In Lanzhou, he was astonished by the beauty of the Bronze Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow, a sculpture from the Han Dynasty. In Dunhuang, he also explained that despite not showering for 4 days while in Gobi Desert sleeping in tents, this contributed towards making an even more unique and memorable experience. As a student from SRS, he felt honoured while he was riding a camel in the Silk Road in Gobi Desert and expressed that participating in the competition was very challenging yet a fun experience.

Despite being a competition, the atmosphere was light-hearted with the participants and audiences thoroughly enjoying themselves in the process. This competition was a success and motivated students to eagerly learn and understand the Chinese language and culture, while providing a platform to showcase their talents.

Therefore, set forth and do not hesitate to join the competition next year! We will be waiting for you.

Written by: Lim Yin Ru

Edited by:Catalina Chen Li