The Confucius Institute,Kenyatta University organized the Chinese Bridge Contest auditions for the Chinese language and Culture students. The event was held on Saturday 12th March 2011 in OML 6 and graced by the director of the institute Dr.Martin Njororge.
Twenty three students participated in the event. They all battled out for the slot of the five students needed to represent Kenyatta University and the Confucius institute at Nairobi University in May during the Chinese Bridge Competition. The students were drawn from the various programs the institute is offering. There were students from the Beginners in Chinese Language group, the Certificate students and the Proficiency group. The day's activities were staged in three levels: the speech event, question answering session testing common knowledge on Chinese culture and the last being the talent show. The events which drew much attention were the speech contest which was done purely in Chinese language and the talent show. The talent show was the peak of the whole display with the participants performing songs, poems and riddles from the Chinese culture.
The "Chinese Bridge"Competition is an international contest sponsored by Han ban, and is well-known in the cultural and educational exchanges worldwide. It consists of 3 events: "Chinese Bridge"Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students, "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign High School Students and "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Students in China. The competition is held yearly, organized and carried out by the Organizing Committee. In the case of Kenyatta University, the Chinese language students will be participating in the Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students .The students who excel in this contest will get scholarships to go and study Chinese language in China.
The contest held on 12th March this year is only the first step in the three staged journey to China. The five students who excel in the contest will progress to the second leg of the contest to be held in Nairobi University in May. They will compete with students from the Confucius Institute in Nairobi University and those who succeed will progress to China for the final leg of the competition.
Prior to Saturday, the institute was a beehive of activities as teachers and the students dashed to make final preparations for the day. It was a race against time given the fact that other important activities such as classes to attend and lessons to teach.However,by Saturday morning its was evident that the preparations were ready. In attendance was the Chinese director, Prof.Panghui, Confucius Institute Kenyatta university director, Dr.Njororge and Prof.Wu and all other Chinese language and culture lecturers.
Speaking during the event Prof.Pang said that he was very much impressed with the performance. He said to the students, “You are a nation of artists and your performance is much impressive.”
While giving the closing remarks, the director, Dr.Njororge said that the event was another step made by the institute since it was officially launched on 3rd June 2010. In September 2010 after the launch, five students went to China on Confucius Institute scholarship to study Chinese language and culture for one year. They are due to come back in August this year. He offered his appreciation to the teachers who had worked hard to ensure that the event materialized. To the participating students he said, “We need to work on our confidence to be able to scoop awards during the contest and have a chance to represent our institute, university and country.” He further said that, “We also need to work on our stage presence, posture and learn how to introduce ourselves to the judges in Chinese; all factors that will go into helping us do well during the competition in May.”
He was confident that the five to be selected from the group of students who participated in the audition will do a good job to ensure that they represent Kenyatta University well both in Nairobi and China come the time for the competitions.
The names of those selected for the May competition will be released on Wednesday the 16th March, 2011.
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