Students receive top honours in Chinese proficiency

Griffith students & staff
Griffith students & staff at the 12th Chinese Bridge, Chinese proficiency competition in Brisbane.

Griffith University student Amirah Nikwan has received the ‘All Round’ prize at the advanced level for the 12th Chinese Bridge, Chinese proficiency competition in Brisbane.

As a result of her language skills and cultural knowledge Amira has earned a fantastic opportunity to visit China on a one month Confucius Institute scholarship.

The Confucius Institute scholarship will cover her tuition fees, travel, accommodation and living expenses as she represents Australia in the world-wide competition.

Griffith students performed exceptionally well this year, winning 10 out of the 24 prizes for Chinese proficiency.

Among those Griffith University prize winners were Eunice Fungo, Daniel Henschall, Lauren Harvoy, Samantha Hill, Georgia Sands.

TheTourism Confucius Institute at Griffith University and the Confucius Institute at The University of Queensland were the joint organisers of this year’s Chinese Bridge Competition.

Competition and prizes

Chinese Bridge is a worldwide competition for university students to demonstrate their passion for Chinese language and culture as well as to enhance relations between China and other countries.

Since its launch in 2002, over 50 000 students from more than 50 countries have participated in this annual competition organized by the Office of the Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) in Beijing.

All non-native speaking students under the age of 35 undergoing tertiary education (TAFE or University) in Queensland are eligible for this competition.

The Chinese Bridge Competition is split into two levels, each of which is composed of three subdivisions: Cultural Knowledge in written form, Oral Presentation and Talent Performance.

Prizes are awarded to the top three winners of each subdivision and another three All Round prizes were awarded to students who participated in all three subdivisions.

Chinese teachers from the Griffith School of Languages and Linguistics and volunteer Chinese student mentors also contributed to make this competition a very successful event.