On 5th December 2020, Confucius Institute at the University of Mauritius held its first Chinese Speech Contest with the theme “With Mandarin as Bridge, Dreams Come True”. The contest was organized on the 4th anniversary of the Confucius Institute at University of Mauritius and 20 contestants shared their Chinese stories and dreams during the competition. It took more than two months to prepare the contest. The contestants received one-to-one language training and guidance from their Mandarin teachers of CI-UoM.
The contestants were divided into two groups: student group and public group, and aged 15 to 63 years old. In accord with the theme of the contest, the contestants talked about people and things they encountered in the process of learning Chinese language and culture. Also, they expressed their expectations about Chinese language learning.
On stage, some of the contestants were passionate, witty, expressive and humorous. They all have a common characteristic, that is, the love for Chinese language and culture and hope that their dreams come true through Chinese learning.
The members of the jury for the speech contest were from China Culture Center, Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Mauritius Chinese Teachers Association and Confucius Institute. The deliberations were prompt and at the end of the contest, the chair of the jury panel gave her views about the performance of the candidates, highlighting the pros and cons. Among the 20 contestants, 8 won the fourth prize, 6 the third prize, 4 the second prize and 2 the first prize. After the contest, a ceremony was held to present certificates and prizes to the contestants.
The first Chinese Speech Contest was deemed successful and similar initiatives would be engaged in the future to sustain the enthusiasm of contestants for Chinese language and culture.
Poster for the First Chinese Speech Contest
The members of the jury at work
Contestants in full expression
Group photo of the contestants in the company of the jury and CI-UoM staff