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News
The 15th Chinese-Bridge Proficiency Competition for Irish Secondary school students was successfully held offline
UCC CI held the 15th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Irish Secondary School Students in Cork on April 23, Saturday. This is the first event of this kind held offline at UCC CI since the global pandemic .
A total of 12 secondary school students from Cork, Maynooth and other parts of Ireland took part in the one-day competition which was held in Kingsley Hotel. The distinguished guests of this competition were Mr.Xiangdong, the Ambassador of the Chinese Embassy in Ireland, Ms.Karen from PPLI of the Irish Ministry of Education, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy, the Deputy Mayor of Cork City, Cllr.Jack White, the Deputy Chief from Cork County Council, Ms. Li Huapei from the Department of Commerce of Cork County Government and Ms. Vera Wei, the Chairman of Fota Group. A five-member jury was formed by Chinese teaching experts from PPLI in Ireland, UCC, Confucius Institute at University College Dublin, Confucius Institute at Galway University, etc..
Mr.He Xiangdong mentioned in a recorded video speech that April 20 is the International Chinese Language Day, events like Chinese Bridge Competition play an significant role of connecting Chinese people and culture with other parts of the world. Ms.Karen from PPLI emphasized the importance of language learning in Ireland secondary schools from different perspectives. She greatly encouraged students to choose Chinese as a subject for the Leaving Certificate. Mr.Kieran MaCathy and Mr.Jack White both talked about the bond between Ireland and China, especially the connection between Cork and Shanghai, they also encouraged students who study Chinese to contribute their strength to deepen the communication between two countries in the future.
The competition was hosted by two students from UCC, who majored in Chinese language. All contestants competed through two segments: a short speech centering on the theme “ Fly High with Chinese” followed by a Q&A session, and a talent show, which was to demonstrate students’ cultural skills such as singing, playing an instrument, performing a sketch and etc..
Katie Lawrence, a 17-year-old student from Confey College beat all her competitors to become the first prize winner of the competition. Kevin Gormley and Clíona Marshall won the second prize, Syakira UImann, Hanzalah Mohd Farid and Sean became the third prize winners.The second prize winner Kevin Gormley also won the Most Popular Constant, which was voted by around 80 audiences presented in this event.
It is worth mentioning, Chinese will be officially included in the Irish college entrance examination this year, which means that the Chinese language education in Ireland has entered a new era. UCC CI is dedicated to making continuous efforts to promote Chinese language education and cultural exchanges within Irish educational and cultural background.