On June 30th, the final rounds of the 12th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese proficiency competition for foreign secondary school students in Belgium came to its end at the stadium of West Flanders University in Bruges. Arno Demusiler recommended by the Confucius Institute of the Brussels University of Liberty finally won the championship after fierce competition.
The competition was sponsored by the Chinese Embassy to Belgium and organized by the Confucius Institute at West Flanders University. After the preliminary rounds of selection in six Confucius Institutes and relevant Chinese classes of middle school, twelve contestants from seven middle schools participated in the final competition. The competition included three sections, the written test, speech and displaying a talent. With the theme of “Learning Chinese, Creating Brighter Future”, they shared their stories of learning Chinese language and Chinese culture in Chinese. Besides, they performed Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, modern dances, Chinese Poetry recitation and martial of arts. The wonderful exhibitions of talents won warm cheers and applause of the audience.
Demusiler, who was interviewed after the competition, said he has been studying Chinese since he was 12 years old. With many years of efforts, he has received the matriculation certificate of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and is full of expectation for his study in China when finishing his high school career. “My dream came true! It is the experience of studying Chinese that brings me a bright future. I believed that others studying Chinese will also win a promising career in the future.” he added.
“This year’s keynote speeches are diverse in terms of topic and the competitors demonstrated their passion towards Chinese language and China, as well as future expectations, with fluent Chinese and authentic expressions” said Zheng Baoguo, educational counsellor of Chinese Embassy to Belgium.