Source: School of Chinese as a Second Language
Written by: School of Chinese as a Second Language
Translated by: Guan Shanshan, Hu Xiaolin
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On September 24, 2014, the Essay Contest and Sharing of “My Dream and China” was held in Swasey Hall on South Campus of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Confucius Institutes. 16 international students from 12 countries including Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Britain, Egypt, Malaysia, Mexico, Madagascar and Finland, who are Confucius Institute Scholarship recipients and are studying for their master’s degrees in the School of Chinese as a Second Language (SCSL) at SYSU, participated in the competition and shared their Chinese Dream with teachers and students present at the event.

The activity was hosted by the Confucius Institute Office of SYSU, and undertaken by Office for International Students’ Affairs and SCSL. Zhou Xiaobing, Dean of SCSL, and Chang Chenguang, Deputy Dean of Faculty of Foreign Languages and International Studies, served as the judges of the competition. Feng Xinglei, Director of Office of Exchange and Cooperation, Department of Education of Guangdong Province; Ling Wenhua, Director of the Office of International Cooperation & Exchange of SYSU; and leaders of related functional departments and schools attended the event. 

The international participants speak standard and fluent Chinese. Their stories, with the theme of “China” and “Dream”, are sincere and touching. Ryeo Huang from South Korea was solemn and elegant in traditional Korean clothes. Her deep love and grief for her father moved everybody. Ehab Samir Kabary Hemaly, SCSL’s first Egyptian postgraduate student on Confucius Institute Scholarship, told a story entitled "Dream in China". Fiononana Andrianirina, a student from Madagascar, brought a wonderful talk show. His words “I look like Obama, but my father is not Li Gang” made everyone laugh. Sara Jaaksola, whose husband is Cantonese, introduced her experience of coming to China from Finland to learn Chinese. Miguel Ángel Contreras Carrillo and Nubia Gabriela Cano Maganaare, a couple from Mexico, shared their story “A Mexican Couple’s Chinese Dream”. In the talent show, Nubia played the Cucurbit flute, and Miguel showed his calligraphy skills. The tune “Fairy Tale” and the calligraphy work “No Child Left Behind (you jiao wu lei)” showed their deep understanding of Chinese culture, making everyone clap and cheer.

After almost two hours of fierce competition, the results of the First, Second and Third Prize as well as the Best Stage Presence and the Best Talent Performance came out. Ehab Samir from Egypt won the First Prize. In the event, the Confucius Institute Scholarship students of Masters of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages program at SYSU demonstrated their elegant demeanor and expressed their love and passion for China and the Chinese culture.  

It is learned that the activity was held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Confucius Institutes. In 2006, Sun Yat-sen University co-established the first Confucius Institute at Anteneo de Manila University in the Philippines. At present, SYSU has three more Confucius Institutes overseas, including The Confucius Institute at Autonomous University of Yucatan, Mexico established in 2007, The Confucius Institute in Indianapolis, USA in 2008, and The Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 2010. Up till now, 10 teachers have been appointed as Chinese deans of Confucius Institutes, 9 Chinese teachers and more than 200 volunteers have been assigned to 22 countries to collaborate with overseas partners in Chinese language teaching and cultural exchange activities.

At the same time, Sun Yat-sen University warmly welcomes international students from around the world. In 2013, there were 3,173 international students studying at SYSU, 1,438 of whom came here to learn Chinese. In order to develop Confucius Institutes and train qualified Chinese teachers, Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) established Confucius Institute Scholarship in 2009 to fund students, scholars and Chinese teachers from abroad to pursue academic degree of Masters of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages, or to study Chinese Language and Literature, Chinese History or Chinese Philosophy in China. Up to now, 91 Confucius Institute Scholarship students from 20 countries have enrolled in SCSL to study professional knowledge of teaching Chinese to speakers of other languages. After graduation they will engage in Chinese language teaching and research in their own countries, promoting cultural exchange and friendship between China and their own countries.