Tertiary winner of Regional 2020 Chinese Bridge Speech Competition announced
School of Languages and Cultures student Monica Saili was awarded first place in the Tertiary category of the Wellington Regional 2020 Chinese Bridge Speech Competition.
Third-year BA student, Monica Saili, has won the 2020 Wellington Regional Chinese speech competition. Monica is a student of the Chinese programme at the School of Languages and Cultures and also studies International Relations and Spanish.
In her speech, Saili shared her experience of studying Mandarin for six weeks at East China Normal University, Shanghai, welcoming the friendships fostered through a shared interest in Mandarin language learning and Chinese culture.
Saili then reflected on the famous quote by sociologist Fei Xiaotong which inspired this year’s One World, One Family theme -「 各美其美，人人之美，美美与共，天下大同」 Value your own value, and that of others. With mutual appreciation, the world co-exists in peace. - and advocated for mutual respect and understanding in light of topical global events including the Australian bushfires, Covid-19, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The annual Chinese Bridge speech competition is run by the Confucius Institute and winners usually represent New Zealand at the international competition in China. This year, due to Covid-19, both the regional and international competitions will be held online.