Masterful words from Confucius
By Ciaran Gruber, Year 10, St Andrew’s Catholic College
CHINESE students of the Confucius Classroom at St Andrew’s Catholic College took the internationally recognised Chinese proficiency HSK test at the end of 2017.
The results have been released and students were very happy with their new year’s present. Thanks to the Confucius Institute at the University of Queensland, students have access to the authorised HSK courses.
The HSK Chinese Language Proficiency Course and Test developed by the Confucius Institute, University of Queensland is Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority recognised study.
By incorporating HSK course into the school Chinese language study, senior years students at St Andrew’s Catholic College, who studied the course and passed the HSK Level 2 and above test, may be eligible for Queensland Certificate of Education credits once it is recognised by the Confucius Institute at UQ.
As a Year 10 student, I found studying HSK very beneficial as it gave us the chance to learn what was expected of students the same age globally.
In the September school holidays in 2017, several students participated in an educational study tour to China visiting many places and learning what it is like to study in one of the Chinese schools.
Our students were amazed by the beautiful scenery in China as well as how hard students in China worked.
We have all decided to work harder at school so that we are not falling behind our Chinese buddies.
With the new words and information we gained from the trip to China, we then ventured on to the task of the HSK test.
While the majority passed, the HSK proved not as easy as we previously expected with many of us having to bring every bit of Chinese that we had been learning at school.
With the guidance of our teacher Shixiang Chen, we have been able to learn much about the Chinese language, furthering our ability to communicate with the many Chinese tourists in Cairns or otherwise.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Confucius Institute at the University of Queensland for giving us access to the course, our school leadership team for having supported our Confucius Classroom and, of course, our teachers for bringing us the wonderful learning experience.