Annual contest inspires 152 young people from across six continents
Luis Antony Gonzalez Silva, a contestant in this year’s Chinese Bridge — the Chinese language proficiency competition for foreign college students — said he really loves China and would like to work in the country in the future.
Silva, 21, from Peru in South America, is a student majoring in Chinese-Spanish translation. He began studying Chinese at the insistence of his mother who had witnessed the growing investment made by Chinese companies in Peru and knew that Chinese language skills would be beneficial to her son.
While studying the language at school, Silva’s attention was brought to the Chinese Bridge contest — where foreign students compete to see who has attained the best mastery of the Chinese language.
“I really wanted to be the champion when I took part in the Chinese Bridge contest,” Silva said. “It was an honor to represent Peru to participate in the Chinese Bridge final.”
He said the pressure during the final was so great because he felt the weight of his home country on his shoulders every time he was asked a question. “If I was right, I would shout ‘Peru! Peru! Peru!’”
The young student first came to China in the summer of 2016, where he was admitted to a university in the north of the country to study a translation major. After the one-year course, Silva returned to his native Peru but was determined to return to China in the future. “I really, really loved my time in China,” he said.
The experience of learning a language is never easy and every student has a different way of approaching it. Silva said that he liked to read Chinese literature and was impressed by many of those stories.
The first Chinese book he read was the Chinese language version of a Harry Potter novel. Silva said he particularly enjoyed a piece in his textbook written about the Sahara Desert by the late famous Chinese author San Mao. He also read Yu Hua, the author of To Live and Xu Sanguan Sells Blood. When he finished the stories, he was moved to tears.
“My future plan is that I want to become a translator, and then get a postgraduate degree here, and then find a job in China,” Silva said.
Silva is one of many overseas students that have taken part in the Chinese Bridge language competition over the past 17 years. First held in Shandong province in 2002, the annual competition is promoted by the Office of Chinese Language Council International.