Language contest a bridge to better bonds

Improving ties

Matilda Murphy from Australia, the runner-up in the college students' competition, said she hopes to become a diplomat when she graduates from university.

Murphy, who majors in law, said she wants to use her Mandarin and legal skills to improve the Sino-Australian relationship.

More Australians are learning Mandarin due to increasing trade and cultural exchanges between the two countries, the 20-year-old said.

She started to learn Mandarin when she was a secondary school exchange student in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, in 2014. She also attended Shanghai International Studies University as an exchange student last year.

Apart from talking with Chinese people, she learns Mandarin by watching Chinese TV shows and movies. However, learning the language has not been easy and speaking it is harder than comprehending it, she said.

"Another secret to learning Mandarin well is not being afraid to make mistakes," Murphy said. "Just talk with others in Mandarin and you will learn from your mistakes."

While Deckers and Murphy speak Mandarin with accents, Canadian Fiona MacDougall, who won the 13th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students, speaks the language with a perfect Northeast China accent. Croatian Maro Knezevic, runner-up in the section, speaks mandarin with a strong Beijing accent.

They both started learning Mandarin at a much earlier age than the college group; MacDougall at 3 and Knezevic at 6.

For Knezevic, learning Mandarin was natural. He moved to Beijing with his mother at the age of 6 when she started teaching Croatian at the Beijing Foreign Studies University. He spent nine years attending primary and middle school in the city before returning to Croatia.

"I learned Mandarin the same way my Chinese classmates learned the language. Although it was very difficult for me in the beginning, it became easier as time went by," the 17-year-old said.

He not only knows how to speak the language, but is also adept at writing Chinese characters, which can be difficult for foreigners to master, he said.

Knowing how to speak Mandarin is an advantage he has over his high school classmates in Croatia, and he wants to use it to stand out from his peers, he said.

"I have not decided whether I want to go to China for college, but I am sure my future job will be related to China."

MacDougall is determined to study at a Chinese university and work in China after graduation.

The 15-year-old has been learning Mandarin for 12 years. Her fascination with the language was inspired by performances at the Spring Festival Gala, she said.

"Many of the performers of the sketches are from Northeast China and I was immediately mesmerized by their infectious accents," she said.

Apart from the gala, watching Chinese TV shows has also become a hobby for her. To improve her Mandarin, she takes every opportunity to practice the language with Chinese people in Canada, she said.

"Being fluent in Mandarin has made me happier and more confident. I often serve as the bilingual master of ceremonies at my school, and I also act as a Mandarin interpreter for Chinese visitors to my school," she said.

China has been developing at a very fast speed and many foreigners have been amazed at the country's achievements over the years, she said. "I would love to be able to use Mandarin in my future job as nothing is better to turn your interest into your future career," she said.