Double success for graduating student in national Chinese competition

Talia Claudia, a final year student of Chinese MA (Hons), has won two major prizes at the 25th annual Chinese Bridge Competition – an international contest testing learners’ language and cultural understanding.

In its 25th anniversary year, the Chinese Bridge Competition was themed ‘Language as a Bridge, Chinese Language Building Dreams’.

From preliminary rounds involving almost 100 students from 14 UK universities, Talia was one of only 11 learners to progress to the grand final in which she had to give a prepared speech in Chinese, answer questions about Chinese language, culture, history and current affairs, talk for one minute on a ‘surprise’ topic, and perform a talent connected to Chinese.

It’s all a long way from Talia’s first year as a student of Chinese. She arrived in Edinburgh with “practically zero” knowledge of the language, but wanting “the challenge of learning a completely new language and gaining a deeper understanding of China and its culture.”

She says “Studying Chinese has opened doors to opportunities that I never expected, including spending a year abroad in Beijing and competing in Chinese Bridge. Over the past four years, my Chinese has improved enormously. Thanks to the support of my teachers at both the University of Edinburgh and Peking University (on her Year Abroad), as well as a lot of hard work, I have reached HSK 6 level.” 

For her speech, Talia chose to talk about hidden meanings within the Chinese language which can lead to mix ups and mistakes, saying “I wanted to talk about… something a little different from the usual stories people tell about their experiences in China, and it reflects the stage of language learning I’m currently at.” 

“When I first started learning Chinese at the University of Edinburgh, I assumed that learning a language was mainly about vocabulary and grammar. However, as my Chinese improved, particularly during my third and fourth years and my year abroad at Peking University, I began to realise that many words and phrases (especially in Chinese) carry meanings that aren’t immediately obvious to learners.” 

“One example I used in my speech was the word fangbian (方便), which can mean “convenient” but is also commonly used to mean “I need to go to the bathroom”. Learning these hidden meanings can be both confusing and funny, and it often comes with making mistakes.”

“The topic was simply something I found fascinating through my own experiences learning Chinese.”

For Talia’s cultural performance, she chose to sing 千千阙歌 (qianqianquege), a Cantonese song made popular by Priscilla Chan Wai Han in 1989.

“While the competition is conducted in Mandarin”, she says, “I decided to include Cantonese in my performance because I wanted to challenge myself and showcase another side of Chinese language and culture. It was a lot of fun and gave me the opportunity to explore Chinese beyond standard Mandarin.”

Asked what skills she brought from the classroom into the contest, Talia says:

“A lot of my university courses helped with the competition, particularly the sections on Chinese culture and history, but my speaking classes were the most useful overall." 

"They taught me how to think on my feet, express my opinions naturally and communicate without relying on memorised textbook answers. Those skills were especially important for the spontaneous question section”.

The University of Edinburgh has been represented many times at the Chinese Bridge in the competition’s 25 year history, usually by undergraduate students of Chinese from the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC). 

In 2022, student Eve Smillie hosted the event having earlier won the Jury Special Award at the 3rd Chinese Competition of Charitable Projects & Business Innovations for UK University Students.

Previous winners and runners up from LLC include Roderick Morrison, Owen James Wilson, Riona Lesslar, Peter Dolby and Christopher McNulty.

In addition to Talia’s success this year, fellow final year student Willow Bailey (Chinese MA Hons) earned an Excellence Award for her participation.  

Edinburgh is the only university in Scotland to offer an undergraduate single honours MA programme in Chinese, teaching both language and culture, in addition to a range of joint honours programmes. We are also the only university in the UK to offer three different language entry levels to our Chinese degree programmes, including ab initio for complete beginners. Our programmes are not for native speakers, but we also welcome heritage language learners. All undergraduate degrees include a year abroad in either mainland China or Taiwan.