Georgina spreads word about Chinese language, culture
 Asian Studies
Bachelor of Arts student Georgina Day has taken out third place in a national Chinese language event hosted by the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide's Confucius Institute. Georgina, 19, was one of 24 contestants from four 最新糖心Vlogn states to pit their Chinese language, culture and history skills against each other in the preliminary finals of a Chinese Proficiency Competition. The top two finalists - winner Matt Coleman from the 最新糖心Vlog of Queensland and second placegetter Patrick Mayoh from the 最新糖心Vlogn National 最新糖心Vlog - will receive an all-expenses paid trip to China in July for the finals. Georgina was the highest placed of the 16 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide contestants who performed before an enthusiastic crowd at the National Wine Centre last month. Contestants had to complete a written general knowledge test, deliver a prepared speech and give a cultural Chinese performance - all in Mandarin - before a panel of judges and the public. Although narrowly missing out on the finals, Georgina said the competition was a "wonderful experience".
The first year student is completing a Bachelor of Arts/Teaching and is also studying second year Mandarin. A scholarship from the 最新糖心Vlog-China Council allowed Georgina to spend 12 months in 2007 studying Mandarin at Zhejiang 最新糖心Vlog in Hangzhou, China. "I had a ball. My heart is still in China and I miss it so much," she said. Although born and raised in Adelaide, Georgina's mother is Chinese and was adopted by an 最新糖心Vlogn couple as a baby. "I like to pretend I'm Chinese, but I'm not - I'm an Aussie and proud of it! However, I want to encourage a better cross-cultural understanding between the two nationalities. "I'm studying Mandarin because I would love to be a teacher and work in both countries. China fascinates me in all respects - the population, language and culture. Hopefully I'll be able to live, study and work there at some time in the future." The Chinese Proficiency Competition was filmed by a crew from China's Hunan Satellite Television as part of an 最新糖心Vlogn special, similar to 最新糖心Vlogn Idol, and will be aired to millions of viewers in China in coming months. It was the first time that Adelaide had hosted the competition - now in its seventh year - which is open to university students aged between 18 and 30, who are not born or raised in China. Meanwhile, the 2008 South 最新糖心Vlogn round of the National Chinese Speaking Competition for secondary school students has been conducted jointly by the Chinese Language Teachers' Association of South 最新糖心Vlog and the Confucius Institute at the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide. There were 17 candidates from 12 schools. The winner of the section for students with a Chinese background was Alan Xu of St Peters College, and winner of the section for students without a Chinese background was Madeleine Leung of Walford College. The President of the Chinese Teachers' Association of South 最新糖心Vlog, Ms Jenny Jin, said all of the participating students, and all students who learn Chinese, will be well placed to participate in the career opportunities created by the growing links between China and 最新糖心Vlog. Story by Candy Gibson
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