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Bridging language barriers

11 June 2008

Ms Hui Xu and Hailan Paulsan from the Chinese Studies Program with students Kristian Rodd and James Kett

Ms Hui Xu and Hailan Paulsan from the Chinese Studies Program with students Kristian Rodd and James Kett (centre).

Monash students Kristian Rodd and James Kett will travel to Changsha in Hunan Province, China, in July to represent Melbourne in the final stage of the Chinese Bridge Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students.

The students received first and second place in the Victorian round of the competition beating entrants from the University of Melbourne, Deakin University, La Trobe University, and RMIT. During the competition participants were required to deliver a speech in Chinese as well as complete a Chinese artistic performance.

The Chinese Bridge Proficiency Competition is an annual event organised by the Chinese Government to promote the study of Chinese by non-native speakers. 

If Kristian and James are successful in the final round, where they will compete with other students from around the world, they will receive a scholarship to study in China.

Success at this year's event consolidates Monash University's dominance of the competition over the past few years, during which Monash students have consistently taken out first and second place.

According to her colleagues, this result is a credit to Ms Hui Xu from the Chinese Studies program who prepares the students for the competition each year.

Meanwhile the Chinese debating team is going from strength to strength.

The first interstate Chinese debating competition for university students held last month saw Monash defeat La Trobe Unversity in the final. 

The Monash team is made up of four students from China, all of whom are members of the Chinese Student Club at Monash. Lu Bai is currently enrolled in a Masters course in Applied Finance, Shen Liu is studying a Masters course in Applied Econometrics, Han Xiao is an undergraduate student in Finance and Accounting and Suzhen Zheng is an undergraduate student majoring in Commerce.

Miss Zheng was also awarded a prize for showing the best debating skills in the competition.

Academic staff from the Monash Chinese Studies program, in particular Dr Hui Huang, made a substantial contribution to the preparation of the debating team.

For more information or to view performances, Faculty of Arts Chinese Studies Program website.