Talented students from UK schools are preparing for the trip of a lifetime to China after being crowned winners of a national Chinese language competition.
Held at the British Museum last week, the grand final of the HSBC/British Council Mandarin Speaking competition saw more than 130 pupils from across the country vying to be recognised as the country’s best non-native Mandarin speakers.
Now in its fifteenth year, the national competition aims to encourage greater interest in Chinese language and culture with the finalists coming from 42 state and independent secondary schools from across the UK.
As the most spoken language in the world, Mandarin Chinese is vital for the UK’s place in the world. Recent British Council research has in fact highlighted that Mandarin is the non-European language the UK will need most once the country leaves the European Union.
The 2018 HSBC/British Council Mandarin Speaking competition winners are:
Individual (Beginner): Arun Pillai, Trinity School
Individual (Intermediate): Nikhita Nandi, North London Collegiate School
Individual (Advanced): Cecily Carey, King’s School Canterbury
Group Performance: Kingsford Community School
Pupils at the final competed in either the Individual Language Ability or Group Performance section. In the Individual section, contestants gave a short presentation in Mandarin, translated sentences from English into Mandarin and were tested on their knowledge of China and Chinese culture. In the Group Performance section, groups of between four and six students performed a piece of drama in Chinese – involving imaginative performances and costumes. The judging panel was made up of native and non-native speakers of Mandarin, from a variety of backgrounds.
Commenting on the competition, Mark Herbert, Head of Schools Programmes at the British Council said: “Mandarin Chinese is one of the languages that matters most to the UK’s future prosperity. Pupils across the country are proving that it possible to make great progress with learning Mandarin. However with more than one billion Mandarin Chinese speakers in the world, it is vital that even more of our young people learn this valuable language in order to live in an increasingly connected and globalised economy.”
Alison Coates, Global Head of Future Skills, HSBC added: “This competition gives young people from around the UK a great opportunity to develop and improve their language skills – helping them to become more employable, global citizens. We are delighted to support the competition and help build the future skills of a generation.”
Since 2003, over 3,500 young people have entered the competition which has helped inspire hundreds of young people to further their language studies - some going on to graduate in Mandarin Chinese. The British Council has also just launched the ‘Year of the Dog Primary Education Pack’ to help children across the UK celebrate Chinese New Year and learn more about China and its culture.
IMAGES FROM THE FINAL ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
For more information, please contact Kristen McNicoll in the British Council Press Office on 020 7389 4967 / 07765 898 738 or kristen.mcnicoll@britishcouncil.org. For out-of-hours, please call 07469 375160.
· This year, Chinese New Year’s Day is on Friday 16 February, and is the beginning of the Year of the Dog.
The schools in the Mandarin Speaking Competition 2018 final were:
Alexandra Park School (London); Bay House School & Sixth Form (Gosport); Bohunt School (Hampshire); Broughton High School (Edinburgh); Calday Grange Grammar School (Wirral); Christ's Hospital (West Sussex); City of London School (London); City of London School for Girls (London); Dartford Grammar School (Kent); Dulwich College (London); Epsom College (Surrey); Fettes College (Edinburgh); George Watson’s College (Edinburgh); Highgate School (London); Ibstock Place School (London); James Gillespie’s High School (Edinburgh); King's School Canterbury (Canterbury); Kingsford Community School (London); Latymer Upper School (London); Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School (Lincoln); London Design & Engineering UTC (London); Loreto Grammar School (Omagh); Lumen Christi College (Derry~Londonderry); Manchester Grammar School (Manchester); Marlborough College (Wiltshire); North London Collegiate School (London); Notting Hill & Ealing High School (London); The Petchey Academy (London); Putney High School (London); Queen Anne’s School (Reading); Queen Mary’s Grammar School (Walsall); Rathmore Grammar School (Belfast); Saint Ninian's High School (Glasgow); Sevenoaks School (Kent); St Mary Magdalene Academy (London); St Paul's Girls' School (London); Trinity School (Croydon); Upton Hall School, FCJ (Wirral); Wellington College (Berkshire); Westholme School (Blackburn); Westminster School (London); Whitgift School (London).
The British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We work with over 100 countries in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Last year we reached over 65 million people directly and 731 million people overall including online, broadcasts and publications. We make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive 15 per cent core funding grant from the UK government. https://www.britishcouncil.org
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The HSBC Group
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 3,900 offices in 67 countries and territories in Europe, Asia, North and Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa. With assets of US$2,526bn at 30 September 2017, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.