DAR ES SALAAM, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Twelve students from Tanzania's three higher learning institutions showed their skills in the Chinese language during the 22nd Chinese Bridge-Chinese Proficiency Competition held here Friday.
At the competition organized by Confucius Institute (CI) at the University of Dar es Salaam, in collaboration with the CI at the University of Dodoma and Confucius Classroom at the State University of Zanzibar, the contestants were assessed by a panel of judges, mainly Chinese officials from Chinese enterprises in Tanzania, in their skills in the Chinese language, including Chinese oral speech, knowledge about China and a talent show that was aimed at understanding the Chinese culture.
Pendo Malangwa, the acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam, praised the Confucius Institute for working hard to ensure that Tanzanian youth can learn the Chinese language to improve their competitiveness in future career development. "Learning the Chinese language is an effective approach in further developing the Sino-African ties," she said.
Herbert Ndomba, the coordinator for Post-graduate Studies at the College of Humanities of the University of Dar es Salaam, said the competition has enriched the students with the Chinese culture. "The competition helps the students to strengthen their language proficiency skills and communication skills. These skills are important in our daily lives and in the labor market," said Ndomba.
Wang Siping, cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, urged the Tanzanian youth to be committed to the friendship between China and Tanzania, and inspire them to live up to the times.
Zhang Xiaozhen, director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar es Salaam, said the purpose of organizing the competition was to improve Tanzanian Chinese language learners' proficiency and level, actively promote cultural exchanges with language as the medium and culture as the bridge, and contribute to the cause of China-Tanzania friendship and cooperation.
Everius Gozibeth Rwabangi, 23, a third-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts with Education (Chinese & English), emerged as the overall winner. "Learning Chinese is like having a key that opens doors to several opportunities in Chinese-managed enterprises in Tanzania."
