On 30 May, the Chinese Language and Culture Centre (CLC) held a semester-end Chinese Talent Show to showcase their students’ talents and experiences in China. Hosts of the event were CLC Lecturer, Candy Cai, and English Language Centre (ELC) Intern, Katrina Teskey. In attendance were interns, exchange students and staff members who have taken Chinese courses over the past semester.
The event began with a game, which prompted students to complete difficult Chinese tongue twisters, winning prizes for good pronunciation. Next, the students from the ‘Travel in China’ class talked about their experiences travelling in and around China. ELC Intern, Marissa Furney, talked about her fun time visiting Shanghai Disneyland. Afterwards, ELC Intern, Tyler Austin, discussed a trip he took to Japan over the holidays, with his entire presentation being in Chinese and English.
The Intermediate Chinese Class then followed with presentations about their time living in China. The first presenter was Angela Dong, an exchange student from Saint Mary’s University, who talked about how much she loved travelling around China. Afterwards, Hannah Hoeger, an exchange student from Hamline University, shared that she was born in China and adopted by her American family, and that coming back to China was a special journey for her. She shared pictures of her semester in Zhuhai as well as travelling throughout the country.
Later there was a poetry reading before more presentations by the Chinese Character Class, teaching those in attendance the stroke order of their given Chinese names. The Audio Visual Chinese class then gave presentations on their favourite cartoons, alternative between using English and Chinese in their presentations.
The group was then given a pleasant surprise when the Division of Science and Technology (DST) Intern, Jenna Otto, and General Education Office (GEO) Intern, Nick Stewart-Bloch, brought out a guitar to sing the popular Chinese song ‘Bubble’. This was followed by a singing of the UIC anthem in Chinese and English, which was done by the Elementary Chinese class, consisting of exchange students and one ELC intern. The exchange students came from Swansea University, Pforzheim University, Concordia College, Hamline University and Saint Mary’s University.
The final presentation was a Shadow Puppet show that the Practical Chinese class had written a script for and presented in both Chinese and English. Lucky draw prizes were given out throughout the event with many going home with beautiful Chinese pieces of art to remember as souvenirs of their time in China.
Reporter/Photographer: Samantha Burns
Editor: Samuel Burgess
(from MPRO)
