Confucius
Institute.
Newsletter December 2013 I Number 12 I
The first UK edition of the competition was hosted by our
Confucius Institute and supported by Nanjing University
and the Jiangsu Province Government, and attracted
contestants from across the country.
On Sunday 17
November, the First
UK Jiangsu Cup
Chinese Speech
Competition took place
in the Arts Tower, a
landmark building
at the University of
Sheffield. Twenty-five
students and school
pupils from all over
the UK travelled to
Sheffield for the finals
From left to right: Cllr Roger Davison, Consul-General
of the competition:
Mr Pan Yundong, Consul Zhu Yu and Professor Sir
participating
Keith Burnett arrive to watch the Jiangsu Cup
institutions included
the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, the University
of Sheffield and eleven more prestigious Universities and Confucius
Institutes. The youngest contestants came from local schools in the
Sheffield area.
The UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg sent a special letter of support
for the event: ‘I’m delighted that Sheffield is hosting the prestigious
Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech Contest at which linguists from Sheffield
and across the UK will be competing. The event is a great opportunity for
UK nationals to further their interest in speaking Mandarin and Chinese
culture. [It] will also help consolidate the strong relationship between
our countries, and as a Sheffield MP I’m particularly proud that it is
being hosted in Sheffield.’ The Consul-General Mr Pan Yundong from the
Chinese Consulate in Manchester and Professor Hugo Dobson, Head of
the School of East Asian Studies, also conveyed their best wishes to all
contestants. Professor Dobson remarked: ‘At a time when the popularity
of language learning at university is seen to be in doubt, events like this
demonstrate the vitality, opportunities presented by, and importance to
all our futures of China, the East Asian region, and its languages.’
The Lord Mayor of Sheffield Cllr Vickie Priestley was among our special
guests in the audience; representatives of the Chinese organisers of
the event included Mrs Liu Ling from the Jiangsu International Cultural
Exchange Centre, Mr Lin Qingsheng from the Jiangsu Foreign Cultural
Exchanges Association and Professor Cheng Aimin from Nanjing University.
Inside .....
Page 1: First UK Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech Competition
takes place in Sheffield
Page 2: A Word from our Director
Page 2: SCI Chinese Directors attend European
Confucius Institute Conference
Newsletter 12 I December 2013
Page 1
The competition was formally opened by the Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Sheffield, Professor Sir Keith Burnett, who spoke Mandarin
and quoted Confucius in his message to finalists. Contestants were
divided into three categories according to their age and level of Chinese:
Adults Intermediate, Adults Advanced and Young Learners. During the
competition they were tested on their level of Mandarin as well as their
knowledge about Jiangsu Province.
The audience was also treated to guest
performances by the internationally
known British singer and University of
Sheffield graduate Mary-Jess Leaverland
and by BBC Musician of the Year 2012
in the keyboard category, 16-year old
pianist and composer Yang Yuanfan.
Further highlights of the programme were
a Chinese fan dance and a martial arts
display.
Presented by Wu Liujie of Sheffield
CSSA and third year SEAS student Sam
Mannakee, the event kept everyone
entertained all the way until the much
awaited prize-giving ceremony. “I had a
wonderful day in Sheffield and my parents Success for Sheffield: SEAS
thoroughly enjoyed the contest too, even student Harry Armer collects
though they do not understand Chinese!” his first prize from Mrs Liu Ling
said Melissa Ward, a finalist from the University of Nottingham. The
feel-good factor spread both in the auditorium and backstage. “I
especially liked the fact that there was a children’s category, I thought
they were really cute to watch and it’s very important to encourage
people at a young age,” said Annafay Brunner, winner of the Adults
Advanced category. “I also liked the atmosphere among the finalists in
my category, everyone was really supportive of the others and they were
all very talented people!”
Suspense: Contestants in the Adults Intermediate category during the prizegiving ceremony
Page 3: News in Brief
Page 4/5: The Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech Competition
in photographs
Page 6: Business and culture news
Page 7: Experiencing China
Page 8: A way of life: practicing martial arts in Sheffield
First UK Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech Competition
First UK Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech
Competition takes place in Sheffield
A word from our Director
A word from our Director
Looking back at
the six months that
have passed since
Newsletter No. 11, I can
say it has been a very
busy and rewarding
period of time for our
Confucius Institute.
Since August, our team has
been working hard on what
was to become the largest
event for SCI this year: the
Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech
Competition, a speech
competition for learners
of Mandarin which we
have jointly organised with Nanjing University and the Provincial
Government of Jiangsu. After successful editions in the USA and
Japan, the event took place in the UK for the very first time this
November. Twenty-five contestants travelled to Sheffield from
all over the country to compete in three different categories. We
also had the honour of welcoming many special guests including
the University of Sheffield Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Keith
Burnett, the Lord Mayor of Sheffield Cllr Vickie Priestley, and,
for the second time this year, Consul-General Mr Pan Yundong
from the Chinese Consulate in Manchester and his wife, Consul
Yu Zhu. We even received a message from the UK Deputy Prime
Minister Nick Clegg which was read at the opening of the event
by his special envoy, Cllr Roger Davison. Not only did the audience
enjoy speeches by the finalists that showed an astonishing
level of Chinese, but was also treated to some wonderful guest
performances… but I will say no more and leave it to our readers
to find out about this unique event on the pages of this Newsletter.
The start of this semester has seen SCI student numbers rise
and has marked the launch of several new courses, including a
lunchtime Chinese language course for University staff and a kung
fu course that has quickly become popular in our range of Chinese
culture classes for adult learners. We also had some excellent
news earlier this summer when our Star Mandarin School
received a Gold Award for the Quality Framework – it is the first
school in Sheffield to reach this level in the NRCSE’s independent
quality recognition scheme.
During the past six months we have organised a busy programme
of teacher training sessions, invited several speakers for our
China Seminar Series and hosted talks on Chinese literature and
culture as part of the 2013 Off the Shelf Festival of Words. We
have regularly received positive feedback from audiences, and our
events have attracted an increasing amount of attention from both
UK and Chinese media.
The year 2014 is drawing near, and I am looking forward to
stepping into it together with our team here at SCI – there are
many more exciting plans still to come! I hope that you will enjoy
Newsletter No. 12, and wish you all the best in the Year of the
Horse.
Dr. Lucy Zhao
Director, Confucius Institute at the University of Sheffield
Newsletter 12 I December 2013
Page 2
SCI Chinese Directors
attend European
Confucius Institute
Conference
Sheffield Confucius
Institute Chinese Directors
Professor Xiao Li and
Professor Wang Zhimin
attended the 2013 European
Confucius Institute
Conference held between
11 and 13 September 2013
in Minsk, Belarus. The
annual conference was
attended by 112 directors
of 69 European Confucius
Institutes, delegations from
leading universities, and
staff from the Confucius
Institute Headquarters.
During the three-day
conference, Professor Xiao
and Professor Wang actively
participated in debates
Professor Wang Zhimin (left) and
on the four key themes of Professor Xiao Li with the Deputy Director
the event: the Confucius
of Hanban Mr Wang Yongli in Minsk.
Institute development plan,
the Confucius Institute ‘core teacher’ project and the training
of local teachers, the Confucius China Study Plan, and a project
to organise Confucius Institute cultural brands. Both Chinese
Directors also took the opportunity to exchange views on the work
of Confucius Institutes during group discussions with colleagues
from across Europe.
Our links with fellow
Confucius Institutes
As one of the earliest Confucius Institutes established in Britain,
Sheffield CI maintains active contact with other Institutes in the
UK and often also becomes a source of advice for emerging CIs.
Most recently we have received visitors from the new DeMontfort
University Confucius Institute. “We discussed the day to day
running of a CI with our colleagues at DMU CI based on our
existing experience, and also looked into possibilities of future
cooperation,” said SCI Director Dr Lucy Zhao.
Dr Zhao later attended
a celebration officially
marking the opening
of DMU CI. The event
programme included a
lion dance, a fan dance
and other traditional
Chinese performances
by students of
DeMontfort University.
Dr Zhao handed over a
vivid painting by an artist from rural China to Professor Dominic
Shellard, Vice-Chancellor of DeMontfort University, as a special
gift from SCI for the new Institute.
Students on our Chinese calligraphy course and their teacher Cao Yuan
(second left) with a special Christmas message for our readers.
Star Mandarin School
receives Gold Award
On the 12th of July our Star Mandarin School attended a
Quality Framework recognition meeting in Manchester. Four
complementary schools presented their portfolios and answered
questions from each other and from independent witnesses.
We were praised for the
excellent academic links
with the University and
local mainstream schools,
the good curriculum setup and detailed records,
and the outstanding
achievement of our learners;
subsequently, we were
highly recommended for the
coveted Gold Award.
The Quality Framework for Supplementary Schools is a voluntary
quality recognition scheme which is independent, peer-assessed
and self-regulated. Run by the NRCSE (National Resource Centre
for Supplementary Schools), it aims to recognise, promote and
record the achievements of supplementary schools and support
their improvement. 350 organisations have completed at least the
Bronze level to date; the Star Mandarin School is the first school in
Sheffield to reach Gold level. Dr Xinqun Hu, the Head of the School,
expressed her thanks to all: “As a school affiliated to the Confucius
Institute at the University of Sheffield, we get huge support in terms
of teacher recruitment, teacher training, curriculum set-up and
standardised teaching facilities. Thanks to the SCI and the School
Management Committee for their ongoing support. We now have 20
teachers and 240 children enrolled in our school, and our gratitude
also extends to parents and teachers. This Award was made possible
by the joint efforts and enthusiasm of everyone at our school:
congratulations to all!”
Fright Night with a
Chinese touch
On a dark November evening, a
small crowd started gathering
by the entrance of the University
of Sheffield Students’ Union.
A normal sight perhaps, until
one noticed that these were
no ordinary beings. Vampires,
zombies and other scary
creatures lurked in the dark,
ready to take the streets of
Sheffield by surprise. Their true
intents, however, were far from
evil: they were none other than
participants at our weekly SinoEnglish Corner (SEC) on their
way to Sheffield Fright Night, the
largest Halloween festival of its
kind in the UK. ‘SEC is all about language and culture exchange –
not only do we organise events during traditional Chinese festivals,
but also give Chinese students in Sheffield a taste of festivals
celebrated here in the UK,’ says Harry Armer, a third year Chinese
Studies student and one of SEC’s co-ordinators. ‘It is a great
way for everyone to socialise and learn new things.’ After a walk
through city centre with its many spooky attractions, the evening
traditionally finished with a spicy Chinese touch – what could
vampires like better than Sichuan cuisine followed by Chinese
karaoke, after all?
News in Brief
Season’s Greetings!
China Seminar Series
The Confucius Institute’s
China Seminar Series
featured two talks
related to language and
language acquisition
this semester. Dr
Clare Wright from
the University of
Reading visited our
CI in November and
discussed with our
students her findings
Professor Tang discusses Chinese grammar with
on the effects of a year students on the MA in Teaching Chinese as a
abroad for second
Foreign Language
language learners, based
on a study involving third-year learners of Mandarin Chinese
at a UK university. Later the same month, Professor Sze-Wing
Tang from the Chinese University of Hong Kong gave a talk on
polysyllabic utterance particles in Chinese. Both seminars were
attended by a numerous audience of staff and students and
sparked lively Q&A sessions. More seminars are already scheduled
for the coming term.
Our China Seminar Series offers a programme of academic talks
on a wide range of topics each semester. If interested please e-mail
confucius@sheffield.ac.uk to join our mailing list.
Newsletter 12 I December 2013
Page 3
The Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech Competition
The Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech
The University of Sheffield Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Keith Burnett
accepts a gift from Mr Lin Qingsheng, Deputy Secretary General of
the Jiangsu Foreign Cultural Exchanges Association
The Sheffield Confucius Institute Director Dr Lucy Zhao (far right) and Chinese
Director Professor Xiao Li (far left) with the Lord Mayor of Sheffield Cllr Vickie
Priestley and her Consort, Mr Lloyd Priestley
Relaxing before the big moment: contestants and their teachers sit down for a chat and a bite to
eat in the Arts Tower foyer
Now Sam, how well do you speak Chinese? Presenters Wu Liujie and Sam Mannakee
entertain the audience by testing each other’s foreign language skills
Newsletter 12 I December 2013
Page 4
Singer and University of Sheffield graduate Mary-Jess
Leaverland opens the event with her new rendition of
the song Chuntian de Balei (Spring Ballet)
Professor Cheng Aimin, Dean of the Institute for
International Students at Nanjing University, addresses the
audience before the competition
Sushain Razdan, first prize winner in the Young Learners
category, showcases his calligraphy skills during his Chinese
cultural performance
Students from the Confucius Classroom at Firth Park Academy perform a fan dance to the
well-known traditional Jiangsu song ‘Jasmine Flower’.
Happy winner: Annafay Brunner from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London
collects the first prize in the Adults Advanced category from the Chinese Consul-General
Mr Pan Yundong
SEAS third year Chinese Studies student Harry Armer
delivers a three-minute prepared speech as part of the
contest.
16-year old virtuoso pianist and composer Yang Yuanfan performs
a collection of melodies from modern Chinese classics which he
arranged especially for the event
Enjoying the competition: from right to left, judges Dr Yang Lan (University of Leeds), Professor
Chen Xiaoyan and Ms Cao Liquan (both from Nanjing University), and Dr Zheng Binghan
(Durham University) are entertained by the contestants’ humorous speeches
Newsletter 12 I December 2013
Page 5
The Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech Competition
ch Competition in photographs
Business and culture news
Going the extra mile
opens doors…
Following an increase in demand for China-related business
workshops and courses, our Confucius Institute has recently
established a new link with the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce.
In July 2013, the SCI team met the Head of International Trade
at the Chamber, Mr Nick Patrick, to discuss potential long-term
collaboration and first ideas for joint events such as a martial artsthemed networking session within the Chamber’s ‘Fit for Business’
project. An agreement between the Chamber of Commerce and SCI
was signed later in autumn.
To professionals, showing an awareness of the language and
customs of their business partners’ home country really is what
makes the difference. “My role as General Manager at Outokumpu
Stainless Ltd includes the responsibility for marketing our steels and
finding new customers in mainland China, in co-ordination with our
Chinese Sales team. While they speak good English, virtually none of
our prospective new customers speak any at all,” says John Beeley,
who has been taking Mandarin lessons at SCI. “I can now manage
the basic spoken Mandarin needed for traveling around China,
introducing our company to customers and basic social interaction.
The outcome of this has been that customers I met on my last visit
were very grateful and pleased that an English person could speak
to them in their own language. This makes them feel that we take
customer service seriously and are prepared to go the extra mile to
win their business.”
Off the Shelf 2013
Mr Nick Patrick from the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and SCI Director
Dr Lucy Zhao sign an agreement during a meeting at the Confucius
Institute office.
Our Institute also regularly exchanges views on business Chinese
teaching with other CIs and Universities. In September this year,
SCI teacher Ma Kun attended the Fourth London Business Chinese
Teacher Training Course at the London School of Economics and
Political Science (LSE). Some thirty trainees participated in the
course, which consisted of three parts: guided research, intensive
training and an online learning forum. Trainees were required to do
homework and research on business Chinese teaching in advance in
order to get fully prepared for the intensive course. The programme
also featured lectures by well-known professors and scholars
from Tsinghua
University,
Beijing Language
and Culture
University,
Oxford
University
and LSE.
“The training
provided
an excellent
occasion to
discuss teaching SCI teacher Ma Kun (far right) and fellow trainees attend
practices with the Fourth London Business Chinese Teacher Training
colleagues from Course at LSE.
other CIs and to gain a better understanding of business Chinese
courses in the UK,” says Ma Kun.
Newsletter 12 I December 2013
Page 6
In October and November, a programme of talks and workshops
organised by our Confucius Institute for the annual Off the Shelf
Festival of Words
offered a firsthand experience of
Chinese literature
and culture for
audiences of all ages.
The first event was
a seminar entitled
‘The Art of Kunqu’
given by Kathy
Hall, the founding
Chair of the London
Jing Kun Opera
Association. Kathy,
Kathy Hall demonstrates Kun Opera singing
an experienced
techniques during her talk
practitioner and
teacher of kunqu, introduced the background, roles and techniques
of Kun Opera, a unique art form which is considered to be the
mother of all Chinese opera and enjoys national opera status in
China. Another fascinating talk was given by Professor Sui Gang
from the University of Central Lancashire, who discussed the
challenges of creative writing in English for Chinese students. The
event series finished
with a special treat
for the youngest
ones: an audience of
some fifty children
with their parents
was taken on a
storytelling journey
through China by
SCI teacher Guo
Hong. The children
were then divided
into teams to write
and perform their
own China-themed Professor Sui Gang talks about his experiences of
teaching English creative writing in China
tales.
Tom Stanley, formerly a student in SCI’s Chinese
evening classes, was awarded a Confucius Institute
scholarship and is currently taking a language
course at Beijing Language and Culture University.
He writes from Beijing to share his first impressions
of his life in China.
I have been in China for three months now,
studying Mandarin at Beijing Language and
Culture University, and it’s fair to say that it’s not
easy but it’s also one of the best choices I’ve made
in my life. Even though I have a set schedule, every
lesson brings a new challenge and every day is
different.
I have class for four hours each day, and one of the first things I
learned here was how fast your Chinese improves on an intensive
course. I had studied Chinese in evening classes in Sheffield and
even those of my classmates here in Beijing who had studied
Chinese as a degree at university found the course here involved
a lot of work to get used to, but once we did adapt we found that
it’s both shocking and immensely satisfying to see how quickly your
language skills improve when you study full time and are completely
immersed in the language. I have language partners and Chinese
friends and I can now have relatively comfortable conversations with
them; it only makes me regret not doing this sooner.
Being a Confucius Institute scholarship student, I was given
accommodation on campus and have really enjoyed making friends
in my new dorm. Students here come from all over the world
and it’s really great fun to meet people from other cultures and
learn about their home countries, hear their stories, and see their
home photos. My floor alone has a couple of other guys from the
UK as well as people from India, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and the DPRK.
They call BLCU the ‘Mini United Nations’ because there really is
somebody from everywhere here!
Once we finish our homework we’re free to explore the city and see
the sights, of which Beijing has so many that I don’t think I’ll come
close to seeing them all even if I’m here for a year. The Summer
Palace is a beautiful old imperial park on the outskirts of the city
which I’ve been to twice and still want to go back to see more.
There are also wonderful exhibitions of exquisitely carved
sculptures and ornate jewellery - every single imperial artifact on
show is meticulously crafted, from the rice bowls to the hair pins.
The sheer enormous scale of the park and lake make it a wonderful
place to go and take a walk in, or hire a boat for the day.
Of course, if you really want to go for a proper walk, you should do
so on the Great Wall, which is about a forty-five minute train ride
away (and - believe it or not - getting there only costs around 60p!).
I went there on a class trip and was just astounded by how beautiful
it was. Unlike the city itself, which is almost completely flat, the
outskirts of Beijing are hilly, so don’t expect the Great Wall to be a
walk in the park – you have to climb half a mountain to get onto it,
but once you do it’s literally breathtaking. If you really don’t fancy
the steps there is a cable car, but if you prefer a challenge, try
entering the marathon along the Great Wall in May!
Study in China
Our Confucius Institute is run in partnership with two top
Universities in China, Nanjing University (NJU) and Beijing
Languages and Culture University (BLCU), both of which
provide excellent short- and long-term Chinese language,
culture and teacher training courses throughout the year as
well as full undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.
The Confucius Institute Scholarship programme allows
students, scholars and Chinese language teachers worldwide
to study Chinese language in China, or take a MA degree in
Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL).
The application process for Confucius Institute Scholarships
opens every year in February/March.
Experiencing China
Experiencing China
For more information about studying
in China, please e-mail confucius@
sheffield.ac.uk
Bú dào Chángchéng fēi hǎo hàn: Tom took this photo on an autumn trip to the Great Wall with his classmates.
Newsletter 12 I December 2013
Page 7
Chinese martial arts
A way of life:
practicing martial arts in Sheffield
Our Confucius Institute has been offering taijiquan
classes since 2008, and has recently opened a kung
fu course. Our martial arts teachers, Paul Thompson
and Pablo Salas Vazquez, share their thoughts on
what for them has become a way of life.
On Sunday afternoons, Confucius Institute taijiquan students
gather at the University Drama Studio for their weekly practice. The
instructor, Paul Thompson, has been practicing Wu style taiji since
1989. “I first read about taiji in a book, and thought I would like to
know more about it,” he remembers. “It has since become a regular
part of my life.”
For our kung fu instructor, Pablo Salas, the discovery of Chinese
martial arts also marked an important turning point. “I started
practicing martial arts at an early age. I did various styles, from
Taekwondo to Karate and later on to Western boxing, but it was not
until the age of twenty-four that I practiced taijiquan for the first
time,” he says. “Chinese internal kung fu then changed my whole
perspective. For me kung fu is not only a way of life, but also a very
effective set of methods to improve and preserve your health, as
well as to find balance between body, mind and spirit.” His students
at the Confucius Institute are very committed as well. “I really
enjoy kung fu practice – it has become all I think about now!” Jamie
from our Tuesday course says, picking up his bottle of water for
refreshment after class.
Concentrating: Pablo and his students during a kung fu class
Staying in contact with China is essential, both teachers agree.
“Soon after I found a passion for Chinese martial arts, I somehow
felt I had to go to the source, so I travelled to the Wudang Mountains
in rural China in 2008,” Pablo recalls. “I have since spent four long
stretches of time in Wudang studying a variety of styles.” Paul also
regularly seeks opportunities to practice with taijiquan masters
both in Europe and China. “China is really where this tradition
Enquiries to:
Caterina Weber, Confucius Institute at the University of Sheffield
5 Shearwood Road • Sheffield S10 2TD • United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 114 222 8332 • Fax: +44 (0) 114 222 8334
Email: confucius@sheffield.ac.uk
Newsletter 12 I December 2013
Page 8
comes from, and by visiting regularly and interacting not only
with masters but also students who are at a similar level, your
own skills improve very quickly. It also allows you to gain a deeper
understanding of martial arts training in China; getting an idea
of the life and training experiences of people there opens new
perspectives on our own views on taijiquan. I have great respect for
all my teachers; perhaps the two people who have had the biggest
influence on my life are Masters Ma Yueliang and Ma Changxun.”
Pablo Salas with Master Yuan Xiugang in the Wudang Mountains
Due to their powerful and eye-catching movements, martial arts
are naturally also in high request at public events. Only a few
months since their first lesson, some of our students have already
started performing basic moves together with their instructors.
This however is only one side of the coin, Pablo reminds. “Over the
past years I have taken part in competitions and performances,
and I have been
teaching kung
fu in different
environments.
But I find that the
key is everyday
training: there
is nothing more
important
than your
own personal
discipline
towards training,
which for me is
Paul Thompson (left) performs a taiji form with one of his
the only way to students
improve your
skills and keep the arts alive within yourself.”
New martial arts courses will start in February 2013. Please
e-mail confucius@sheffield.ac.uk for more information.