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Essay winners Beijing bound2 h2 R7 O3 t- L
/ K& t1 E0 N5 hArchie McLean
' F; Q4 D/ Y/ dThe Edmonton Journal
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Wednesday, July 21, 2004
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Carmen Wong, 15, left, and Susan Yip, 14, or Ottewell junior high, won a Chinese-language essay competition.
% ~9 ]$ R4 Q- C$ k/ ?; Z EDMONTON - For most junior high students, it's tough enough to write an essay in English. In Mandarin, it's impossible.
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But not for Carmen Wong, 15, and Susan Yip, 14. The two local students recently won a Chinese language essay competition and will be jetting off to Beijing in early August to represent Canada at a week-long cultural camp.
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The International Youth Chinese Language Writing contest is sponsored by a number of Chinese media outlets, including Chinese Central Television, the country's largest TV station, and the People's Daily, its largest newspaper.% W& ]9 T# V% s
/ ?5 n6 W+ i# S9 c1 H$ r. G8 ZIt is open to Chinese students as well as students from overseas, who compete in the international category. For two students who were born and raised in Edmonton, the victory is particularly exciting. x6 @* o+ h7 ?0 T" x/ s
$ G) J# l2 p0 {6 }9 `"It is so special," said Mianmian Xie, the girls' Mandarin teacher at Ottewell junior high school, "because our kids were born here, and the other kids are Chinese."
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" J' ^" D2 A- R9 tIn her winning essay, Wong wrote about her frustration, and eventual mastery, of the Chinese fan dance.
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Yip, an only child, wrote about loneliness and her relationship with the moon. It was a highly personal essay that even included a poem by Li Bai, one of China's best-known poets.0 r$ a2 v, r( C O+ p- ]4 B4 {
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Yip says the descriptive nature of Mandarin actually allowed her to communicate her thoughts better than English, her first language. "My piece of writing is more about feeling. So I preferred to write in Chinese.", ?+ u' T/ a! Y4 ^8 ?+ d
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It will be the girls' first trip to mainland China.* e1 p. S/ Y2 W+ H% {: c
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The win is a testament to the city's bilingual education program, said Xie.4 x" e5 q- ]% R2 {
8 V' o+ A2 { c1 n! b+ j"I feel so proud of them," she said. "Not just personally, but I think bilingual education really helps children develop."
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+ F' j7 s% l& I$ W; D$ TWong's parents came to Canada from Hong Kong, while Yip's came from southern mainland China. In both regions, Cantonese is the primary language, so neither girl knew Mandarin until starting the bilingual education program in Grade 1 and Grade 2, respectively." R$ F, M" y5 W8 H9 Q, G
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amclean@thejournal.canwest.com
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© The Edmonton Journal 20049 ^& R4 M1 d- W3 C4 k
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[ Last edited by victorw on 2005-2-25 at 10:57 AM ] |
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