Students performed at a Chinese language proficiency contest in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on April 19, 2023. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)
Twenty-nine Tanzanian students have participated in a Chinese language competition as part of celebrations to mark the UN Chinese Language Day which fell on April 20.
DAR ES SALAAM, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Nine Tanzanian students at the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar es Salaam on Wednesday were declared winners of a Chinese language proficiency contest.
Twenty-nine students participated in the competition as part of celebrations to mark the UN Chinese Language Day which fell on April 20.
The competition was aimed at assessing the proficiency of the students in various skills of the Chinese language, including Chinese speech and knowledge about China as well as a talent show.
Twenty-year-old Sharon Emmanuel Munisi, a first-year student pursuing political science and public administration at the university, did not mince her words when she was declared the top winner.
"I decided to learn Chinese because it is key to getting employment in Chinese companies operating in Tanzania," Munisi told Xinhua in an interview, adding that the Chinese language has many other opportunities, including in the diplomacy platform.
Students performed at a Chinese language proficiency contest in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on April 19, 2023. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)
Pendo Malangwa, the University of Dar es Salaam director for Quality Assurance, said Chinese language learning was an effective approach to further developing Sino-Africa ties.
The competition established in 2013 in Tanzania has helped promote and encourage students to work hard and inspired potential students who will be interested in learning Chinese, said Malangwa who represented the Deputy Vice-Chancellor responsible for Academics, Bonaventure Rutinwa.
Malangwa said there were more than 10,000 Chinese people and at least 500 small and large Chinese-run enterprises in Tanzania that need a large number of Tanzanians who have different talents and can speak Chinese.
Zhang Xiaozhen, director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar es Salaam, said the Chinese Language Day, launched in 2010, aims to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity and promote the equal use of the six official languages of the United Nations, which include Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. ■
