On June 25, 2022, the final of the 21st "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for World College Students in France was held in Paris. Vladimir Hrbal, a student from the Confucius Institute at Université Paris Cité (formerly one of the seven Confucius Institutes in Paris), won the Final of the French Division following a fierce competition.
Winner Vladimir Hrbal performs Pipa Rain
After the selection by Confucius Institutes and other institutions across France, 15 French college students passionate about the Chinese language and culture qualified for the final of the French division. The competition was conducted both online and offline, covering three sessions—speech, talent show, and a question-and-answer session. On the theme of "One World One Family", the finalists gave impressive speeches, showing off their talents in singing Chinese songs, playing musical instruments (pipa), dancing, calligraphy, painting and poetry recitation, presenting an audio-visual feast for the judges and the audience.
Photo of all the staff participating in the competition
Vladimir Hrbal, a student of the Confucius Institute at Université Paris Cité, won the 21st "Chinese Bridge" French final with his fluent Chinese speech, beautiful pipa performance, rich knowledge of Chinese culture and calm language expression, winning unanimous praise from the jury. He will represent France in the final of the 21st Chinese Bridge competition. Another student, Johan Maugy won the third prize with great performance. Li Ye, Vladimir Hrbal and Johan Maugy's instructor, was awarded the "Teacher Appreciation Award".
The champion (middle of the second row), the third runner-up (fourth from the right), their instructor Li Ye (fourth from left), the French director of the Confucius Institute at Université Paris Cité Qi Chong (second from right), the Chinese director Liu Ping (third from right) and other teachers
The Confucius Institute at Université Paris Cité was founded in October 2006 by Wuhan University and Université Paris Diderot - Paris VII (now Université Paris Cité), and is the first Confucius Institute co-established by Wuhan University as well as the earliest Confucius Institute opened by China in Paris, France. The French director of the Confucius Institute is Qi Chong, and the Chinese director is Liu Ping. The excellent performance of the students from the Confucius Institute at Université Paris Cité has fully demonstrated the continuous improvement of the teaching level of the Chinese language and the remarkable achievements of the promotion of Chinese culture in France in recent years.
The event was featured on CCTV at:
https://tv.cctv.com/2022/06/30/VIDEz4ZUlU0z8OzlRTCvBSYh220630.shtml
Written by: Cao Yi, Liu Ping, Xi Bingqing
Rewritten by: Wang Xuanqi
Edited by: Shen Le, Sylvia, Xi Bingqing