Students compete to prove their Chinese skills.
On Friday, February 17, the South Asian Student Association hosted a friendly Chinese language competition. There were three levels of competition: novice, intermediate, and advanced, as well as a singing category. Students with any skill in speaking (or singing) Chinese could compete at whatever level they felt comfortable at.
The novice category competitors were each given a simple poem to read and were judged on their clarity and accuracy, among other things. The intermediate category competitors had to describe a life experience, and their judging involved the competitor’s vocabulary and ease of creating accurate sentences. The advanced category competitors were given a topic for discussion (which is better: the process or the result?), and competitors had to generate a nuanced argument for their position in Chinese.
Next came the singing competition. Students sang music from every genre, with some competitors opting for reverent hymns and others breaking out the girl band. The audience ate up the love songs, slow songs, a cappella, and K-pop with delight, even raising their phones in solidarity to a few of the songs. Winners were announced and the prizes all felt appropriate for the evening: boba gift cards, fiberglass chopsticks, rice cookers, and even a wok for first place. A list of the evening’s winners is provided below.
Check out the South Asian Student Association’s Instagram @southasia21 to stay up to date on their upcoming activities, which are sure to be fun!
Winner By Category
Advanced
1. Brendan Bakker, Alex Keogh
2. Caleb Lindgren, Nathaniel Driggs
3. Ashley Breinholt, Jiaxin Haslam, Anna Hutchinson
Intermediate
1. Fiona Bates
2. Allison Oler, Austin Joling
3. Jori Hall, Marcus Tay, Abby Smiley
Novice
1. Justin Kilpack
2. Alberto Morales
3. Emerson Chatwin
Singing
1. Mayah Sevy, Ashely Breinholt, Eliza Bingham, and Trisha Teeples
2. Alex Keogh, Lydia Burton
3. Alora Miller, Ryan Wood, Caleb Lindgren