(Picture caption: Wellington Year 11 student Telesia Tanoa’i has been named the top Chinese language student in Oceania and one of the top five Chinese learners in the world at the Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition.)
Telesia Tanoa’i, a Year 11 student from Wellington’s Samuel Marsden Collegiate has been named the top Chinese language student in Oceania and one of the top five Chinese learners in the world.
An international competition for non-Chinese students to demonstrate their knowledge of Chinese language and culture, the Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition attracted 45,000 secondary school students who competed in preliminary contests across the globe.
After winning the Lower North Island competition run by the Confucius Institute at Victoria University of Wellington, Telesia, accompanied by her Chinese teacher Jing Ying Liu Herrington and three other regional winners from New Zealand travelled to China for the global competition.
They joined 110 representatives from 97 countries in Beijing and Yunnan province during October 16-31.
Contestants faced a multi-round elimination system, with competitions in academic knowledge, speech, and talent.
After several rounds of competition, Telesia claimed the title of Continental Champion for Oceania, alongside Continent Champions for Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe.
All five winners have received scholarships to study at a university in China.
Telesia, who is also a Youth Ambassador for New Zealand Chinese Language Week, started learning Mandarin Chinese from a young age thanks to the influence of her mother, a former New Zealand diplomat who speaks multiple languages.
In addition to Mandarin, Telesia is also learning Gagana Samoa, Te Reo Māori, and French.
She says she is grateful to her parents, who see the value in language lessons and travel.
“A huge motivation for learning Chinese is that some of my best friends are Chinese Kiwis and Chinese international students,” Telesia says.
“I love learning from them and sharing my Samoan culture with them too.”
Another incentive is being able to talk about issues affecting Pacific peoples, such as climate change, with a global audience.
A Chinese speech Telesia shared on this topic has been viewed 150,000 times on TikTok.
Telesia hopes her success in the competition will encourage others to learn Chinese and open a world of opportunities and international experiences.
“The competition was intense, but my faith kept me going,” she says.
“I knew my family, my community, and my ancestors were with me.
“It was an honour to represent Aotearoa and the Pacific region on that stage.”