Delayed by the four-month-long Covid-19 lockdown since August 2021, the Collection of Winning Essays from the 15th New Zealand Chinese Essay Competition has been published recently.

The Confucius Institute in Auckland has been organizing the Chinese essay competition for fifteen years. During the period, thousands of Chinese learners in New Zealand schools and universities have shown their talents in writing essays in Chinese, which were all recorded in the essay booklets published annually. The competition offers an opportunity for learners to extend their language skills from oral to written expression.

The Chinese Essay Competition has been privileged supported by the Chinese Ambassadors to New Zealand since the very beginning. The Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand, H.E. Wang Xiaolong kindly wrote the preface to congratulate the achievements of the winners.

This year’s essay competition also received sponsorship from the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ).

近日，由奥克兰孔子学院主办并编印的《第十五届新西兰中文写作比赛优秀作文选》正式出版，王小龙大使为该书题写了序言，勉励新西兰青年学生“继续学习和了解中国的语言和文化，书写两国青年友好交往的新篇章，为增进两国和两国人民的友谊作出贡献。”

今年正值中国与新西兰建交50周年，王大使也借此机会寄语新西兰年轻一代，希望他们能够发扬“不畏浮云遮望眼”的精神，不仅要在中文学习中不怕困难、努力前行，也要成为深耕厚植中新两国关系和两国人民之间友谊的新生力量。同时，大使也向他们发出邀请，欢迎更多的新西兰朋友在疫情过后访问中国，“实地体验中国的语言、美食和文化，零距离感受五千年传统文化与现代化发展的多彩碰撞。”

新西兰中文写作比赛由奥克兰孔子学院主办，于2007年举办首届，至今已历十五年，成为新西兰中文教育的一个重要品牌，深受广大学生和老师的欢迎。比赛长期得到了历任中国驻新西兰大使支持。2007年张援远大使亲自将优胜奖定名为“中国大使杯”，此后张利民、徐建国、王鲁彤、吴玺等大使均热心支持，为作文选撰写序言或题词、出席颁奖仪式等。

本届比赛共收到来自新西兰全国各地的近百篇参赛作文，数量较疫情之前不减反增。经过评审，来自奥克兰Sacred Heart College的13年级学生Peter O’Sullivan 获得了“大使杯”优秀作文奖。

此外，本届比赛再次得到了新西兰银行（BNZ）的赞助和支持。

– Colden Sapir from ACG Parnell College

While the finer details of Chinese grammar proved challenging, invaluable support from Mr Cui helped Colden shape his final essay submission into an award-winning masterpiece.

“Mr Cui’s assistance is the only reason that the essay was able to be developed into something that preserved my ideas while also reading comfortably and fluidly in Chinese. I am immensely grateful for his willingness not just to correct my Chinese but to maintain my personal voice in my writing.”

Since starting at ACG Parnell College two years ago, Colden’s Chinese language capabilities have gone from strength to strength.

“My relatively exponential growth in Chinese language skills have all been centred around Mr Cui and he has presented me with many opportunities to test and develop my skills.”

While competitions have provided plenty of motivation (Colden also placed fourth in the junior division of the 2020 Chinese Bridge National Speech Competition), Colden’s top priority is just to keep studying and expanding his understanding of the Chinese language.

“I hope that, not too far in the future, I will be able to gain the capability and the confidence to more fluently and frequently speak and text with my friends using Chinese.”