Programof the 4thChinese Bridge－－Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students

I. Purposes

The purpose of the competition is to further promote China’s influence over the teaching of Chinese language in the world on the basis of successes of previous events, to fully demonstrate the splendor of natural scenery and historical sights of the Chinese land, to motivate young foreign students’ enthusiasm for studying Chinese language, and to increase their understanding of the Chinese language and culture.

II. Name of the Competition

Chinese name: 第四届“汉语桥”世界大学生中文比赛

English name: The 4thChinese Bridge－－Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students

III.Theme

Chinese: 山川秀丽的中国

English: China, a land of Spectacular Beauty

IV.The Sponsor and Organizer

Sponsor: The State Leading Group for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language

Organizer: China National Office for Teaching Chinese as aForeign Language (NOCFL).

V.The Organizing Body

The sponsor will establish an Organizing Committee for the “ChineseBridge”–Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students. An Executive Committee of the Organizing Committee will be set up and put under the supervision of the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL).

VI.Participants (46 countries, 63Chineseembassies and consulate-generals)

  1. Asia (16 countries): the Republic of Korea, Japan (Tokyo, Osaka Fukuoka, Sapporo), Singapore, Mongolia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City), Myanmar, Cambodia, India,Kazakhstan，Pakistan,KyrgyzstanandUzbekistan.
  2. America (4 countries): the United States (WashingtonDC, New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco), Canada (Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto), Mexicoand Argentine.
  3. Europe (20countries): Germany(Berlin, Munich), France, the United Kingdom(London, Manchester), Italy, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Russia (Moscow,St.Petersburg,Khabarovsk), Switzerland, Belarus, Netherlands, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Austria，Hungary, Greece and Latvia.
  4. Oceania(2 countries): Australia (Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne), and New Zealand.
  5. Africa (4 countries): Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa and Cameroon.

VII. Eligible participants

Eligible participantshave to be: undergraduate or postgraduate Students from foreign universities, under 30 years of age, either non-Chinese or children of overseas Chinese/overseas Chinese students, who were born and brought up outside China and whose first language is not Chinese.

VIII.Content and form of the Competition

  1. Content:

(1)Chinese language skills.

(2) Knowledge about China (The test questions and their answers will be posted on NOCFL’s website — Reference can be found on five most popular Chinese websites: ).

(3)Chinese culture skills (e.g. Chinese songs, dances, operas, musical instruments, calligraphy, painting, paper cutting and martial arts).

  1. Forms:

The competition falls into preliminaryand final rounds.

The preliminaries will be held outside China, conducted jointly by the education/culture offices of the Chinese embassies or consulate-generals, local universities, and Chinese language teachers sent by the Chinese government. The number of contestants and the form of contest isto be decided by the organizersof the preliminary.

After the preliminaries, each organizer will recommend top one or two winners to the Organizing Committee. The organizing Committee will select 100 contestants to compete in China (not all the recommended contestants will come to the final). Expenses for round trip international air tickets to China, hotel accommodations, meals, domestic travelingin Chinafor the invited contestantswill be borne by NOCFL.

The final will be held in Beijing and the form of the final is to be decided by the Organizing Committee. Contestants will draw lots to decide the order of appearance. Each contestant has about 10 minutes to finish:

(1)Prepared speech on topic of one’s own choice (3 minutes)

(2)Extemporaneous speech (2 minutes)

(3)Extemporaneous questions and answers session (2 minutes)

(4)Talent Performance (3 minutes)

IX.Time

The competition will fall into three stages:

The first stage: March 15 to May30, the preliminaries will be held outside China.

The second stage: June 1 to June 10, contestants to compete in Chinawill be decided.

The third stage: July 11 to July 21, the final

X. Prizes, award criteria, and awards

  1. Prizes:

(1)There will be three first prizes, five second prizes and seven third prizes.

(2)Best Presentation Skill Award, Best Scholarship Award, Best Performance Award, Best Charisma Award.

(3)There will be several honorable-mention awards.

  1. Award criteria:

The Organizing Committee will select the first, second and the third prize winners in accordance with the contestants’ overall performance and scores in the final. All participants in the final will receive honorable-mention awards.

  1. Awards:

First-prize winners will receive a full scholarship to study for a degree program in China (the scholarship will be valid for three years from 2006 on); round trip air ticket to China; and the title “Chinese LanguageEnvoy”.

Second-prize winners will receive a scholarship for a 4-6 week study program in China during summer vacation time in 2006with round trip air ticket.

Third-prize winners will receive a scholarship for a 15-day China Culture Tour during summer vacation time in 2006with round trip air ticket.

Best Presentation Skill Award, Best Scholarship Award, Best Charisma Award and Best Performance Award winners will receive prizes accordingly.

Honorable-mention winners will receive prizes accordingly.

All contestants in the final will receive certificates for participation.

X. Judgment

For preliminaries, the organizers will choose their own panel of judges. For the final round, the sponsor will invite language, cultural experts and artists to form a panel to make on-the-spot judgments of the contestants’ performance.