实战比赛勇攀汉语高峰Learning: Making Progress Through Competitions

我叫陆娴虹，参加汉语比赛的时候大家都叫我“彩虹姑娘”。 为了挑战自己，我报名参加了“汉语桥”印尼的全国大学生汉语比赛。虽然我的比赛经验并不丰富，但是在孔子学院老师的帮助下，我奇迹般地闯入了全国总决赛，代表哈山努丁大学孔子学院展示自己的风采。我在汉语老师的帮助下努力学习汉语和中国文化，每天都在练习汉语朗诵技巧，同时也在老师的帮助下练习各种中华才艺，如太极、剪纸、中国民歌、中国舞蹈等等。

My Chinese name is Lu Xianhong（陆娴虹）， andeveryone calls me “the rainbow girl” in Chinese languagecompetitions. To challenge myself， I registered forthe “Chinese Bridge” university-level competition inIndonesia. Though I had only little experience， I wasable to advance to the national finals， representing theConfucius Institute at Hasanuddin University with theguidance of my dedicated teachers from the institute.With their continuous support， I learned the languageand the culture and made progress on a daily basis.Apart from enhancing my recitation skills， I alsopracticed various traditional Chinese arts， includingTai Chi， paper-cutting， Chinese folk songs， andChinese dance.

后来，在老师和朋友的鼓励下，我再次选择挑战自己。这一次，我报名参加了江西省外国留学生汉语大赛，和整个江西省的国际留學生同台竞技。为了比赛，我特意学习了一支中国舞《梅花泪》。这是一首唯美伤感的离别之曲，充满了温婉的愁思。这是我第一次这么认真地学习中国舞蹈，从中我体会到了很多中国人独有的情思和中国式的细腻情感。遗憾的是，强中更有强中手，最终我还是止步复赛。虽然两场比赛我都没进入决赛，但是收获却多得不得了。

Later on， encouraged by my teachers and friends， Idecided to push myself further. This time， I signed up forthe Jiangxi Province Chinese Language Competition forInternational Students， competing against internationalstudents from across the province. In preparation forthe competition， I learned a Chinese dance namedPlum Blossom Tears， a beautiful， melancholic song thattells the gentle sorrow of parting. It was the first time Ihad put so much effort into learning a Chinese dance，and through it， I gained a deeper understanding of thedelicate emotions and sentiments that are uniquelyinherent in the Chinese culture. But since there wereso many excellent competitors， I didnt make it to thefinals. Nonetheless， the experience was incrediblyrewarding in itself.

通过参加汉语比赛，我学到了更多的汉语知识和中国文化。我由衷地觉得汉语真的很有意思，自己的汉语水平进步了很多。汉字很独特，文化很有趣。通过比赛，我也交了很多新朋友，不仅有中国朋友，还有很多和我一样来学习汉语的国际朋友。我的老师说，“没有压力，就没有动力”。确实是这样，如果没有参加比赛的契机，我想我未必能有动力去挑战和提高自己。

Participating in Chinese language competitionshas allowed me to learn more about the language andculture. I find Chinese to be a fascinating subject： thecharacters are unique， and the culture is vibrant. Mylanguage proficiency has improved， too. Besides， I havemade new friends with both Chinese and internationalstudents who share the same passion for learningMandarin.

As one of my teachers once said， “Pressure stimulatesmotivation.” I have come to realize the truth ofthese words. Were it not for the pressure provided bythe competition， I might not have had the motivationto challenge myself to reach new heights in my journeyof learning Chinese.