Ghanaian students urged to study Chinese

Edward Joseph Yawson from the University of Ghana (UG) emerged overall winner in the 16th Chinese Bridge Preliminary Competition held in Accra last Friday.

He received a return ticket to participate in the final of the competition in China and also awarded with a six-month scholarship at the Confucius Institute at the University of Ghana.

Yawson was one of the 10 students drawn from the Confucius Institute at UG, University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) for the national competition.

Participants went through series of tests, including Chinese and Ghanaian talent shows, oral recitation in Chinese as well as answering spontaneous questions in the Chinese language.

Speaking in an interview with The Finder, Master Yawson described his win as a battle well fought. He said the competition was keenly contested and thanked God for seeing him through.

He assured Ghanaians that he would do everything possible to perform well at the finals in China, adding that his target is to make it to the first three since his predecessors have been there before.

He also called for support in his preparations towards the final and also thanked the Chinese Embassy and the Confucius Institute for the initiative for Ghanaian youth to exhibit their talents.

Prizes were also given to students, who excelled in various categories; a special motivational prize was awarded to three participants - Shevannon Sophie Ansah, Rebecca AmaKpodo and James Annan. Each person received a Samsung Galaxy J2.

Victor Josiah Annan also won the popularity vote and was presented with an Adidas footwear.

The third place prize was presented jointly to Samuel Okoe-Mensah, Victor Josiah Annan and Michael Ofori Ayeh. Each person received a Huawei Mate 8. Nathan Ankrah and Constancia Etornam Fiati placed second and received an ipad each.

Benjamin Hayfron-Walker also came close to finishing first and received a return ticket to China to witness the final of the competition.

The competition was sponsored by Confucius Institute headquarters in Haban, China, with support from the Chinese Embassy in Ghana, Ghana Association of Chinese Societies, Ghana-China Chamber of Commerce, Chinese Traders Association, Ghana-China Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce, Guangxi China Association of China, Ghana China News and Interafrica Logistics.