Confucius Institute hosts reception to celebrate mid-autumn festival |16 September 2019

Ms Wang addressing the gathering

• Young Seychellois recounts China experience

The Confucius Institute of the University of Seychelles (UniSey) organised a special get-together reception on Friday to mark the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most celebrated festivals in Asia.

The festival is traditionally held on the day of a full moon in the fall, which this year fell on September 13, and involves family reunions, admiring the moon and gifting one another with mooncakes – a flaky pastry filled with a thick paste.

Present at the reception were the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Development at UniSey Joelle Perreau, Chinese staff of the Confucius Institute, staff from the department of culture and students that are following Chinese (Mandarin) courses through the Confucius Institute.

Aside from celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, the reception was also an opportunity for 18-year-old Julio Charles to share his recent experience participating in the ‘Chinese Bridge’ Chinese Proficiency Competition in July and August this year.

Although the competition is held yearly, it was the first time that Seychelles was represented.

Julio, who has been learning Chinese (Mandarin) since June 2018, unfortunately was not placed in the top thirty but described his experience of Chinese culture as an enriching one nonetheless.

“The competition brings together students who are learning Chinese all over the world in order to show their proficiency in the language and their talents,” Julio explained.

“It takes a lot to reach the top 30, some of my competitors were more advanced in the language than I was so I did not place,” he remarked.

The competition comprised various tests in the likes of quizzes, written as well as oral tests.

“The Chinese exam was among the tests which I really needed to study very hard to be able to attempt. My level compared to other participants’ was much lower because I only knew how to speak a little bit of Chinese and certain characters. So I was really motivated to learn new things.”

But, much more than being just a competition for Julio, his recent experience in China was also an opportunity to make new friends from across the globe.

Above all else, Julio is proud to have brought a taste of the Seychellois Creole culture to China.

Director of the Confucius Institute, Wang Dongxia, explained that the Institute invited Julio to share his experiences during the reception in hopes that this will inspire the other students of the Institute to strive further in their studies.