XXIII Chinese Bridge Global Contest 2024

 

XXIII Chinese Bridge Global Contest 2024

 

Main Objective

 

In order to promote the teaching of Mandarin and foster interest in Chinese culture among the student population of the Confucius Institute at the University of Costa Rica (IC-UCR) and students nationwide, the IC-UCR and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Costa Rica jointly organize the XXII Chinese Bridge Global Contest in its categories: University Chinese Bridge and Dragon Boat. Each participant must read the requirements for each category and can only participate in one.

 

Registration to attend on June 16:

https://forms.gle/jTwzpPXwApYnXVvS8

 

University Chinese Bridge Category:

 

Participation Requirements:

 

Students from a university recognized by the National Council of Private Higher Education (CONESUP), as an agency attached to the Ministry of Public Education responsible for regulating and overseeing private universities, and the National Council of Rectors (CONARE), regulating aspects of coordination for the joint exercise of public university autonomy in various fields, can register for the competition. Ages should be between 18 and 30 during 2023. Must hold Costa Rican nationality. Mandarin is not their mother tongue.

 

Contest Form and Content: Participants must submit two videos, one for each part of the contest. Technical specifications for the video will be detailed later:

 

Speech (2 minutes): For this part, you must prepare a speech in Chinese on the theme: "One world, one family." The jury will evaluate the pronunciation, intonation, fluency of each applicant, as well as the content and quality of the speech.

 

Presentation of Chinese cultural arts (3 minutes): For this part, you must create a video in which you clearly explain how you will give a presentation showcasing some aspect of Chinese culture. In other words, in this video, you ONLY NEED TO CLEARLY EXPLAIN WHAT YOU WILL DO as a cultural presentation. The jury will evaluate the chosen theme, difficulty, and how you plan to execute your performance. Please note that the final will be in person, and the presentation cannot exceed 3 minutes. If you need assistance with technical details or support from IC-UCR, please write to cultura.confucio@ucr.ac.cr in advance.

 

Important: The jury will evaluate both videos as a single participation for classification in the final. Therefore, the jury will focus mainly on the potential and clarity of your application.

 

Dragon Boat Category:

 

Participation Requirements:

 

Must be at least 18 years old. Should not have Chinese nationality. Must not have Mandarin as their mother tongue. Must be domiciled in Costa Rica during the contest process (applies to both Costa Rican and other nationality participants).

 

Contest Form and Content: The participant must choose only one of the following dynamics to participate and submit a video. Technical specifications for the video will be detailed later:

 

Speech (maximum 2 minutes): For this dynamic, you must prepare a speech in Chinese on the theme: "Who am I?" The jury will evaluate the pronunciation, intonation, fluency of the applicant, as well as the content and quality of the speech. In this dynamic, the jury will not consider video editing tools, only the participant's performance in the aspects mentioned earlier.

 

Presentation of Chinese cultural arts (maximum 3 minutes): For this part, you must create a video in which you clearly explain how you will give a presentation showcasing some aspect of Chinese culture. In other words, in this video, you ONLY NEED TO CLEARLY EXPLAIN WHAT YOU WILL DO as a cultural presentation. The jury will evaluate the chosen theme, difficulty, and how you plan to execute your performance.

 

Please note that the final will be virtual; therefore, while in this first video, the jury will focus on the potential and clarity of your application, for the final, your cultural presentation must not exceed 3 minutes, and video editing tools will be considered as long as they are in line with the aforementioned criteria. If you need assistance with technical details or support from IC-UCR, please write to cultura.confucio@ucr.ac.cr in advance.

 

Contest Registration:

 

REGISTRATION: Through the form: https://forms.gle/CK9kByUoDWRUCVx19

SEND: Send to cultura.confucio@ucr.ac.cr

Puente chino: Scanned ID and enrollment report from your university.

Dragon Boat: Scanned ID.

 

REGISTRATION PERIOD: From Monday, February 6, to Tuesday, February 28.

PRE-SELECTION CELEBRATION: The jury will evaluate the received videos on March 1.

 

About the Finalists and Winners:

 

After the pre-selection, the IC-UCR will recommend individuals to participate in the local final to be held on Friday, June 16, from 9 am to 12 pm at the UCR Main Hall. Details for this date will be informed in due course.

 

The winner of the first place in the University Chinese Bridge category will participate in the "Chinese Bridge 2023" International Contest, which will take place in China in a face-to-face format in September (date and city to be confirmed). Also, the CLEC will inform the winner in due course of additional prizes for winning the local or international final.

 

Winners of the first place in the University Chinese Bridge category and Dragon Boat category (speech and cultural activity) will receive a 100% scholarship to continue Mandarin courses at IC-UCR until they complete all levels, i.e., AV5. Courses must be continuously enrolled to retain the awarded scholarship.

 

The winner of the second place in the University Chinese Bridge category will win a trip to attend the International Chinese Bridge Final. Details and requirements for the trip will be communicated in due course.

 

Winners of the second place in the University Chinese Bridge category and Dragon Boat category (speech and cultural activity) will receive a 100% scholarship to apply in the next Mandarin enrollment at IC-UCR.

 

For the remaining places in each category, a 50% scholarship will be awarded to apply in the next Mandarin enrollment at IC-UCR.

 

For Chinese Bridge 2023, there will also be a winner chosen by the number of votes on social media, who will receive a prize courtesy of Costa Rica Nihao! A registered trademark of IC-UCR. Those who qualify for the final will be notified well in advance of the guidelines for this vote.

 

The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Costa Rica and IC-UCR will offer surprise prizes to contestants who qualify for the final.

 

Technical Specifications for Videos:

Regardless of the participation category, each video sent must have the following characteristics:

 

-At the beginning of the video, you must say your full name, the video you are sending, and the participation category in Spanish. For example: Kattia Barrientos, cultural activity, Dragon Boat category.

-Videos must be recorded horizontally.

-The video can be in mobile video format (i.e., taken directly with your phone), mp4, wmv, or avi.

 

If the email system does not allow you to send the video attachment, you must send it through the WeTransfer platform to cultura.confucio@ucr.ac.cr.

 

Remember that for speech videos, the maximum duration is 2 minutes, while for cultural activity videos, the explanation should not exceed 3 minutes. It is emphasized that this latter video is only an explanation of what you will do, but for the final, your cultural presentation cannot exceed 3 minutes either.