At present, there are five institutions of higher education that operate Confucius Institutes in Hungary, including the University of Debrecen (UD), Eötvös Loránd University, the University of Miskolc, the University of Pécs and the University of Szeged. Students majoring in a variety of different disciplines who also study Mandarin Chinese at these institutions participated in the competition held in Pécs on May 24.
China's Ambassador to Hungary, His Excellency Gong Tao, gave a welcome address at the opening ceremony of the competition, emphasizing that language is indeed a means of communication and a “bridge” for mutual understanding, hence the metaphoric name of the competition.
For quite a number of years, this event has provided an opportunity for young learners of the Chinese language to test their skills in various categories, including presentations of cultural history and artistic performances, in order to showcase their achievements in the course of their studies.
Students who came top three in the competition, including our bronze medalist Abigél Kota, a third-year student of UD majoring in German Studies, and special-prize winner János Szekeres, also a third-year student with a double major in German and Dutch Studies, were awarded valuable prizes and special gifts that will further assist them in their efforts to pursue Chinese language and culture studies.
This year’s event also provided an opportunity for the managements of the individual Confucius Institutes in Hungary to meet for consultation and an exchange of ideas.
Director Pál Csontos announced that the Confucius Institute of the Faculty of Humanities at UD would celebrate the fifth anniversary of its foundation in November this year, to which occasion he invited both the Hungarian and the Chinese directors of the five institutes.
Press Centre – BZs
