At the National Qualification Competition in Chinese Language and Culture, which was held at the Faculty of Philology “Blaze Koneski” in Skopje, Anastasia Palašoski from Bitola, a student in the 7th grade at the elementary school “St. Cyril and Methodius” Bitola won the first place. With that, she gained the right to compete in the International Chinese Language Competition “Chinese Bridge” (“Chinese Bridge” 2024) in China among the best students studying Chinese language and culture from 149 countries in the world.
After the competition in Skopje, the award was given to the Ambassador of China in Macedonia, the director of the “Confucius” Institute from China, the director of the Institute in Skopje and the rector of the University “St. Cyril and Methodius” in Skopje.
Anastasia Palašoski studies Chinese language and culture as a course at school. These courses are organized by the Institute “Confucius” Skopje. It is an institution for spreading the Chinese language and culture around the world, founded by the State Office for the International Promotion of the Chinese Language.
We had the conversation while Anastasia was preparing for the international competition that will be held from October 21-25 in Beijing, China. She studies and prepares for the competition with her mentor, Professor Yulin Lin, who comes from Puer Univrsity China, but is now a professor of Chinese language and culture at the courses organized by the “Confucius” Institute – Skopje.
During the conversation, Anastasia introduced herself to us:
“I am Anastasia Palasoski, a student in the 7th grade at “St. Cyril and Methodius” OU Bitola. I like to study foreign languages. In addition to English, German, Asian languages are a big challenge for me. When Chinese language classes were organized in our school three years ago, a Chinese language teacher came and I enrolled among other students. Since then I have learned a lot, I have participated in many competitions. Last year I won 3rd place at the state level. This year, after passing the municipal and regional competition, winning the first places, I qualified for the National qualifying competition in Chinese language and culture, which was held on June 8 in Skopje. I won first place and qualified to compete in the International Chinese Language Competition which will be held in China at the end of October, where I will compete with the best from 149 countries.
For me, it is a great joy, pride, but also a responsibility. I am glad that after winning the first place I had the honor of being congratulated by the ambassador of China, says Anastasia Palashoski.”
About learning the Chinese language, Anastasia told us:
“When I started learning the characters, that’s what the letters are called in the Chinese language, which are like pictures, it was difficult for me. But then when I got into it more, I found it very interesting and now it’s much easier for me. About the competition “Chinese Bridge” 2024, the competition consists of several parts in which I introduce myself with a text. My name in Chinese is Tang Shi Ya. First I introduce myself and my country in Chinese with a short video. Then comes the performance with the song “Da yu” or in translation “The Big Fish”. Then the last part is participation in a quiz with questions in Chinese written language and answers with true and false.
Professor Yulin Lin from China said:
“Anastasia is a sweet girl, pleasant and very cultured. Those were my first impressions of her. As a student, she is very accomplished and serious. This is also how she approached the study of the Chinese language, which she loves very much. I teach Chinese language and culture at the Institute “Confucius” Skopje, now I lead classes in Chinese language and culture in Bitola. Before coming here I was a professor at Puer University in China. I also taught Chinese to foreigners. The Chinese language is different from other languages with its characters or letters that are like pictures, so it may seem difficult to everyone. But in fact it is not like that, because if you learn step by step, then you progress gradually and master and learn in an interesting way. If we analyze the language, it has pronunciation, words, grammar, letters… Some languages seem easy at first, but they aren’t. These are the prejudices that exist about the Chinese language, that it is very difficult. I can say that the people here are very friendly.”
About the “Confucius” Institute she told us:
“The “Confucius” Institute is an institution for spreading the Chinese language and culture around the world, founded by the State Office for the International Promotion of the Chinese Language. The first Confucius Institute was established in November 2004 in Seoul, South Korea. There are 54 Confucius Institutes and 153 Confucius classes in schools in the 149 countries involved in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to the headquarters. The institute works to promote Chinese culture and improve understanding between countries, and this institute has a major role in developing good cooperation between them. In this way, the Chinese language and culture is promoted for students who want to study it an active role for its promotion. Competitions are held and the best students go to the International Chinese Language Competition “Chinese Bridge” (“Chinese Bridge” 2024). The competition is held once a year globally for students of different ages divided into groups: elementary school, high school and higher education.”
During the competition, Anastasia Palashoski will send us information and photos from Beijing, China. We wish her success.
Zhaneta Ristevska