A couple of months ago, the only Mandarin word Catherine Gallot knew was the greeting, nĭ hăo. Now the 10-year-old is heading to China after winning a speech competition in the language.
The Henley School student even mastered a complicated Mandarin tongue twister featuring similar-sounding words distinguished by different tones. She delivered the memorised speech, more than two minutes long, in front of a panel of judges and a large audience in Christchurch.
Catherine was selected as one of four primary and intermediate students from Nelson Tasman to compete in the South Island final of the Chinese Bridge Mandarin competition. The long-running competition is aimed at students learning Mandarin as a second language, promoting Chinese language and cross-cultural understanding.
After just two months of dedicated study and practice, Catherine’s Mandarin had progressed from that single greeting to a speech that won the grand prize in the primary category, while her traditional dance routine earned the award for the best talent performance.
Now, she is preparing for an all-expenses paid trip to China later this year with her mother, Sam, where she will answer questions from a judging panel in Mandarin.
“It will be an amazing experience. I’ve always loved trying different food and been interested in learning about other cultures and languages. I always thought it would be an amazing experience to learn it and go to China.
“I’m really excited and just proud of what I’ve achieved so far.”
Mandarin is an elective subject at the schoo,l which Catherine was keen to learn, but admits it was difficult at the beginning.
“It was quite challenging at first, but I kind of have the hang of it now. Especially with the tones – you can put a tone on an ‘a’ and it can sound completely different.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without my tutor Han Liu.”
Catherine is one of five children in her family and Sam says learning Mandarin “sparked something in her”.
“She just learnt and learnt and learnt. She learnt her speech by heart and had perfected her pronunciation. Han Liu is the star in all of this.”
In China, Catherine will join other young Mandarin students from around the world and Sam says that it shows what can be achieved when given the opportunity and support to pursue one’s passions.
