(From C.I. Reporter: Wang Fei) On May 10th, 2024, Confucius Institute at Yeditepe University successfully held the 3rd "Chinese Poetry Recitation Competition for Turkish University Students" and "Chinese Karaoke Competition for Turkish University Students", both Competitions were held in the morning and afternoon of the same day. The Competition, which aims to showcase the artistic talents and cultural understanding of Turkish Chinese learners and to cultivate and discover various talents in Chinese language learning in Turkey, has been held since 2022, and this Competition was the third and the first to be held offline. It took almost two months from the first announcement of the competition in early March to the end of May when the competition was basically completed.
Winners of the 3rd Turkish University Students' Chinese Poetry Recitation Competition
Winners of the 3rd Turkish University Students Karaoke Competition
On the morning of May 10, 2024, the opening ceremony of the final rounds of the two competitions was held in the Auditorium of Yeditepe University Administration Center Building. Consul General of China in Istanbul Mr. Wei Xiaodong, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Mr. Ahmet AYDIN and Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Mr. Fatma Yeşim EKİNCİ attended the opening ceremony and made speeches.
The two competitions received a great response from Turkish universities. More than 80 students, teachers and parents of students from six universities in Turkey, including Yeditepe University, Channel University, Middle East Technical University and Okan University, participated in the final round. There were 20 participants in the Chinese Poetry Recitation Competition and 19 participants in the Karaoke Competition. In the end, the Chinese Poetry Recitation Competition awarded 1 first prize, 2 second prizes, 3 third prizes and 5 honorable mentions. In the Chinese Karaoke Competition, 1 first prize, 2 second prizes, 3 third prizes and 5 honorable mentions were awarded.
In his speech, Vice Rector AYDIN expressed his warm congratulations to the finalists and said that Yeditepe University attaches great importance to the cultural exchange between China and Turkey and has always supported the organization of the competition, hoping that this competition will further promote the understanding of the people of China and Turkey about each other's cultures.
Wei Xiaodong, Consul General of China in Istanbul, said that Chinese people have been very fond of reciting and singing poems since the earliest collection of poems called "Shijing", and that both Tang and Song poems and modern Chinese poems express poets' love for life, glorify nature, and embody noble values. He encouraged the Turkish university students to savor the deep historical and cultural heritage of the Chinese language in the process of learning Chinese and reciting poetry, to understand China's past and present better, and to create a better future for the people of China and Turkey.
The ceremony was attended by Liu Songyan, Foreign Dean of Confucius Institute at Yeditepe University and Li Chun (Bahar Kılıç), Foreign Dean of Confucius Institute at Okan University. Hu Wei, Chinese Dean of Confucius Institute at Okan University, Li Weili, Turkish Deputy Dean of Confucius Institute at Yeditepe University, Fatma Ecem CEYLAN, Head of Chinese Department at Nevşehir University and other 8 people were the judges of the competition.
Wei Xiaodong, Consul General of China in Istanbul, said that Chinese people have been very fond of reciting and singing poems since the earliest collection of poems called "Shijing", and that both Tang and Song poems and modern Chinese poems express poets' love for life, glorify nature, and embody noble values. He encouraged the Turkish university students to savor the deep historical and cultural heritage of the Chinese language in the process of learning Chinese and reciting poetry, to better understand China's past and present, and to create a better future for the people of China and Turkey.
The ceremony was attended by Liu Songyan, Foreign Dean of Confucius Institute at Yeditepe University and Li Chun (Bahar Kılıç), Foreign Dean of Confucius Institute at Okan University. Hu Wei, Chinese Dean of Confucius Institute at Okan University, Li Weili, Turkish Deputy Dean of Confucius Institute at Yeditepe University, Fatma Ecem CEYLAN, Head of Chinese Department at Nevşehir University and other 8 people were the judges of the competition.
After a fierce competition, Emre Demir from Nevshehir University won the first place in the Poetry Recitation Competition with his poem “Wine will enter” by Li Bai, and Houda Chahbi from Middle East Technical University won the Karaoke Competition with her heartfelt “Ode to Loneliness”.
This year's two competitions were a breakthrough in terms of the scale of participation by universities, as well as the level of students and the quality of their works. The participating students and teachers expressed their gratitude to Confucius Institute at Yeditepe University for organizing the two events and spoke highly of the organization of the events. This year's two competitions provided a platform for Turkish university students to show themselves, exchange learning and understanding of Chinese culture, and demonstrated the results of cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between China and Turkey. Through these two events, the contact and exchange between Confucius Institutes and universities offering Chinese language programs have become closer and wider. It is believed that more Turkish students will join the ranks of Chinese language learning in the future and contribute to the cultural exchange between China and Turkey.
