At the recently concluded international student recitation and speech competition at SISU, Emmanuella Oluchi Ogbonna from Nigeria (Chinese name: Li Jiawei) was awarded the first prize in the speech category. On the stage, she shared her journey of learning Chinese.
In August 2019, Emmanuella enrolled in a Chinese language course at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University’s Confucius Institute in Nigeria. By 2021, she had passed HSK levels 4 and 5, as well as the HSKK intermediate test. In September of the same year, she participated in the 14th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students, winning first prize and securing an opportunity to study abroad in China. Encouraged by her teachers, she chose to apply to SISU to further study Chinese.
Emmanuella developed an interest in the Chinese language while still young, having a passion for watching Chinese kung fu movies. Later, she grew fond of listening to the songs by Zhou Shen, a popular Chinese singer. She even performed one of the artist’s songs Dala Bong Ba during the speech contest.
Regarding her experiences learning Chinese, Emmanuella has personal insights. When in Nigeria, she would record the contents in Chinese and send it to her teacher for correction, then practice it herself over a dozen times. After arriving in Shanghai, she made Chinese friends to practice her spoken Chinese. She also mentioned that she spends at least 3 to 4 hours studying every day.
Source: “Study_in_SISU ” WeChat account
