4th Annual Hawaii Chinese Dictation—October 28, 2018

[The University of Hawai’i at Mānoa closed its Confucius Institute effective May 31, 2019]

The 4th Annual Chinese Dictation Contest, co-sponsored by the CI-UHM and the Chinese Language Education Association of Hawai‘i (CLEAH), was held on Sunday, October 28, in the Shidler College of Business Administration on the Mānoa campus. There was a record high number of participants—117 middle and high school students—from the following eleven schools:

Asia Pacific International School
Hawaii Baptist Academy
`Iolani School
Kaiser High School
Kamehameha Schools
Kapalama School
La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls
Maryknoll School
Mun Lun School
Punahou School
St Francis School

Cash prizes were awarded through donations from Mr. Vernon Ching, President of the US-China People’s Friendship Association, and Ms. Yen Chun, Vice President of the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Foundation—Hawaii.

Masters of Ceremony were Zhai Zheng (Level 1) and Cyndy Ning (Levels 2 and 3), co-directors of the CI- UHM and president of CLEAH. The judges for the event were the following volunteers:

Bai Na, Asst Professor, Beijing Foreign Studies U/Confucius Institute
Yen Chun, Director & Exec Vice President, Dr. Sun Yat-sen Hawaii Foundation Cui Yaiyuan, Director & Assc Professor, IT & Data Center, Peking U Library Ding Yi, Reporter, Xinhua News Agency
Monique Huang, Principal, Mandarin Academy
Jiang Xingguang, Editor, China Daily
Jiang Wenyan, Professor, Beijing Foreign Studies U/Confucius Institute Kuang-tien Yao, China librarian (retired), UHM
Wang Jue, Second Language Studies student, UHM
Wang Wenli, Assc Professor, Beijing Foreign Studies U
Zhang Dingquan, Assc Dean, Beijing Normal U
Zhang Xiaomin, Reporter, China Daily
Zhuang Yi, Asst Professor, Beijing Foreign Studies U/Confucius Institute

The competition was divided into individual and team events.

Individuals competed at three levels—1, 2 and 3—based on the difficulty level of the vocabulary tested. Students wrote the characters indicated in either traditional or simplified characters, and responses were judged acceptable or unacceptable by a team of judges. Contenders providing incorrect responses were eliminated, until only three winners at each level remained. These were:

Level 1
1st Prize —Nikka Ma, Mun Lun School
2nd Prize —Madeline Yangrui Hodge, Punahou School
3rd Prize —Andrey Xie, Mun Lun School

Level 2
1st Prize —Grace Fu Yuan Grange, La Pietra School
2nd Prize —Nikki Ma, Mun Lun School
3rd Prize —Josephine Lau, Mun Lun School

Level 3
1st Prize —Rachel Huang, Mun Lun School
2nd Prize —Jessica Huang, Mun Lun School
3rd Prize —Ariel Enyu Ma, ‘Iolani School

The team competition was organized by school, with each team consisting of five players. The teams had 25 seconds to respond, and each correct response accrued a point. Finally, after resolution of a controversial call, Kaiser High School and Punahou School tied for first place, and Iolani School took third place.

The teachers were enthusiastic and supportive, the students were bright-eyed and energized, and the organizers ran the event smoothly and on time. Congratulations to all participants, winners, organizers and volunteers, and thank you to all teachers and parents!