Whanganui High School

High School’s Lulu Dufty (Year 10) wins the ‘Chinese Bridge’ regional competition

Lulu Dufty, a student at Whanganui High School, won the Wellington regional Chinese Language competition ‘Chinese Bridge’ junior category with her teacher, Beck Ding also receiving the ‘Best Mentor Award.’

The ‘Bridge’ refers to the cultural and language links between New Zealand and China and this is the theme for the competition, which now has run for 17 years. Beck explains, “There were three parts to the competition this year – the main speech for three minutes and second section of two minutes where you show off a Chinese type challenge – Lulu did a piece of Chinese calligraphy and a third where the contestants are asked questions in Chinese. This is challenging.”

Lulu started her speech with a ‘pepeha’ (her connection with people and places) and then talked about the flags of New Zealand and China.

Lulu’s fluency in Chinese was helped by spending five years in a bilingual school in Shanghai from age 6 to 11, when her parents taught there. She had also attended the competitions when at St Annes in years 7 and 8 and also last year, when she was in year 9 at Whanganui High School.

As Beck says, “She has been improving her results each time. Last year, she was second.”

It was a nervous time for both as the results were announced on the day. Beck says, “There was a boy from Wellington, and I thought it was going to be close, but Lulu won.”

Next year, Lulu will be in the Senior division (there is also a tertiary section), and with a change in policy, the winner will get the prize of a trip to China to compete with other winners from throughout the world. However, once you have won it, you can’t enter the competition again.

High School is developing a good reputation in the competition with Reina Jones winning the senior section when in year 12.

10/6/24