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Beijing and I
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With China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, more and more foreigners are coming to Beijing to work, study, and live. Most of them have deep feelings for Beijing and many special memories there as well. So it is understandable that these lovers of Beijing share a common desire -- to use the Chinese they have studied to record and share their Beijing stories. It just so happened that “Beijing and I,” a writing and speaking competition designed especially for foreigners, gave them the perfect opportunity to do so.
“Beijing and I” writings and speech competition was divided into two stages. The first stage covered the writing competition. In this two month, the organizing committee received more than 400 articles. We selected the 13 competitors to come to Beijing to join the speech competition.
The day before the competition, the organizing committee arranged for all the participants to go on a Beijing Hutong tour. After the participants had heard the history of Beijing’s Hutong from their tour guide, they all went to the house of a Hutong resident. Even though the participants came from many different countries, they were able to communicate with each other by speaking Chinese.
Having spent the previous day sightseeing together, the competitors had got to know each other. Even though the competition was about to begin, nobody looked very nervous. Many of the participants had visited Beijing numerous times before, and as a result they felt very close to the city.
I have been in China for seven years. In these seven years I’ve studied so many things, especially traditional things like Chinese cross talk.
Everything is totally different. Hudong ran gone. There is new highway, new subway lines, and new structures everywhere.
I like Beijing. I have a lot of friends from many different countries since I came to Beijing Language and Culture University.
The competition is very fierce. All the participants manage to show off their Chinese skills to the best of their abilities. Some of them recite tongue twisters and ancient Chinese poetry while others describe their impressions of China with very vivid and descriptive language.
Reading thousands of books, walking thousands of miles.
This country is called China. These wooden sticks are called chopsticks. This wall is called the Great Wall. This teapot is called chinaware and this beautiful city is called Beijing.
Ashley is currently an English teacher at the Beijing Language and Culture University. One of her reasons for joining today’s competition is to be a role model for her students. Using her experience of studying Chinese as a motivation, she hopes to encourage her students to study English.
I tell my students time and time again that they cannot speak any Chinese in the classroom. No matter what happens, they have to speak English at all times, even if the classroom catches fire!
Rui Xiaolan is an American graduate student. Currently, she is writing her master’s thesis at Beijing Broadcasting University. She chose to learn Chinese because of her father. Subsequently, because she is learning Chinese, she and Beijing have developed a deep affection for each other. Her biggest wish is to be able to work in Beijing in the future.
My father’s suggestion for me to major in Chinese came as a real surprise because no one in our family speaks it. However, I could tell from the look in his eyes that he could see something in the future that I could not see at the time. For people of his generation, learning European languages was very important. For people of my generation, learning to speak Chinese is more important.
I think that all of us have a lot of very interesting stories to tell. But not all people really get to hear about them. This particular competition gives us a chance to talk about those experiences, those people important to us, and things that happen to us here.
This competition has been a community-building experience for the foreigners that live in Beijing. They were able to communicate with each other and tell stories in Chinese of their special experiences here. This experience and their personal stories will forever be embedded in their hearts.
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我与北京
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随着中国加入世界贸易组织， 到北京工作、 学习、 生活的外国人越来越多。 他们中的很多人对北京都有着深厚的感情和特殊的记忆， 他们都有一个共同的愿望， 就是能用所学的汉语倾诉一下自己与北京的故事。 “我与北京”外国人征文、 演讲比赛恰好为他们提供了一个很好的舞台。
“我和北京”征文、 演讲比赛分为两个阶段。 第一个阶段是征文比赛。 这两个月来组委会收到了400多篇文章， 我们从这些文章中选出了13个选手来北京参加演讲比赛。
比赛之前， 组委会专门为选手们安排了北京胡同游。 听了导游给大家讲解了胡同的文化之后， 大家来到了胡同里的一户人家做客。 虽然来自不同的国家， 但是每个人都可以用汉语进行交谈。
经过前一天的游玩之后， 选手们互相都已经认识了。 虽然比赛马上就要开始了， 大家看上去都不是很紧张。 他们很多人是多次来到北京， 因此对北京都有很深的感情。
我已经在中国生活七年了。 在这七年里我学到了很多东西, 尤其是具有中国传统特色的东西, 如中国相声。
好多事情都发生了变化。 有些胡同没了， 建起了许多新的高速公路， 还有新的地铁线路， 到处都建起了新的建筑物。
我很喜欢北京。 自从来到了北京语言文化大学， 我认识了许多不同国家的朋友。
比赛的现场非常热烈， 选手们把自己所学的汉语都发挥了出来。 他们有的说绕口令， 有的背古诗， 有的用很生动的语言描述了对中国的印象。
读万卷书, 行万里路。
这个国家叫做中国， 这个木棍叫做筷子， 这座墙叫做长城， 这个茶壶叫做瓷器， 而这个美丽的城市叫做北京。
艾希里现在是北京语言文化大学的英语教师。 她今天参加这次比赛的其中一个原因就是想给她的学生做个榜样， 以她学汉语的经历为例， 鼓励她的学生把英语学好。
一而再， 再而三要求在课堂上一点汉语也不要说， 不管发生什么事都要说英语， 即使着火了他们还要用英语说。
芮晓兰， 来自美国的研究生， 现在在北京广播学院做硕士论文。 由于她的父亲， 她选择了学习汉语。 又由于学习汉语， 她和北京又结下了深厚的感情。 将来能在北京工作是她最大的愿望。
父亲的话让我感到惊讶， 主修汉语， 可是我们家里没有一个人会说中国话呀。 但是父亲的眼神告诉我， 他的话是有远见的。 对他们那一辈人来说， 欧洲的语言很重要。 但对于年轻人来讲， 学习汉语意义非常重大。
我想我们每一个人在北京都会有很多有趣的故事， 但是不是每一个人都有机会能知道， 所以这次邀请赛给了我们大家一次机会， 让我们讲讲在中国的经历， 在中国遇到的对我们有帮助的人， 一些发生在中国的事情。
本次活动是在北京生活的外国人的一次聚会。 活动中他们相互交流， 用汉语诉说着自己对北京的特殊记忆。 这种记忆将会永远的留在他们每一个人的脑海中。
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