Interview with Célia Bourhis

We asked Célia to tell us about her experience.

How long have you been learning Chinese?

I’ve been learning for four years now. I started studying by myself at home, as my hometown is very small and I couldn’t find any classes. Then when I moved to Nantes to do my degree, I managed to find some evening classes and studied with a Taiwanese teacher for three years.

When I came to Cardiff, I took up some Languages for All classes and also made some Chinese friends. This was a great way to learn Chinese because I could spend time with them eating Chinese food, speaking Mandarin, and also trying to understand the messages they sent me!

What first made you interested in China?

I like new challenges! I wanted to learn something totally different from my culture, and thought that if wanted to travel the world then Chinese would be nice as so many people speak that language. I also like the culture and the way the Chinese respect other people, particularly the elderly.

Tell us about the Chinese Bridge competition.

Well for the speech, I wanted to talk about my experiences when I went to China but in a funny way. For example, I had a situation with sign language when my Chinese friend was signing something to me and the meaning of it (in the sign language I know) was completely different. What she understood as ‘thank you’ I understood as ‘lighter’!  I also wanted to talk about cultural differences, such as how asking for a name when you first meet a Chinese person is not as important as in my culture. A Chinese person might talk to you for ages before asking your name!

For the performance, I recited something alongside a little video about the coronavirus, then sang a song called ‘Ming Tian Ni Hao’ 明天你好 (‘Hello Tomorrow’). I like that song because it’s about being courageous to fight the future. I also had to prepare 160 questions about culture, although they only asked me six of them.

What was the best thing about the competition?

I really liked watching the other participants’ performances - it was really nice to see all the other students that were involved. I also think it was easier to do on Zoom, as you are at home in a comfortable place. I think it might be frightening to do it in front of a lot of people.

I could invite all my friends to attend with it being online too.

Tell us your plans for the future.

I’m planning to go to China to teach Mathematics or French. I’m currently studying my Masters and learning how to teach French to foreigners. I went to China for two months last summer, visiting friends and travelling around, and when I am able to go back (hopefully in March), I will teach.

What would you say to people considering taking up Chinese?

Chinese is really a nice language because there’s no conjugation like in French for example. It’s really simple. My old teacher also gave me some good advice and told me that you shouldn’t focus so much on getting the tones completely right. I agree with this, as it allows you to be more natural and people will understand what you’re saying from the context. My teacher said: “If you concentrate too much on tones and try to remember for every word, you will take too much time and the Chinese people will already have left!”