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The preliminary round of the 24th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign University Students, organized by the Confucius Institute at the University of Kelaniya, was held on April 4th, 2025, at the Dharmaloka Hall, University of Kelaniya. Around fifty students currently studying Chinese at the university participated in the competition. The contestants competed in both speech and talent categories to win the competition. The judging panel consisted of Ms. Yan Xinyu, a teacher at Elizabeth Moir School; Ms. Wang Fei, Director of the Lumbini Confucius Classroom; Dr. Wu Hongyuan, Co-Director for China at the Confucius Institute, University of Kelaniya, Dr. Kumari Priyanka Jayasooriya, Senior Lecturer in the Chinese Unit, Department of Modern Languages, University of Kelaniya; Assoc. Prof. Sun Cuibi, Chinese Lecturer at the Confucius Institute, University of Kelaniya; and Ms. Zhu Lin, Chinese Lecturer at the Confucius Institute, University of Kelaniya.

The competition consisted of two parts: the Speech and Talent Competitions. The Speech Competition took place from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM under the theme "One Sky, One Family," with contestants delivering meaningful and insightful speeches. After a one-hour lunch break, the Talent Competition was held from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, featuring performances such as traditional Chinese dance, singing, Wushu, painting, and paper cutting.

Following the competition, the scores were calculated, and the awards were presented to the winners from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the same venue. Dr. Sudath Senarath, the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, attended the award ceremony as the Chief Guest. During the ceremony, the best dance and singing performances were showcased again, and Dr. Sudath Senarath, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, who participated as the Chief Guest, expressed his admiration for the contestants' talent and dedication.

Finally, the winners were announced: two First Prizes, four First Runners-Up, six Second Runners-Up, and eighteen Merit Award winners were selected by the judging panel. Visaka Dewsara Kuruneru and K. M. G. Hansi Muthukumari from the Chinese Special third year won the First Place. Alagiyawadu Himashi Kaushalya, Madusha Prathibhani Vidyawansha and L. N. G. Dileesha Thisarangi, from Chinese Special third year, and Methara Mandini Wanigasinghe from the Chinese Special first year won Second Place. B. G. Minoli Madhushani Gamage, A. G. Sharmila Lasanthi, and R. M. M. Amila Madhushan from the Chinese Special third year, Asini Jayathma Amandhi and W. M. Pabasara Sewwandi Bandara from the Chinese Special second year and W. Thulani Monilka Alwis from the Chinese Special first year won Third Place.

T. M. Dinithi Sewwandi, W. G. Nipuni Nisansala Sandamali, W. D. Sachee Yasasi Wanniarachchi, H. K. S. U. Gunasekara, K. M. Desika Dilrukshi, D. S. Navodhya Dharmadasa, M. K. Gihansa Nimsadini Wasula, P. K. Amandi Samindya Rasanjalee, W. W. M. Ushani Imalsha, U. G. Chathumi Priyashani, R. M. Hasini Gayathri Rajapaksha, D. Nethmi Tharushika Sathsarani, W. M. Rukshani Roshel Fernando, S. D. Madhara Malharee Samarage, S. N. Hirushi Dias, K. Kaushalya Nethmini, M. Himanshi Kavidya Gunarathna, and M. A. Sachitha Sankalpana won Merit Awards.

We sincerely congratulate all of them for their outstanding achievements.

On March 26, the Confucius Institute at the University of Kelaniya was invited to participate in the “Dragon’s Path: Chinese Sports Challenge”, hosted by Bandaranayake School in Gampaha, Sri Lanka. The school's Chinese language teacher, Ms. Lakni Kariyawasam, is a graduate of the University of Kelaniya. Two lecturers at the Confucius Institute, Assoc. Prof. Sun Cuibi and Ms. Wang Lin participated in the event. Ms. Lakni stated that the purpose of this event was to celebrate the 1st Anniversary of the Chinese Language Association at Bandaranayake College in Gampaha. It was considered an important opportunity to honor the growth and dedication of the Association. More than just a commemoration, it served as a platform to actively promote the richness of the Chinese language and culture. By incorporating engaging activities such as traditional Chinese sports and games, the event aimed to strengthen the club, develop skills, and provide a fun and memorable experience for all participants.

The challenge included various events, such as shuttlecock kicking, badminton, peanut picking with chopsticks, water polo passing, and other ball games. Teacher Lakni Kariyawasam mentioned that all the competition events were designed to enhance students' understanding and interest in Chinese culture.

Shuttlecock kicking is a Chinese cultural activity loved by both teachers and students. Teachers Sun Cuibi and Wang Lin took full advantage of this unique Chinese scene; one demonstrated shuttlecock kicking while the other provided on-the-spot Chinese instruction, leading the students in counting in Chinese, which sparked their enthusiastic participation. The peanut-picking competition with chopsticks was particularly exciting. The two teachers from the Confucius Institute patiently and carefully explained to the students how to use chopsticks. The participating students focused intently, with some of them mastering the use of chopsticks quite well.

The entire challenge was infused with Chinese elements and Sri Lankan sentiment, creating a lively atmosphere with strong interactivity, which significantly boosted the students' enthusiasm for learning Chinese and Chinese culture.

After the event, we observed that more students gained an understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture through direct exposure to traditional sports and activities. Students had the opportunity to practice their Chinese language skills in a practical setting while interacting with Chinese teachers. Our members developed better teamwork skills and learned new techniques in traditional Chinese sports.

The English and Foreign Languages Branch of the Ministry of Education organized a two-day capacity development program aimed at newly recruited Chinese language teachers. This program will focus on enhancing their teaching skills and methodologies for effectively delivering Chinese language teaching at the school level.

Therefore, Ven. Snr. Prof. Nadalagamuwe Dhammadinna Thero, Head of the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Kelaniya, Dr. Jani Samarakoon, Co-Director (For Sri Lanka) of the Confucius Institute at the University of Kelaniya, and Assoc. Prof. Sun Cuibi, a Chinese Lecturer at the Confucius Institute at the University of Kelaniya, and Ms. R.M.S.P. Rathnayake, a Teacher at Lakdas de Mal College at Kurunegala, were invited as guest lecturers in this training program as well. On both the 11th of March and 12th of March 2025, the training program was conducted at the National Institute of Education (NIE) of Sri Lanka for newly appointed for National Schools 70 Chinese Language teachers from various Districts. All teachers were appointed in July 2024, with 99% being graduates of the University of Kelaniya.

As requested by the Ministry of Education, this program was coordinated by Dr. Jani Samrakoon from the University of Kelaniya. At the beginning of the program, all attendees were welcomed by Mr. Dhrshana Wijesinghe, the Assistant Director of Education. Following this, a speech was delivered by the Thero from the English and Foreign Languages Branch. On March 11, 2025, Dr. Jani Samarakoon began the training lectures by giving a lecture on the Chinese language and introducing the systematic knowledge of Chinese Pinyin.

Furthermore, she explained the contents of the current Chinese textbook "Contemporary Chinese," which is used by Sri Lankan school students the use workbooks, and the analysis of the content of the syllabus, the system of evaluation, and the criteria, so that new teachers can fully understand the teaching materials, class arrangement, the system of evaluation and so on. Later, after Lunch Break, Ven. Snr. Prof. Nadalagamuwe Dhammadinna Thero lectured on the Theory of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language.

On the second training day, March 12, 2025, Dr. Jani Samarakoon and Assoc. Prof. Sun Cuibi gave a lecture on "Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language." In the lecture, they eagerly combined the latest education theories with Chinese teaching methods and techniques to explain what Chinese Language teaching, the elements of Chinese language teaching, comprehensive courses, and other aspects are to the training teachers. Moreover, they analyzed the difficulties of Sri Lankan students in learning Chinese practically analyzed its causes, and suggested practical solutions. After the lunch break, Ms. R.M.S.P. Rathnayake explained the problems that can be faced by foreign language teachers.

The lecturers have prepared a few Class Activities. The Teachers actively participated in the Class Activities and Games. After the training sessions, the newly appointed teachers didn’t forget to express their thoughts regarding the training lecture sessions.

“From Dr. Jani's session, I managed to recollect a lot of knowledge. She taught us how to attract new students by teaching some basic things about China and the Chinese language. I will use them to promote the Chinese language in my school.”

“This event, hosted by the new Chinese teachers, was very important. First of all, I would like to thank Ms. Sun from the Confucius Institute at the University of Kelaniya and our teacher, Dr. Jani. Because they explained to us a lot of important content about Chinese teaching. Ms. Sun's class is very interesting. In this event, Ms. Sun taught us how to teach interestingly. For example, how to design the first lesson, we also learned about Chinese character teaching methods, vocabulary teaching methods, and grammar teaching. For us, Ms. Sun's class is very useful. Ms. Sun, you are busy with work and affairs, but you still take the time to participate in this event and help us improve our teaching ability. I thank you again!”

“The event was very successful for us. It was a great opportunity to review the past and learn new things. We would like to thank the dedicated Dr. Jani, Ven. Snr. Prof. Nadalagamuwe Dhammadinna, the Chinese teacher Ms. Sun Cuibi, and all the other teachers.”

The greatest asset of a school is the personality of the teacher. Therefore, the teacher training programs really help elevate the whole teaching process.

The HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi), Chinese Proficiency Test, is an official standardized examination that assesses the Chinese Language proficiency of non-native speakers.

The HSK exam was held on March 9, 2025, at the University of Kelaniya. The mock examination, originally scheduled to take place alongside the HSK examination, was held on March 8, 2025.

This time, 500 candidates from various parts of Sri Lanka participated, and notably, several foreign candidates also took part. To ensure the success of the exam, our staff consisted of 30 members. The successful conduct of the examination was organized by Dr. Jani Samarakoon, the Co-Director (For Sri Lanka); Dr. Wu Hongyuan, the Co-Director (For China); Ms. Zhu Lin, Ms. Liu Xin, and Ms. Wang Lin, lecturers of the Confucius Institute; as well as the Chinese lecturers and staff of the Confucius Institute. The lecturers of the Chinese Language Unit in the Department of Modern Languages also worked as invigilators. Additionally, we were assisted by two teachers who graduated from the University of Kelaniya and now teach at the Bandaranaike College, Gampaha, and the Musaeus College, Colombo, as well as the invigilators for examination observation. In particular, the technical officers of the Faculty of Humanities provided invaluable support to make the examination a success. We also received support from the university's private security section throughout the examination day. Thanks to everyone's support, the examination was successfully conducted.

The HSK examination was completed on March 9, 2025. The results for the candidates will be released within a month. We wish all the candidates the best of luck.

The Confucius Institute proudly held the Certificate Awarding Ceremony for the 25th Batch of its Chinese Language Course, alongside the inauguration of the new batch, on February 28th, 2025, at 3:00 PM, at the K14 Auditorium, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya. This special event marks a significant achievement, with 50 students completing the course successfully, and nearly 100 new students enrolling for the newly started batch on March 1st, 2025.

The ceremony was honored by the presence of Dr. Sudath Senarath, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Kelaniya, and Ven. Senior Prof. Nadalagamuwe Dhammadinna Thero, Head of the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Kelaniya, as the Chief Guests. The event also welcomed Honorable Guests; Co-Directors of China and Sri Lanka, accordingly Dr. Wu Hongyuan and Dr. Jani Samarakoon who is also the Course Coordinator.

Dr. Jani Samarakoon opened the ceremony by welcoming the students and highlighting the two key goals of the event: celebrating the achievements of the 25th Batch and introducing the exciting language learning journey for the new batch. She also expressed gratitude to the hardworking staff of the Confucius Institute, whose efforts have made the weekend Chinese language courses a success. In her speech, Dr. Samarakoon thanked the Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, Senior Prof. Nilanthi de Silva, as well as, Head of the Department of Modern Languages, Ven. Senior Prof. Nadalagamuwe Dhammadinna Thero and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Dr. Sudath Senarath for their continuous support in the work of the Confucius Institute. She concluded by introducing the dedicated staff to the new students and wishing them success in their language learning journey. Following Dr. Samarakoon’s speech, one of the Chief Guests, Dr. Sudath Senarath, congratulated the students who were about to receive their certificates. He also extended a warm welcome to the new batch, offering valuable advice on learning a foreign language, particularly Chinese, which is known for being a tonal language. Dr. Senarath commended the outstanding work of the Confucius Institute, recognizing it as one of the leading institutions in providing a rich cultural and social experience through Chinese language education for nearly three decades. He concluded his speech by expressing his hopes for the continued flourishing and strengthening of the bond of friendship between China and Sri Lanka.

The next Chief Guest, Ven. Senior Prof. Nadalagamuwe Dhammadinna Thero, Head of the Department of Modern Languages, delivered an insightful speech on the importance of learning Chinese Language. He emphasized that in today’s globalized world, knowing a foreign language like Chinese not only opens doors to vast career opportunities but also fosters deeper cultural understanding. Ven. Senior Prof. Dhammadinna highlighted that Chinese, being one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, is key to connecting with the rich history, culture, and economic growth of China.

Dr. Wu Hongyuan, Co-Director of the China to Sri Lanka of Confucius institute, then delivered an encouraging speech urging students to work hard, support each other, and focus on both personal and academic growth. He praised the Confucius Institute as a place where students can not only improve their language skills but also develop as individuals. Dr. Wu emphasized the importance of teamwork and creating a supportive environment for success, while also highlighting the institute’s role in providing students with opportunities to explore Chinese culture and build valuable life skills.

After the inspiring speeches from the chief guests, the next segment of the event was truly engaging. Five students from the 25th Batch—Tharushi Dodangoda, Kavithaki Peiris, Hansamali Pelenegama, Dulanjalee Madushani, and Sasini Ruwanthika—shared their personal experiences of learning Chinese and how the course helped them develop their language skills. It was a special moment, as these students volunteered to speak at the event without hesitation. Their confidence in speaking Chinese in front of an audience, despite it not being their native language, showcased the hard work they had put into learning. It also highlighted the effectiveness of the Certificate Course in Chinese Language and the dedication of the teachers, who had helped build their confidence in speaking Chinese fluently and comfortably in public.

Afterwards, the certificates were presented by the Chief Guests, Honorable Guests, and lecturers, with special prizes awarded to the top three students who achieved the best results in the Final Examination across the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Levels. Following this, the National Anthems of Sri Lanka and China were sung, officially concluding the event. A group photo was taken, as seen in the published photographs. Finally, we would like to congratulate all the students who received their certificates today and warmly welcome all the newly enrolled students to begin their journey of learning the Chinese language with us.

As you embark on your learning journey, we wish you the best of luck and remember, “千里之行，始于足下 (Qiānlǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià)” – A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!
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