Dear students, you have been in Wuhan for almost half a year. Today's Chinese competition is a test of your Chinese learning during your study in China. Although it is a competition, it is more like a grand event, which we have been looking forward to. We are very glad to see that you attach great importance to this competition which is organized in the form of groups. So it is a competition among groups. Every group leader carried out this activity with all sense of responsibility. There is very interesting and unforgettable learning and competing atmosphere among different groups. Through this activity, the organizational ability of our student ministers has been trained, your team spirit has been cultivated, your friendship has been enhanced, your relationship is much closer and your Chinese has been improved. It is a very meaningful activity and a very successful activity. I believe that this kind of activities will have a far-reaching influence on your future development.
During the preparing for this competition, besides student ministers, there are also some active learners. They love their groups, contributed actively and paid a lot of effort for their groups. They showed very strong sense of team spirit. They helped their group leaders and came up with many good ideas to help their team members to learn Chinese so that they can make progress together. They made me see a harmonious family of international students. I have seen that many of you, in order to learn Chinese pronunciation skills, you practice again and again. In order to learn Chinese characters, you wrote the characters for dozens of times or even hundreds of times. When I saw the Chinese game cards you made, when I saw your carefully and closely written notes, when I saw you make effort every day and progress every day, I am truly moved by you and I am very proud of you.
As you all know, last year our work focused on "correcting the bad behaviors". Now I can say that our work has achieved complete success. The image of the international students has been greatly improved, and WTU’s evaluation of our international students is better and better. Our sense of gratitude, our collective consciousness and our sense of discipline have all been greatly enhanced, and the sanitation condition of our apartments has undergone tremendous changes.
This year, our work focus has been shifted to Chinese learning. Language is the most important tool of human communication. Any languages, in addition to the function of expressing emotions, it can also eliminate misunderstandings, shorten distance and enhance mutual understanding. Language is also a window. People from different countries and nationalities can see each other's minds, understand each other further, enjoy beautiful sceneries of life and find a wider world.
I believe that when students come to China, they must hope that they can speak fluent Chinese. Because you don't understand Chinese, you can't understand Chinese culture, and you can't communicate with the Chinese people better. If you don't learn Chinese, your study here will be tedious, just like a bride without makeup. If you don't understand Chinese, you will miss the opportunity to communicate with the Chinese people and the opportunity to know more about China. You will miss many opportunities for your self-development.
Dear students, we should take a long-term view. In the era of economic globalization, exchanges among countries will become more and more frequent. I believe you will still have exchanges with China after you graduate. So you must learn Chinese well which will bring many opportunities for your personal development. There will be many opportunities waiting for you in the future. You must have the ability to seize the opportunities. Chinese President Xi Jinping said the following two sentences. One is "We are all running hard, we are all in pursuit of our dreams." And the other is "Happiness can only be attained by hardworking." Today, I send these two sentences to you. I hope that through hard work, all of you can realize your dreams and have a happy future.
In the second half of the year, most of you will be in the second grade. Your study will be more tense. At that time, you will participate in fewer activities organized by IEC. At that time, our focus will shift to the future freshmen. I hope that everyone must cherish this limited time and this limited opportunity.
Finally, I wish you all the best in today's competition.
