The Durban University of Technology (DUT) Mandarin lecturer, Sanele Ntuli is ecstatic after winning the Second International Chinese Classroom Teaching Short Video Contest (2022) recently.
This global competition was co-sponsored by the Singapore Crestar Confucius Classroom and Chinese Test International and jointly organised by the International Chinese Teacher Certificate.
Ntuli (27), who comes from Ntuzuma is currently a Mandarin language lecturer at the DUT Confucius Institute (CI). He is also a former Mechanical Engineering student who graduated from DUT in 2019.
Alan Khan, DUT senior director of Corporate Affairs said that the DUT Confucius Institute was established in 2013 after they partnered with the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) from Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China.
“Since the Confucius Institute was established, it has been operating as a bridge to promote cooperation between DUT and the Chinese Universities to advance collaborations in the various fields. DUT CI has also focused on Mandarin vocational training programmes and recommended excellent students to work in local Chinese enterprises. 2023 will mark the tenth anniversary of the DUT Confucius Institute,” said Khan.
In his winning video, Ntuli was showcased teaching students the basics of writing Chinese characters, in particular, how to write the Chinese strokes, which form the Chinese characters. He chose to demonstrate his teaching abilities on Chinese characters as he believes “they are more than just strokes, but an art.”
After a month of reviewing from the organisers, Ntuli’s video was chosen in the top 59 videos to receive prizes. He is the only winner from South Africa, and upon receiving these news, Ntuli expressed his delight and appreciation.
“I am very excited that I was named amongst the international winners. This nomination has motivated me to work even harder in increasing the knowledge in the discipline of teaching Mandarin,” said Ntuli.
Speaking about his interest in Mandarin, Ntuli revealed that he started learning Mandarin while he was still a student at DUT in 2018.
“I took the Mandarin classes after one of my friends told me about this course offered at the DUT CI and that I will have an opportunity to go to China. In 2020, I received an opportunity to study a one-year language course for Mandarin in China. After the Mandarin training in China, I decided to make the teaching Chinese language my career path. I strongly believe that through Mandarin a lot of opportunities are available for DUT students in China. I have enrolled at the Rhodes University Confucius Institute to study the Honours Programme in Chinese Studies with the target being acquiring a Master’s degree in 2024.”
Frank Lin Wu, the co-dean of the DUT CI said the aim of the competition was to show the international Chinese teachers professional competence standards. He also said that some of the objectives of the competition was to promote the professional development of international Chinese teachers, demonstrate the teaching style of international Chinese teachers, and promote in-depth exchanges and cooperation among the teachers’ innovation.
“With the strong support of the co-organisers, this competition has innovatively set up 22 different competition areas including Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Egypt, Madagascar, South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, and China, and has been well-received by international Chinese teachers abroad. During the competition’s registration period from 10 October 2022 to 10 December 2022, a total of 347 entries from 27 countries were received,” said Lin Wu.
