By Divya Kaliappan, Year 10 Journalist Leader

We all get nervous when told to get up on stage and make an announcement or sing a song.

Now, picture yourself in that exact scenario, but having to say everything in a foreign language! In fact, to be more specific, Chinese! 

On the 9th of December, five girls from Notting Hill, will be making their way over to the city to perform their short play on a topic of their choice. Every year the British Council, along with the support of HSBC, host a national Chinese speaking competition which includes challenges ranging from a group play to a rapid-fire question round for individuals.

These budding Mandarin students all take part in the competition in the hope of winning one week’s stay in Beijing, completely paid for HSBC! Over the past few weeks, five girls in Years 9 and 10 have been engaged in writing, memorising and performing a 5 minute play in Chinese.  For their topic, they have chosen to focus on the original handover of Hong Kong to Britain.  After speaking with a few of the team members I have since learnt that the play will highlight the friendship between the Chinese soldiers as they find a British baby floating in the river. During the play, set in the 1840’s, the relationship between the soldiers is put to the test as they have to overcome a variety of obstacles.

The performances will be marked on the students’ communication, pronunciation, use of vocabulary and grammar. There are also marks for cultural content too.  

From personal experience from two years ago, I am very aware of how much dedication and time goes into the plays – that this is most definitely not an easy process, from writing to performing the play front of a crowd, it really does take blood, sweat and tears to cross the finish line. Whether that’s winning, making new friends or simply widening your knowledge.

I am looking forward to hearing how the girls from Notting Hill get on and wish them the best of luck – I hope their hard work is greatly rewarded!