A very enjoyable afternoon was had on 28 May at the Confucius Institute Chinese language competiton, with Junior, Senior and Tertiary competitors. Most places where English is a native language, foreign language learning is under attack. Student numbers are dropping. Other universities are defunding language teaching. We at the University of Canterbury value language learning – it’s a CV-super power for students in today’s world. Congratulations to all competitors, only a fraction of New Zelanders can do what you can do! Teachers, careers advisors, mums, dads, whanau, tell your soon-to-be tertiary students that they should take a language class or two. It’ll be worth it. The world’s a big place, and everyone likes to have a conversation.
