Be open to language acquisition — Lecturer
A Senior Lecturer at the Department of Modern Languages of the University of Ghana, Dr Clement Appah, has encouraged Ghanaians to be open to opportunities of acquiring new languages.
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According to him, speaking multiple languages is an asset that opens doors for people especially in a world that is increasingly becoming globalised.
He said the advantages that come with understanding and assimilating the cultural aspect of a foreign language opens educational and employment opportunities throughout the world.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the maiden Chinese song contest for students of the University of Ghana at Tema last Friday.
He said the singing competition presents students of Chinese language at the University an opportunity to learn Chinese songs and perform them.
“Those of us who deal with languages we know that you can’t learn language out of context so it is also part of the way of getting them to imbibe the Chinese culture and we know that you learn the language in context."
“Music has a way of reaching out to people words cannot so if people can display their appreciation of the culture in music…..part of the language and culture is music so if they can sing in the language then it also shows their mastery and proficiency in the language,” he noted.
In all, twelve groups of singers, mostly students of the linguistics department, the Confucius Institute and the Ghana Institute of Linguistics were selected to perform different traditional Chinese songs in front of a five-member panel of judges.
At the end of the competition, Miss Margaret Clement, a student of the Ghana Institute of Languages was adjudged the overall winner with a captivating performance that drew loud cheers and applause from the audience.
"I practised, worked hard and had good people supporting me", an excited Margaret told Graphic Online.
Margaret who considers herself proficient in the language said she was very passionate about the Chinese language, hence dedicated majority of her time to learn everything about it.
She said this gave her an advantage over her competitors who have majored in the language, adding that what gave her an upper hand was the pronunciation of the words although her Chinese singing practicals contributed to the overall success.
Miss Clement added that winning the competition has now influenced her decision on majoring in the Chinese language full time.
The competition aimed at providing a platform for non-native speakers of the language to exhibit their talent and proficiency was on the theme: "Chinese Dream Inspired by the Silk Road."
Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Ghana Dr Mei Meilian praised the students for their performances and is optimistic that a second edition will bring out more talents.