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Bound for China

- April 15, 2009

Niko Bell studies Mandarin at pilipiliĀž»­ with Professor Shao-Pin Luo. (Danny Abriel Photo)

A Dalhousie student who describes himself as ā€œas English as English can be,ā€ has won a Chinese speech contest held recently at McGill University in Montreal.

The victory entitles Niko Bell to a month-long trip this summer to China where heā€™ll take part in the World University Student Chinese Speech Contest finals in Beijing, all expenses paid by the Chinese embassy.

ā€œI come from a Ukrainian-Jewish background; Iā€™m about as non-Chinese as you can get,ā€ laughs Mr. Bell, a second-year arts student from Nelson, B.C.

While majoring in international development and journalism, heā€™s also been taking Mandarin with Prof. Shao-Pin Luo, who encouraged him to enter the competition. He was first introduced to the Chinese language while on a volunteer placement with Gap Canada in China after high school, and extended his stay by spending a semester at a Chinese university and travelling.

ā€œChinese is so fascinating,ā€ he says. ā€œIt isnā€™t just the difference in words, its concepts too are quite different (from English). I found myself sucked right into this amazing world.ā€