Bound for China

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

A Dalhousie student who describes himself as “as English as English can be,” 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 he’ll take part in the World University Student Chinese Speech Contest finals in Beijing, all expenses paid by the Chinese embassy.

“I come from a Ukrainian-Jewish background; I’m about as non-Chinese as you can get,” laughs Mr. Bell, a second-year arts student from Nelson, B.C.

While majoring in international development and journalism, he’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.

“Chinese is so fascinating,” he says. “It isn’t just the difference in words, its concepts too are quite different (from English). I found myself sucked right into this amazing world.”