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Contest of words and wisdom
By Xu Wenwen |
September 16, 2009, Wednesday
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DOCTORS from a Chinese medical corps stationed in far-off Yemen sparked a lifelong love of Chinese culture and language in a little Arab boy.
Ammar Albadany loved to hear tales about such wonders as the Great Wall, the terracotta warriors in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, and the Forbidden City from the kindly medics on the team.
So when Albadany found himself among the top students in Yemen and was offered the chance of a scholarship to study abroad, he jumped at the chance to study medicine in China.
That was in 1997 - and now Albadany is so fluent in Chinese that he dazzled judges at the recent Chinese Proficiency Competition for foreign college students with his command of the work of classic philosophers and poets.
The PhD student at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou is majoring in neurosurgery and easily took the crown with his humorous introduction telling the audience about himself.
"In 1978, two big events happened in the world: the first one was China's reform and opening-up, and the second was that I was born," Albadany says with an understated sense of irony.
"I came to China as an exchange student when I was 18 and started a language course in Shandong University," he said. That year was 1997, the year of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
"I spent eight years studying medicine at Tianjin Medical University, and I went back to my country and stayed about two years. And I started my doctorate degree at Zhejiang University in 2008, exactly the year Beijing held the Olympic Games."
Clearly, Albadany has a strong sense of humor and he also taps into a rich vein of Chinese culture.
"I love China and the Chinese language. My favorite character is shui (water), because the highest goodness is like water," Albadany says, quoting a well-known idiom from "Dao De Jing," a book written by Lao-tzu, a philosopher from ancient China and the founder of Taoism.
"And also because a wise man takes pleasure in water," he says, using a proverb by Confucius.
Unlike other candidates in the competition who have gained master's or doctorates in linguistics, Albadany has no professional Chinese language training apart from his one-year study in Shandong University. But he did admit to three weeks' special study before the competition at Zhejiang University.
"I relied on knowledge accumulated through daily life, and every day I ask questions of everyone I meet, including my schoolmates, my teachers and my patients.
"All of them are my teachers," says Albadany.
Tough tests
And he summoned just the right words to praise his teachers, again using a well-known proverb: "Of course my teachers performed meritorious deeds never to be obliterated."
Winning the competition was no small feat °?- Albadany went through more than 20 rounds of competitions, not included the provincial ones, to reach the final.
These included written tests, interviews, a talent show and live competitions, covering everything from Chinese culture and history to geography and philosophy.
One of the tasks in the final round was to make up a 90-second story from a list of words given, such as early morning, cellphone, bargain and hometown.
He managed to make his story encompass such familiar elements as famous poets Li Bai and Du Fu, made reference to a magic box from well-known Hong Kong comedy film "A Chinese Odyssey," and comic film star Fan Wei.
Albadany also added comments about his story: Li Bai is the representative of romanticism, and Du Fu is the representative of realism. "Life is diverse because of different styles of elements," he says.
Judges praised his "calm, relaxed and confident" demeanor during the competition, which also showed his talents in speaking Tianjin dialect in the local distinctive quick patter style.
"I guess it's because of my major - doctors can't be nervous," explains Albadany.
"I never thought about others' marks during the competition, I just focused on how to do my job well. Know the adversary and know yourself, and you can fight 100 battles with no danger of defeat," he quotes another classic Chinese quotation from "The Art of War."
Albadany faced some tough times during the latter rounds of the competition because it fell during Ramadan, a traditional daytime fasting month for Muslims. Luckily the fast breaks after sunset so he managed to eat before the competition was held at night.
Still, preparation on an empty stomach must have been difficult. Albadany remains modest about his achievements.
"The biggest achievement I've gained is that Chinese culture is so extensive and profound that I need to know more," he says.
"Chairman Mao has said, 'Modesty helps one advance, whereas conceit makes one fall behind'."
It's true that his language proficiency has startled many ordinary Chinese people.
When he was studying in Tianjin, he once started talking to a cab driver in the local dialect while he was sitting in the back seat.
The driver didn't realize that Albadany was a foreigner until he saw his face while getting out the taxi.
And one of his patients at the No. 2 Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University College of Medicine refused to believe that he wasn't Chinese, except that he looked like a foreigner. Others finally convinced him that his doctor was, indeed, from Yemen.
The Chinese medical corps that inspired Albadany are still serving in Yemen, and that little boy has grown into someone who loves reading "The Analects of Confucius" and watching Chinese costume dramas.
He says he'd love to stay in Hangzhou for life because of the heavenly scenery.
Which pretty well sums up his approach to learning - love sparks an interest in study and further knowledge just increases the fascination.
Ammar Albadany loved to hear tales about such wonders as the Great Wall, the terracotta warriors in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, and the Forbidden City from the kindly medics on the team.
So when Albadany found himself among the top students in Yemen and was offered the chance of a scholarship to study abroad, he jumped at the chance to study medicine in China.
That was in 1997 - and now Albadany is so fluent in Chinese that he dazzled judges at the recent Chinese Proficiency Competition for foreign college students with his command of the work of classic philosophers and poets.
The PhD student at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou is majoring in neurosurgery and easily took the crown with his humorous introduction telling the audience about himself.
"In 1978, two big events happened in the world: the first one was China's reform and opening-up, and the second was that I was born," Albadany says with an understated sense of irony.
"I came to China as an exchange student when I was 18 and started a language course in Shandong University," he said. That year was 1997, the year of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
"I spent eight years studying medicine at Tianjin Medical University, and I went back to my country and stayed about two years. And I started my doctorate degree at Zhejiang University in 2008, exactly the year Beijing held the Olympic Games."
Clearly, Albadany has a strong sense of humor and he also taps into a rich vein of Chinese culture.
"I love China and the Chinese language. My favorite character is shui (water), because the highest goodness is like water," Albadany says, quoting a well-known idiom from "Dao De Jing," a book written by Lao-tzu, a philosopher from ancient China and the founder of Taoism.
"And also because a wise man takes pleasure in water," he says, using a proverb by Confucius.
Unlike other candidates in the competition who have gained master's or doctorates in linguistics, Albadany has no professional Chinese language training apart from his one-year study in Shandong University. But he did admit to three weeks' special study before the competition at Zhejiang University.
"I relied on knowledge accumulated through daily life, and every day I ask questions of everyone I meet, including my schoolmates, my teachers and my patients.
"All of them are my teachers," says Albadany.
Tough tests
And he summoned just the right words to praise his teachers, again using a well-known proverb: "Of course my teachers performed meritorious deeds never to be obliterated."
Winning the competition was no small feat °?- Albadany went through more than 20 rounds of competitions, not included the provincial ones, to reach the final.
These included written tests, interviews, a talent show and live competitions, covering everything from Chinese culture and history to geography and philosophy.
One of the tasks in the final round was to make up a 90-second story from a list of words given, such as early morning, cellphone, bargain and hometown.
He managed to make his story encompass such familiar elements as famous poets Li Bai and Du Fu, made reference to a magic box from well-known Hong Kong comedy film "A Chinese Odyssey," and comic film star Fan Wei.
Albadany also added comments about his story: Li Bai is the representative of romanticism, and Du Fu is the representative of realism. "Life is diverse because of different styles of elements," he says.
Judges praised his "calm, relaxed and confident" demeanor during the competition, which also showed his talents in speaking Tianjin dialect in the local distinctive quick patter style.
"I guess it's because of my major - doctors can't be nervous," explains Albadany.
"I never thought about others' marks during the competition, I just focused on how to do my job well. Know the adversary and know yourself, and you can fight 100 battles with no danger of defeat," he quotes another classic Chinese quotation from "The Art of War."
Albadany faced some tough times during the latter rounds of the competition because it fell during Ramadan, a traditional daytime fasting month for Muslims. Luckily the fast breaks after sunset so he managed to eat before the competition was held at night.
Still, preparation on an empty stomach must have been difficult. Albadany remains modest about his achievements.
"The biggest achievement I've gained is that Chinese culture is so extensive and profound that I need to know more," he says.
"Chairman Mao has said, 'Modesty helps one advance, whereas conceit makes one fall behind'."
It's true that his language proficiency has startled many ordinary Chinese people.
When he was studying in Tianjin, he once started talking to a cab driver in the local dialect while he was sitting in the back seat.
The driver didn't realize that Albadany was a foreigner until he saw his face while getting out the taxi.
And one of his patients at the No. 2 Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University College of Medicine refused to believe that he wasn't Chinese, except that he looked like a foreigner. Others finally convinced him that his doctor was, indeed, from Yemen.
The Chinese medical corps that inspired Albadany are still serving in Yemen, and that little boy has grown into someone who loves reading "The Analects of Confucius" and watching Chinese costume dramas.
He says he'd love to stay in Hangzhou for life because of the heavenly scenery.
Which pretty well sums up his approach to learning - love sparks an interest in study and further knowledge just increases the fascination.
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