The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Turkmenistan together with the Dovletmammet Azadi National Institute of World Languages held a festive event dedicated to the Chinese Language Day, which is celebrated annually on April 20.

The celebration, organized within the walls of the country's leading language university, was attended by Counselor of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China Chong Huang. The atmosphere of a real festival of Chinese culture reigned everywhere, immersing participants and guests in the rich world of ancient and modern China.

The guests were greeted by an exhibition presenting the multifaceted cultural heritage of China. The stands presented traditional Chinese costumes, decorative and applied art items, examples of calligraphy and painting, books and educational materials on the Chinese language and culture.

Everyone could immerse themselves in the atmosphere of an ancient civilization and learn more about its rich history, philosophy and modern achievements.

The culmination of the celebration was the summing up of the results of the oratory competition in Chinese. Students from various higher educational institutions of Turkmenistan studying Chinese took part in the competition of those who have the best command of the art of Chinese eloquence. The theme of the competition was the phrase "The whole world is one family", symbolizing the desire of peoples for mutual understanding and unity, echoing the peace-loving foreign policy concept of permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan and the ideas of the International Year of Peace and Trust.

Participants demonstrated their public speaking skills, deep understanding of the topic and excellent pronunciation, revealing their vision of unity and cooperation between nations. The performances were assessed by a competent jury, which included representatives of the Chinese Embassy and teachers of Chinese from leading universities in the country. The winners and distinguished participants of the competition were awarded with certificates of honor and memorable prizes.

According to the results of the competition, the first place was taken by Shirin Muhammetgurbanova, a 3rd-year student of the Turkmen National Institute of World Languages named after Dovletmammet Azadi. The second place was shared by Sabina Shokhratjanova, a 5th-year student of the Turkmen State University named after Magtymguly, and Nigora Kurbanova, a 3rd-year student of the Turkmen State Pedagogical Institute named after Seytnazar Seydi. Third place was awarded to Soltan Nurmammedova, a second-year student of the International University of Humanities and Development, and Amandursun Geldimuradova, a third-year student of the Dovletmammet Azadi TNIWL.

The creative performances of talented students created a special festive atmosphere. The program included bright, colorful dance numbers inspired by both Chinese and Turkmen folklore. Songs were performed, demonstrating the high level of language proficiency and artistry of the students.

Chinese Language Day was established by the UN in 2010 "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity, and to promote the equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization."

Chinese Language Day was first celebrated in 2010, on November 12. But since 2011, it has been celebrated annually on April 20, which roughly corresponds to the beginning of the month of Guyu in the Chinese calendar during the Qin Dynasty. The date of April 20 was chosen to "pay tribute to Cang Jie, who is believed to have invented the Chinese script about 5,000 years ago."

Interesting facts about the Chinese language:

The Chinese language is one of the most ancient, the total number of native speakers exceeds 1.3 billion people.

The Chinese language is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the most difficult languages in the world.

The language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family. The Chinese language as such does not exist, it is a collection of different dialects, of which there are about ten.

The most complete dictionary of Chinese characters, published in 1994, contains 87,019 characters (according to other sources, according to the Zhonghua Zihai dictionary, published in 1994, the Chinese language includes 85,568 characters, although for everyday communication it is enough to know 3-5 thousand characters).

Chinese is the official language of the PRC, Taiwan and Singapore. In some US states, in particular, in New York, all official documents are required to be translated into Chinese.

The huge number of native speakers has led to the inclusion of Chinese among the six official and working languages of the UN. Every year, the UN Secretariat hosts events dedicated to language days. On Chinese Language Day, exhibitions of works of art by masters of the Celestial Empire, as well as concerts and demonstrations of martial arts schools, are traditionally held.

ORIENT