“2024 Foreign Students Chinese Speech Contest,” organized by the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall of the Ministry of Culture, concluded successfully today (Nov. 19). After a heated discussion of the jury, Mr. Quan Zhi-qing(權致清) from the US was awarded the first place this year for his speech on “Persistence and Abandonment.” The top four winners and the merit award winners were announced after the contest, and an award ceremony was held to give certificates and prizes. The prizes for the contest include: NT$20,000 for the first place, NT$16,000 for the second place, NT$12,000 for the third place, NT$8,000 for the fourth place, and NT$6,000 for the merit award. The contest aims to encourage foreign students to keep working diligently in learning Chinese.
Wang Lan-sheng, Director-general of the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, stated that a speech, without a specific form of expression, is a comprehensive performance reflecting the speaker’s personal characteristics including the understanding on the topics, on-site interaction with the audience, and ability to grasp the atmosphere. Due to this year’s renovation project, it is the first time that the contest is held outside the hall since its establishment. After the completion of the project in the future, the contest will resume inside the hall. Besides, it is also planned to add a category of Taiwanese speeches to deepen the content and diversity of the contest and realize Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s concept of fraternity. Through the platform of the contest, the foreign friends from different countries will exchange and interact with each other, understand Taiwanese culture, share their own cultures, and love Taiwan even more.
The participating students this year come from seventeen countries, including the UK, the US, France, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Australia, Italy, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Russia, India, New Zealand, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho. A total of sixty foreign students from seventeen universities and colleges participated. The contest designated five topics, from which the participants chose one for their five-minute speech. Among the topics, “Persistence and Abandonment” was most favored by the students. The other topics included “What Is the Best Age in Life,” “How to Make Good Use of Social Media,” “What Concerns Me Most in Taiwan,” and “Taboos in Taiwan.” The issues related to the unique culture of Taiwan, social media usage, and mental growth are discussed. Hu Shi-shang (胡氏商) from Vietnam delivered a speech titled “Taboos in Taiwan,” mentioning the Taiwanese taboo against pointing at the moon and the folk legend adults tell children that pointing at the moon will cause the ears to be cut off. Ms. Hu also made the QR Code to list the top ten taboos in Taiwan. Zhu Ai-li (朱璦黎) gave a speech on “What Concerns Me Most in Taiwan.” For her, it was cultural difference. In Russia, people give sword lilies to teachers to show respect. However, they are used for funerals in Taiwan.
Prof. Peng Ni-se, the head of the jury, stated that today’s speeches were very impressive. The pronunciation had a lively cadence, and the tones were adjusted according to the content. In the languages of many countries, there are not four tones. But this year’s participants had outstanding performance in pronunciation. Besides, their deportment was also a notable characteristic this year, allowing them to perform naturally throughout the speeches. Finally, the professors all agreed that although there was only one first-place winner, the students who persevered until the end today were all gold medal winners. She encouraged the students to keep working hard in learning Chinese and aim to win the first place in the contest next year.
After the seven-hour tense competition and the careful evaluation by the judges, Prof. Chen Li-yuan, Prof. Zhang Mei-ling, Prof. Chang Mei-ling, Prof. Chang Ching-lan, Prof. Peng Ni-se, and Prof. Chien Ying-ying, the winners list was announced: First Place, Quan Zhi-qing(權致清)(US), Second Place, Ke Jing-wei (柯靖威)(US), Third Place, Bo Ai-li (博艾莉)(US), Fourth Place, Ou Bing-ge (歐彬格)(Netherlands). The six merit award winners are: Fan Li-ya (范莉雅)(Indonesia), Bu Huai-jia (步懷佳)(US), Zhang Kun (張坤)(US), Lei Yi-sheng (雷奕昇)(US), Chen Ning-he (陳寧河)(Thailand), and Yabuta Arisa (Japan).