“2021 Foreign Students Chinese Public Speaking Competition” was organized by National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Ministry of Culture. Today (Nov. 16) the result of the judges’ heated discussion was announced. Mr. 柏安達 from the US won the first place with the speech, “Reflection on a Piece of News.” After the competition, the award-giving ceremony was held to announce the winner list including the winners from the first to the fourth place as well as the merit award winners and give them certificate of merit and reward to encourage the foreign students’ hard work in Chinese learning.
In the opening speech, Director-general of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Wang Lan-sheng, said language expression is the most direct way of human communication. It is not as easy as imagined to convey personal ideas through verbal communication, facial expression, and gestures within limited time, especially for those non-native speakers. The competition has been held by National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall for years, giving the foreign students the opportunity to show the result of Chinese learning in Taiwan. It also highlights the beautiful, broad, and profound content of Chinese language. Most of the participating students can express their personal ideas in the humorous and interesting speeches with great contents. It is very meaningful that the different cultural interaction and exchange are also enhanced.
There are 33 participating students in total, respectively from Vietnam, Japan, US, UK, Australia, Peru, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Korea, South Africa, and Ceske. To understand the foreign students’ life experience in Taiwan, the competition includes the five topics: “Taiwanese ‘Excuse Me’ Culture,” “The Chinese Catchwords Not in Textbooks,” “Reflection on a Piece of News,” “Something I’ve Learned from COVID-19,” and “How I Face Loneliness” to deeply discuss the world trend. In his speech, 華靈澤, from the UK, mentioned that Taiwan should not forget the mother tongue in the process of promoting bilingual education. He also sang the British ballad and impressed the audience. Besides, 前本兼辰Maemoto Kentatsu from Japan interpreted the Taiwanese “excuse me” culture not only as a simple way to say sorry but also as an expression of courtesy. He also humorously made fun of himself by using the Chinese pronunciation of his Japanese name, “Jian Chen.”
At the award-giving ceremony, Deputy Director-general, Yang Tong-hui, said National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall has been established for 49 years and held “Foreign Students Chinese Public Speaking Competition” every year. Under the influence of COVID-19 this year, she expressed the gratitude to everyone for taking part in the competition with the special meaning. Everyone got together here and became friends because of “jie yuan (serendipity),” as is said in the Chinese language. Dr. Sun Yat-sen used to say, “Aim to do something big rather than become an official of high position.” For the participants, to complete the competition with persistence today is to do something big. Participation itself can be a winning experience. Welcome to register the competition again next year when National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall will celebrate the 50th anniversary.
In the general comment, the judge Prof. Chen Yan-hao explained that a good speech is composed of three basic elements: language, content, and expression. Besides topic selection, pay attention to word choice, pronunciation, sentence structure, meaning, and usage so as to create resonance and touch and impress people. He also encouraged all participants to attend more competitions to accumulate experience and never give up.
After the 6-hour tense competition evaluated carefully by the judges including Prof. Chen Li-yuan, Prof. Chen Yan-hao, and Prof. Zhang Mei-ling, the winner list was announced: first place柏安達 (US), second place慈仁塔青 (India), third place前本兼辰Maemoto Kentatsu (Japan), fourth place華靈澤(UK); 6 merit award winners: 傑閔(US), 尹芯愛(Thailand), 森本真紀Morimoto Maki (Japan), 裴氏焰姮 (Vietnam), 樊博聞 (Peru) and 石田旅人Ishida Tabibito (Japan).