2025 Mandarin Speech Championship is on CLC: Rotary International Speech Contest for Foreign Students



Date :
2025-01-20
Department :
Chinese Language Center
【Article by CLC】
The 28th "Mandarin and Taiwanese Speech Competition for Foreign Students in Taiwan," hosted by Rotary International, concluded successfully on January 11th. This year, a total of 13 teams representing 17 countries participated, forming a diverse and dynamic lineup. The Chinese Language Center (CLC) sent three teams to compete: the B1-level "Fresh Calves," the B2-level "Brotherhood across the seas" and the H1-level "Van Gogh and Beethoven." Ultimately, the "Van Gogh and Beethoven" team took the championship.
Following last year's Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Speech Competition, the Rotary International Speech Competition became the next major event, featuring not only Mandarin speeches but also Taiwanese performances. After the registration opened, many students from the CLC expressed their desire to participate. Over a period of more than a month, the students prepared diligently, rectifying their scripts, correcting their pronunciation, and designing their stage performances—all in pursuit of showing the best show to audiences.
A notable aspect of this year's competition was the multicultural composition of the teams, with members from entirely different nationalities. Even the B1-level beginners had to learn to communicate and collaborate in Mandarin, significantly boosting their confidence in speaking the language. CLC's most "senior" participant was a visiting philosophy professor at NCCU. Embracing a spirit of lifelong learning, the professor not only attended Mandarin classes during their time at NCCU but also joined the students in singing and dancing on stage. Even the Mandarin beginners worked hard to improve their performance.
The B1 team, composed of students from the United States, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and Argentina, embodied the essence of their team name, "Fresh Calves," showcasing youthful enthusiasm and sharing their experiences of encountering new things in Taiwan. Their stories included mistaking the garbage truck music for an ice cream truck and struggling to understand menu markings at a stir-fry restaurant, leading to some amusing situations. They ended their performance with a cold joke about "天" (day/tian), and the experiences resonated with the audiences powerfully.
The B2 team, consisting of male students from the Philippines, Russia, France, and India, named their team "Brotherhood across the seas" to reflect their brotherhood despite hailing from four different countries. Their performance humorously highlighted Taiwan's convenience and safety, such as leaving a phone in a bike basket overnight and finding it still there the next day. However, they jokingly remarked that the same might not apply to umbrellas, which could easily be "borrowed."
The H1 team, made up of students from Poland, Japan, Thailand, and the United States, focused on the joys and challenges of learning Mandarin. They dressed up as Van Gogh and Beethoven, using Van Gogh’s identity as a painter to illustrate the "visual aspect" of Chinese characters and Beethoven's sensitivity to sound to emphasize the importance of tones in conveying different meanings. With their advanced Mandarin skills, they cleverly played with Mandarin, Taiwanese, and puns, providing examples like "好不容易" (finally) and "差點沒遲到" (almost late) to demonstrate the use of positive forms to express negative meanings, as well as the ambiguity of certain sentences. Their performance culminated with a musical show of the famous Taiwanese song “Red in All Four Seasons” by Deng Yu-hsien, showcasing the richness and diversity of Taiwan's languages.
In the end, the event not only highlighted the linguistic progress of foreign students but also celebrated cultural diversity and mutual understanding.
The 28th "Mandarin and Taiwanese Speech Competition for Foreign Students in Taiwan," hosted by Rotary International, concluded successfully on January 11th. This year, a total of 13 teams representing 17 countries participated, forming a diverse and dynamic lineup. The Chinese Language Center (CLC) sent three teams to compete: the B1-level "Fresh Calves," the B2-level "Brotherhood across the seas" and the H1-level "Van Gogh and Beethoven." Ultimately, the "Van Gogh and Beethoven" team took the championship.
Following last year's Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Speech Competition, the Rotary International Speech Competition became the next major event, featuring not only Mandarin speeches but also Taiwanese performances. After the registration opened, many students from the CLC expressed their desire to participate. Over a period of more than a month, the students prepared diligently, rectifying their scripts, correcting their pronunciation, and designing their stage performances—all in pursuit of showing the best show to audiences.
A notable aspect of this year's competition was the multicultural composition of the teams, with members from entirely different nationalities. Even the B1-level beginners had to learn to communicate and collaborate in Mandarin, significantly boosting their confidence in speaking the language. CLC's most "senior" participant was a visiting philosophy professor at NCCU. Embracing a spirit of lifelong learning, the professor not only attended Mandarin classes during their time at NCCU but also joined the students in singing and dancing on stage. Even the Mandarin beginners worked hard to improve their performance.
The B1 team, composed of students from the United States, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and Argentina, embodied the essence of their team name, "Fresh Calves," showcasing youthful enthusiasm and sharing their experiences of encountering new things in Taiwan. Their stories included mistaking the garbage truck music for an ice cream truck and struggling to understand menu markings at a stir-fry restaurant, leading to some amusing situations. They ended their performance with a cold joke about "天" (day/tian), and the experiences resonated with the audiences powerfully.
The B2 team, consisting of male students from the Philippines, Russia, France, and India, named their team "Brotherhood across the seas" to reflect their brotherhood despite hailing from four different countries. Their performance humorously highlighted Taiwan's convenience and safety, such as leaving a phone in a bike basket overnight and finding it still there the next day. However, they jokingly remarked that the same might not apply to umbrellas, which could easily be "borrowed."
The H1 team, made up of students from Poland, Japan, Thailand, and the United States, focused on the joys and challenges of learning Mandarin. They dressed up as Van Gogh and Beethoven, using Van Gogh’s identity as a painter to illustrate the "visual aspect" of Chinese characters and Beethoven's sensitivity to sound to emphasize the importance of tones in conveying different meanings. With their advanced Mandarin skills, they cleverly played with Mandarin, Taiwanese, and puns, providing examples like "好不容易" (finally) and "差點沒遲到" (almost late) to demonstrate the use of positive forms to express negative meanings, as well as the ambiguity of certain sentences. Their performance culminated with a musical show of the famous Taiwanese song “Red in All Four Seasons” by Deng Yu-hsien, showcasing the richness and diversity of Taiwan's languages.
In the end, the event not only highlighted the linguistic progress of foreign students but also celebrated cultural diversity and mutual understanding.