【Article by Chinese Language Center】

Students from the National Chengchi University (NCCU) Chinese Language Center delivered outstanding performances at the "29th Foreign Students in Taiwan Mandarin and Taiwanese Speech Contest" on April 25, successfully claiming both the championship and runner-up titles in the Mandarin category. Organized by Rotary International, this highly anticipated annual event brings together top international students to showcase their profound language learning achievements and deep understanding of Taiwanese culture on a competitive stage.

Traditionally held during the winter term in January, this year's competition was rescheduled to April, aligning with the Center’s spring term, and relocated to Taibei Senior High School. Despite the incredibly tight preparation window from registration to the actual event, two teams represented the NCCU Chinese Language Center and both achieved remarkable success. Under the meticulous guidance of their instructors, the students maximized their intensive practice sessions to perfect their scripts, performance formats, pronunciation, and overall stage presence, resulting in highly polished and captivating performances.

Taking home the championship was the "Butterfly Lovers" team, comprised of Emilia Weronika Pawłowska from Poland and Ina Tao Prytz from Norway, from CLC’s High Intermediated class, the duo presented on the topic "How I Would Introduce Taiwan to the World". They creatively adapted the classic Butterfly Lovers tale, imagining the characters time-traveling to the modern era, and seamlessly utilized traditional Huangmei Opera melodies for scene transitions.

By incorporating elegant four-character idioms, they vividly showcased Taiwan's natural scenery, local delicacies, and warm hospitality. The committee, Ms. Lai Wen-hsuan of National Taiwan University, praised the students for memorizing such a challenging script, while another committee Mr. Hsieh Sheng-kang of National Taipei University of Education commended the immense effort invested by both the teachers and students during preparation.

The runner-up title was awarded to the "Time-Traveling Besties," a team consisting of Abhaya Tiwari from India, Sabi Rosario Andia Cardenas from Peru, and Minh Anh Vu from Germany. Coming from the intermediate I3 class, the trio focused on the theme "Surprises and Changes Taiwan Brought to Me". Through a dream narrative, they depicted the strong bond they formed while learning Mandarin in Taiwan, fast-forwarding forty years into the future where the friends reunite in Taiwan to share their personal growth.

Their performance cleverly integrated familiar local elements, such as the PX Mart theme song and the tune "I Miss You" (好想你), alongside everyday Taiwanese experiences like earthquakes and local conversations in Taiwanese language. Assistant Professor Liu Jui-ying from Chang Gung University noted that despite the high pressure of being the first group to perform, the trio maintained a remarkably steady and confident stage presence, demonstrating exceptional dedication that made their presentation highly infectious.

The diverse backgrounds of the participating students, hailing from Poland, Norway, India, Peru, and Germany, perfectly illustrate the unique, multinational learning environment of the NCCU Chinese Language Center. Through this cross-cultural teamwork, students not only advanced their language capabilities but also built strong communication skills and public speaking confidence, earning special praise from the organizers for their collaborative spirit. The CLC extends its deepest gratitude to instructors Chang Hsu-lun and Kuo Shan-yu, whose professional guidance and tireless dedication during the critical two-week preparation period were instrumental to this success.

Looking ahead, the CLC will host a short video competition before the end of the spring term to further celebrate and evaluate the learning outcomes of students across all proficiency levels. These works are scheduled to be published on the CLC’s online platforms in early May, followed by a results presentation banquet on May 5 at the International Building, where all university faculty and students are cordially invited to join the festivities. Following the banquet, an online popularity vote will be launched, inviting everyone to witness the students' fruitful learning achievements and vote for their favorite outstanding works.