Chen Yixian from Tsinghua University Department of Physics won the championship in the college group of the 24th China Daily “21st Century Coca-Cola Cup” National English-Speaking Competition
The 24th China Daily “21st Century Coca-Cola Cup” National English-Speaking Competition was held at the Hangzhou International Expo Center from March 22nd to 24th. Chen Yixian, undergraduate student of year 2017 from the Tsinghua University Department of Physics, won the championship in the college group (with Professor Wu Xia from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures as his tutor) and will represent China in the International Public Speaking Competition hosted by the English-Speaking Union in London in May.
Launched in 1996, the 24th China Daily “21st Century Coca-Cola Cup” National English-Speaking Competition is the regional selection competition held in China for the International English-Speaking Competition held in London, UK, during May every year. Since September 2018, the competition has attracted keen attention from students at home and abroad, with more than one million students of all ages participating in the competition. After the regional preliminaries, semi-finals, and finals, as well as the selection competitions held in campuses and over the internet, 75 contestants have advanced to the national competition of the college group. Chen Yixian, who won the championship in the previous Beijing district selection competition, was promoted to the national competition, which consists of two-day semi-finals and one-day finals.
The finalists gave speeches on the theme "A glimpse into the future" and answered the judges’ questions on the spot. Taking the development of photography technology as an example, Chen Yixian narrated the process of how photography turned from a frightening creation in the past to causing an obsession with taking selfies among today’s young people. He also elaborated the law of social development in which the development of science and technology must complement a human spirit, and described to audiences and judges a bright future of highly developed science and technology, as well as a prosperous human spirit. His speech was filled with both scientific features and a human background, and his answers to the questions asked were tactful and appropriate.
From a different perspective, Chen Qiyu from the Tsinghua University Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures became the first runner-up in the Belt and Road Youth English-Speaking Competition.
The judges of the competition were composed of senior experts from the English-Speaking Union, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy, renowned universities at home and abroad, and the China Daily News Agency.
The Tsinghua University Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures has offered courses on public speaking, established a second classroom for practical teaching, and held public speaking competitions. They have also selected and tutored students from different departments to participate in the national public speaking competition, in which the students have achieved outstanding results. In recent years, teachers and students of Tsinghua University have won four qualifications to represent China in global public speaking competitions, as well as winning several national championships and Beijing championships. They have formed a team with the highest level of public speaking skills and hold the highest number of championships won in the whole country.
Writer: Wilson Khor
Editors: John Olbrich, Guo Lili
