The finals of the 2005 Intercollegiate English Speech Contest, co-sponsored by Studio Classroom and the Rotary Club of Taipei, took place in the Holiday Inn Asiaworld Taipei on Saturday, March 19. Soochow University's Tseng Ting-Hsuan, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology's Huang Pin-Cheng, and National Taiwan Normal University's Lin Man-Cho excelled in the improvisatory speech contest in the finals and came in first, second, and third.

First place Tseng Ting-Hsuan won round-trip tickets to the U.S. East Coast and one-month home stay. Second place Huang Pin-Chang won round-trip tickets to the West Coast of the U.S. and a three-week home stay. Third place Lin Man-Chiu will enjoy round-trip tickets to Kuala Lumpur and 10 days of home stay hospitality.

Approximately one hundred top students island-wide, recommended by their universities, entered this elite speech contest with strong desires to compete. Many students were accompanied by parents and teachers, which added to the competitive atmosphere of this great event. Contestants had to speak on one of two topics: ¡§The Influence of Confucian Culture on Taiwan Today¡¨ or ¡§A Memorable Experience Which Has Had a Major Impact on Your Life.¡¨ After passing the preliminaries, and semi-finals, the contestants entered the final speech contest. During the finals, contestants watched a four-minute short film about the recent international humanitarian efforts in India. After a two-minute break, they had to improvise a three-minute speech.
A total of nine students competed in the finals. Some contestants described their dreams of introducing modern medical facilities to rural areas. Others expressed the thought of helping the low-income population and the value of love and sacrifice. Each speaker displayed the unique ideas and global perspective of college students in Taiwan. The final winners also shared their valuable insights on learning English. Second place winner Huang Pin-Chang said he had entered the contest three years ago but did not make it to the finals. Over the last few years, he has practiced English through radio and television broadcasts and also Internet programs, and these have all contributed to his success today. He encourages all students who desire to excel in English to build a firm foundation through diligent practice.

The main objectives of Studio Classroom and the Rotary Club of Taipei in sponsoring the 2005 Intercollegiate English Speech Contest are to improve the English language levels of colleges island-wide and expand global perspectives of students, thus bringing Taiwan into the spotlight of the international stage.

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