Shaanxi Spoken English Contest

On August 1 Gallop International English School will host the final round of the 2nd Annual Shaanxi Province Spoken English Network Contest. To take place at a hotel located in the eastern part of the city the whole day event will be packed with the finalists who have successfully advanced through the other several rounds of competition.

Round one began in May as kindergarten students across the province were video recorded giving speeches, singing songs or doing chats. These videos were judged and a hundred plus of the best were offered entry to the next round. As the kindergarten students were having their online competition primary and middle school students were busy preparing themselves for their first encounter with judges that took place that same month.

Huanghe Experiment Primary School was the location of the first round for these older kids. For two days Chinese teachers and judges viewed thousands of children’s prepared introductions and monologues, all varying in degrees of difficulty. Depending on the education level the students would then be asked to describe a picture or tell a story using four given words. Subsequently the best students where given certificates and either excused from the competition or offered advancement to the semi-final round.

Many of the students attend English training institutions such as Gallop International. These students work with foreign, native English speaking teachers and their abilities in the competition are noticeably higher and more proficient. Before the semi-finals on July 17 and 18 many of the students attended trainings offered by Gallop to prepare them for the competition. They not only gave the students a better understanding of what the competition would demand of them but the preperation gave them more confidence.

The semi-finals were held for 2 days in the Gallop office in the Tian Cia building on Jin Hua Bei Lu. Hundreds of nervous students and their proud parents lined the hallways of the school. Chinese judges were accompanied by foreign representatives of the school. The 12 foreigners are a mixture of American, British and Irish nationalities and were there to lend their native tongues to the competition. They asked questions of the kindergarteners, had primary students describe pictures and asked the middle school students to creatively construct four words into a story.

Overall they will be asked to help critic the videos of the contestants after the results are tallied when the semi-final winners begin to prepare for the grand finale on August 1. there will be a whole host of winners on the day in August, no one child with walk away with the prize, but the top of the top will have a chance to go to Beijing for the China National Spoken English Competition as representatives of Shaanxi Province. An honor many of the children dream of for themselves, their families and schools.

To view the contestants from this year and see footage from last years contest please visit http://www.ccgjyyds.com/