ne and display their learning achievements in an "If I Were President" speech contest held by the Radio Taiwan International station Sunday evening. A total of 46 students from 14 countries took part in the preliminary round of the contest co-sponsored by the publicly-funded radio station and National Taiwan Normal University's Mandarin Training Center.
The contest was a colorful affair, with the participants using a variety of creative approaches to liven up their speeches.
One of the contestants from Vietnam Du Duc Hiep, a business management student at Tamkang University -- even used a traditional Chinese form of four-verse poetry to express how he would govern as Taiwan's head of state.
Noh Hae Rang, a student from South Korea, used humor to win over the audience and judges. In his speech, Noh announced his candidacy by introducing himself as the chairman of the "broad-minded party." His opening line that he was entering the race to make the Taiwanese people happy and that he wanted to sing his campaign song, "The Future is Not a Dream", drew roars of laughter and applause from the audience.
Meanwhile, Canadian student Charlotte Oke suggested in her speech that the capital of Taiwan be moved to beautiful and scenic Hualien City to make the government a little more likable.
When Vietnamese student Li shih-chuang delivered her speech, she topped it off by using Hakka to urge the Taiwan citizens "to try to be a little nicer to foreigners."
The contest was judged on several criteria, including the contestant's pronunciation and the contents of their speeches, according to Wu Yi-chuan, a Chinese-language teacher at the Mandarin Daily News. The students were also allowed to use costumes, props and other innovative means to try to make a favorable impression on the judges, Wu said.
Among the 46 foreign Mandarin learners taking part in the preliminary round, a total of 15 from 10 countries were chosen to compete in the final round to be held at the radio station Jan. 19.
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