The 1st Xiamen 'Little Diplomats' English Proficiency Competition wraps up individual rounds

The  First Xiamen “Little Diplomats” English Proficiency Competition for Primary and Secondary School Students wrapped last weekend. Events were spread across the Xiamen University Affiliated Keji High School, Wuyuan No. 2 Experimental School and Xiamen No. 3 Middle School.

 
The competition was sponsored by the Xiamen Municipal Civilisation Office, Xiamen Municipal Education Bureau and Xiamen Municipal Internet Information Office and was  organised by the Xiamen Academy of Educational Science, Xiamen Kidblog, and Xiamen English Network.

 
 More than 400 students from primary and secondary schools participated in the individual events and competed in four groups: Primary School Group A, Primary School Group B, Junior School Group, and Senior High School Group. 

Primary school group

Contestants in this group were required to give a three-minute keynote speech on the Xiamen BRICS Summit and Civilised Etiquette. During the competition, these young contestants spoke fluent English and confidently talked about table manners, Chinese New Year customs, the influence of good rituals and bad habits. The talent show was very exciting and brilliant, for each of the kids displayed extraordinary talents. Some told a Chinese story in English; some played the piano and at the same time sang an English song; some dubbed dialogues for foreign films; some recited English poems.

 
They showed their enthusiasm for the study of English through their own interests. After the competition, some of them rushed to the foreign judge Anoosh and bombarded him with questions. The foreign teacher said these young contestants were full of confidence.

Junior high school group

For the junior high school group the level of difficulty was increased by requiring the competitors to deliver a three-minute impromptu speech on the significance of etiquette and honesty. It is worth noticing that they were given only one minute to prepare. In spite of this, they were not afraid and still presented their speeches using clear thinking and proficient English. 

In the talent show, the contestants’ performance was just as impressive as that of the primary school group. Zeng Shiqi, a fourteen-year-old girl from Dongshan Middle School, sang an English song accompanying herself with a traditional Chinese zither (guzheng in Chinese pinyin). Liang Chen, from Xiamen Experimental High School, played a piece of Beijing Opera in English. Still others dubbed movies or performed imitations.

Senior high school group

In the senior high school group, the competition further raised the level of difficulty by asking  the contestants to state their opinions on such topics as “Etiquette and Money”, “Respect”, or “Behavior and Thoughts”. In the talent show, many participants performed impressive English poetry recitations.
 

The results of the individual competition will be announced soon on the website of Xiamen Kidblog and its official WeChat account.

The group competition will be held in Wuyuan No. 2 Experimental School on May 28 and May 29.