Ten Middle School students competed in the 2024 National Chinese Speech Contest, with three advancing to the finals on March 24.  

The contest was hosted by the American Academy of International Culture and Education and is designed for Chinese learners in the United States and Canada. Over 1400 students competed in this contest in 2023, and over 1000 students competed in 2024.   

For submission, students must prepare a speech and record a video of them reciting it. There are different categories of entry, separated by grade, and there are several progression rounds before a student can qualify for the final round. This year’s topic is “The Beauty of Chinese,” according to the American Academy of International Culture and Education website.  

“First, [students] need to tell me that they want to participate, and I’ll work with them on creating their speech, and help edit it,” Middle School Chinese teacher Xiaoling Zhang said. “Then they go practice the speech [on their own] and learn how to deliver the speech.”   

Judges will review every submission and are also allowed to ask follow-up questions regarding a student’s speech topic.   

“My speech was about going to Disneyland during the Chinese New Year so they asked me what foods I eat, and how I’m going to celebrate [Chinese New Year] next year,” Garrett Clark, a 7th grader who attended the competition, said.   

Three students received awards in the final round. Fifth-grade student Fiona Ou earned an honorable mention in the Grades 3-5 Heritage Language Group. Clark and seventh-grade student Adam Tawil both earned honorable mentions in the Grades 6-8 World Language Group.   

“I tried my best and getting an honorable mention was really surprising,” Ou said. “It took a lot of work and practicing my speech every day in front of the mirror.”   

A contest, sponsored by the North Texas Chinese Culture Promotion Association, will be hosted in person at the University of Texas at Dallas on April 27. It will be similar to the National Chinese Speech Contest but with a focus on storytelling and presentation techniques.

“I definitely expect to make the finals next year, and I’ll be gunning for first place,” Tawil said. “We’ll see what happens.”