Students from the United States won the top three prizes in a Mandarin public speaking contest in Taipei Tuesday, in which the contestants, all foreign nationals, described their experiences in Taiwan or shared other viewpoints.
Pierce Gissler McDonnell, one of 54 contestants and an International Chinese Language Program (ICLP) student at National Taiwan University, won first prize at the “2022 Foreign Students Chinese Public Speaking Competition” with his commentary on the topic of religious belief in Taiwan.
In his review, McDonnell described the loud and sharp sounds often heard at temple fairs in Taiwan. His presentation in fluent Mandarin earned him the first prize of NT$20,000 (US$625).
The 24-year-old American told CNA that he arrived in Taiwan about two months ago and hopes to look for work after studying at ICLP for a year.
“I began learning Chinese at an early age when I was three,” McDonnell said. “In fifth grade, I had the opportunity to come to Taiwan and there I made a friendship with my host brother.”
Having remained friends, when he came back to Taiwan as an adult he went to see a religious festival in Lukang Township, Changhua County with his former host brother, who introduced him to this aspect of Taiwanese culture, according to McDonnell.
McDonnell is also currently the vice president of education of the San Francisco Mandarin English Toastmasters, which gives people a chance to practice bilingual public speaking weekly.
“We’ve got a lot of members in Taiwan, China, and the U.S. We meet virtually, and through that club I’ve had the opportunity every week to give speeches together,” McDonnell said.
The annual competition was organized by National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall to promote Chinese-language learning and showcase the beauty of Mandarin, according to Wang Lan-sheng (王蘭生), director-general of the memorial hall.
“It shows that Taiwan provides an excellent environment to learn Mandarin and I’m very happy that the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall holds such an event so students from many different countries can conduct exchanges,” Wang told CNA.
The contestants, from 16 countries, used powerful body language, facial expressions, clear and authentic pronunciation, to enliven their speeches.
Clay Skaggs, a 21-year-old American student, who won the second place prize of NT$16,000, spoke on the topic of if someone should tell white lies as he gave a comedic example of refusing to answer his former girlfriend when asked if she looked fat in a certain outfit.
Skaggs told CNA he hopes to use his Chinese language ability in diplomacy or historical analysis within academia where one needs to look at many different Chinese sources.
Meanwhile, the third prize of NT$12,000 was won by 21-year-old American student Angel J. Martinez Acevedo for his talk on breaking gender stereotypes.
One of the judges, Peter Chen, a professor from the Department of Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics at National Taipei University, said Acevedo moved him to tears with his words.
“I am usually invited every year to judge the Mandarin public speaking contest, but this is the first time I shed tears. I was really touched,” Chen said.
National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel