MANDARIN: Majean Rogers, Lui Ziqi, Nikia Davis and Evelyn Crawford practise Mandarin together before their Chinese competition on Friday. Photo Haylee King D4100-14
TARAWERA High School will be represented by three students at the Rotorua Inter-Schools Chinese Speech Competition on Friday.
Majean Rogers, Evelyn Crawford and Nikia Davis have been learning Mandarin this year from visiting teacher Liu Ziqi.
The students have learnt basic Mandarin and about the Chinese culture, and were selected to compete because of their talent.
“They had to figure out what they would talk about and my job was to help them,” Miss Ziqi said.
Year 7 student Nikia’s speech is based on the Chinese culture and the Mandarin language. Her speech will include her interest in music and at the end, she will sing a song in Mandarin.
Year 8 student Evelyn said her speech was about where she came from and her grandmother, who was Chinese.
Year 9 student Majean said his speech was about family. As a year 9 student, Majean needed to present his speech for 45 to 60 seconds.
Majean said he had competed in speech competitions in the past and felt confident about taking the stage on Friday.
Both girls were also feeling confident about the competition where they would have to speak for 30 to 45 seconds.
This week the trio have spent a lot of time practising and perfecting their speech.
“They are awesome and outstanding students,” Miss Ziqi said.
She said their Mandarin pronunciation showed they had talent and their attitude to work and learning was great.
The students learn Mandarin three times a week – twice with Miss Ziqi and once via video conference with Western Heights High School.
Seventeen schools will take part in the competition, which has been running for 16 years. This year the competition will be held at Western Heights.