The 19th Macao-wide English Speech Contest and 26th “21st Century Cup” National English Speaking Competition Macao Regional Contest took place on Saturday, 28th November 2020.
The Macao-wide English Speech Contest was established in 2002, its purpose being to promote the use of English in Macao in the era of globalisation, to encourage people from all walks of life to learn English, and to promote English language teaching.
This year's Contest was organised by the Macao Polytechnic Institute.
Ever since the 4th Macao-wide English Speech Contest in 2005, the Contest has enjoyed a nationwide affiliation with China Daily’s “21st Century” National English Speaking Competition, and many winners of the Macao-wide English Speech Contest have advanced to compete in the national English speaking competition. This year's winners of the Upper Primary School, Senior High School and College categories will have the opportunity to participate in the national competition. In recent years, the Contest winners of the college category also have had the opportunities to participate in the finals of the FLTRP Cup National English Speaking Contest.
The overall theme of the 19th Macao-wide English Speech Contest was “VISION 2020”. Under this theme, the subtopics for the different categories were: “Past, Present and Future” (for the College Category), “My Generation” (for the Senior High School Category), and “The Person I Am Today” for the Upper Primary School Category. The final round of the Contest included a total of 45 contestants, who were selected from among 98 semifinal contestants. This year, the semifinal took place by video judging rather than on-stage performance. On the other hand, the final round was a joyous occasion, with the brilliant contestants displaying their public speaking talents and deep insights on stage. The final took place in the Auditorium of MPI, and was also live-streamed. The distinguished panel of judges consisted of professors representing the institutions of higher education in Macau: City University of Macau, Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macau University of Science and Technology, the University of Macau, and the University of St. Joseph.
Each year, the Macao-wide English Speech Contest has adopted a different theme. We look forward to many future contests and more exciting new topics. Congratulations to all the award winners and contestants!
More details about the annual Macao-wide English Speech Contest, including selected videos of past Contests, can be found on the website: http://speechcontest.ipm.edu.mo/
