As outlined in our earlier story (see http://www.baodanang.vn/english/useful-infomation/drinking-eating/201406/calling-all-native-english-speakers-2334973/), TiPi café at 57 Pham Van Nghi opened on 24 May this year offering English language learners an opportunity to interact with each other and with native English speakers.  The café holds many events every week, such as talks, music nights, pronunciation sessions, debates, and games nights.  In addition it is now offering an opportunity for Beginner English students to improve their skills completely free.  Under the TiPi project called ‘Give’, sessions are held every day from 2.00pm – 5.30pm when TiPi staff and foreign volunteers sit with customers and help them to learn English.

For the last 2 weeks TiPi Café has been holding their English Speaking Contest with ‘I care about social issues’ as its theme.  Almost 200 contestants took part in Round 1, in which they had to write a short essay detailing why they wished to take part in the contest.  In Round 2 each contestant gave a 60-second presentation introducing themselves, and those reaching Round 3 gave a 3-minute presentation on a topic of their choice relating to social issues.  Fourteen contestants made it through to the semi-final which involved a debate, and 7 contestants were selected for last night’s final.    

The 7 finalists each gave a talk about their English learning experiences, with advice for other learners, and then gave a 5-minute presentation on a social issue which was chosen at random on the night.

The 7 finalists – from left: Huy, Lam, Phuong, Khoa, Nguyen, Long and Thao

The judging panel throughout the competition assessed each candidate’s grammar, pronunciation, fluency, quick reaction to questioning, and topic relevance.  The eventual champion was 20-year-old Nguyen Dang Duy Thao, a third year petroleum engineering student at Da Nang University of Technology.  He said “This is unbelievable.  I only started studying English seriously 2 years ago and I have taught myself.”  The judges were impressed with his fluency and command of the English language.

The champion – Thao – giving his winning presentation

In second place, and also the winner of the award for best pronunciation overall, was 10-year-old Truong Nhat Khoa of Phu Dong Elementary School.  “I feel very excited to be in second place,” said Khoa, “but I would be more excited to be first!”.

Third place went to Cao Nguyen Anh Huy, a 12-year-old student from Nguyen Hue Secondary School.  He said “I love learning English and I am very happy to be in the top 3.”.

Although age was irrelevant in the judging, it is encouraging to note that 2 of the top 3 were of such a young age.

The remaining 4 finalists, who received encouragement awards, were Mai Ha Nguyen, Nguyen Duc Long, Tran Nguyen Phuong, and Doan Phan Gia Lam.  In addition, a special prize of a tour to BaNa Hills Resort, donated by Vitours, was presented to Phan Thi Hang from the Pullman Da Nang Beach Resort for being the best contestant currently working in the tourism industry. 

The total value of all the prizes was 27 million VND.  The main sponsor was the Kretop Concrete Protection  Specialties Company, and Greenstar English Language Centre who gave each of the 7 finalists a scholarship towards a course of study at the school.

Congratulations to all who took part in this competition – learning English can really pay off!

(Written by Ian Lister and Carole Kendal)