Source: School of Foreign Languages
Written by: School of Foreign Languages
Translated by: Peng Ting, Zheng Lei
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

As part of the 20th Foreign Languages Festival, organized by the School of Foreign Languages (FLS), Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), the Forum “English·Life” and the 20th China Daily “21st Century·Coca-Cola Cup” National English Speaking Competition Regional Final (Guangdong) were held at FLS on December 12 and 13 respectively.

Co-sponsored by China Daily and Coca-Cola, the Forum “English·Life” on the afternoon of December 12 was hosted by Ms. Wang Lei, Vice GM of 21st Century English Education Media. Dr. Xu Dongli, Party Secretary of Faculty of Foreign Languages and International Studies, delivered an opening speech. The forum attracted more than 200 audiences by inviting three outstanding speakers, including Ms. Xu Yanan, a renowned translator and diplomat as well as former Director-general of the Department of Translation and Interpretation at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Zhan Cheng, Vice Dean of School of Interpretation and Translation Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, and Mr. Chen Huizhong, Chief Operating Officer of Guangdong and Fujian at Coca-Cola Greater China. The three guests had an in-depth exchange and discussion with audiences and shared their opinions and experiences about English learning, translation, job hunting as well as interview skills of UN and foreign companies, which drew a round of applause.

 

A scene of the Forum “English·Life”
 

On December 13, the 20th China Daily “21st Century·Coca-Cola Cup” National English Speaking Competition Regional Final (Guangdong) was held, and 23 college students from Guangdong province participated in the competition. After the first round of speeches on the theme of “Seeing Is Not Believing”, contestants in the next round drew lots on site and gave impromptu speeches about social life based on different topics. During the Q&A Session, questions about corporate culture were raised by Coca-Cola Company. In the end, Li Lu from South China University of Technology claimed the first prize, Zhou Dongni from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies was named the first runner-up and Hu Yue from SYSU was awarded the second runner-up.

The Foreign Languages Festival has been a traditional annual event of FLS since 1995. This year to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Prof. Huang Guowen, Dean of Faculty of Foreign Languages and International Studies, delivered a lecture entitled “Language Learning and International Communication” on December 15. Dr. Chiu Kang-yan from the Department of English at FLS also lectured on the topic of "British Literature and the Exotic" on December 11.