News

Best young speakers from Asia will be the talk of the town in Cambridge

7 February 2012

A group of ambitious young students from nine regions across Asia will soon battle it out for a place in the final of the Best Young Speaker of Cambridge English in Asia competition.

The University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL) launched the competition in 2011 with the aim of finding highly talented young speakers who have recently taken Cambridge English exams in Asia. Competitors have to demonstrate their public speaking skills for the chance of winning a scholarship for an MBA in London or a Graduate Certificate in International business in Australia.

The final will be held in Cambridge this summer and some regional rounds have already taken place across Asia.

“We’ve been really struck by the talented speakers participating in the regional rounds and I’m sure the next stage will be really competitive,” says Simon Wright, Marketing Manger from Cambridge ESOL. “It’s really impressive to see young people achieving such high levels of spoken English and I’m looking forward to seeing the finalists in Cambridge later this year.”

The regions participating in the scholarship competition are China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. A series of regional rounds took place at the end of last year and there will be a second phase in early 2012 to choose the regional winners.

The competition has already attracted a number of high profile sponsors such as KPMG in China - Mr. Eddie So, Senior Partner, KPMG Advisory (China) Limited said that: “I am really impressed with the English communication skills and public speaking skills that the candidates have demonstrated.”

Watch a video from the some of the regional rounds that took place in Taiwan: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWnz89jVqiE&context=C32fa126ADOEgsToPDskLoYen3u1yyBXHG7lp_DKke