The finals of the 6th New Oriental “Online English” Spoken English Contest took place in the Lake Views Hotel, in the city of Beijing, on May 25, with 12 contestants from different universities across China vying for the top three slots.
Sponsors of the contest were New Oriental Education Group, Online English, China Radio International, and NewsPlus Radio, with the awards supplied by Tencent Classroom, Baidu Library, broadcasting program Himalaya, the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, and Youdao dictionary.
Speaking at the ceremony were the CEO of New Oriental Online English, Wang Shoukun, and the director of CRI’s NewsPlus Radio, Wang Lu.
Competition
The contest was done entirely online, starting with internet auditions for more than 20,000 students, followed by a second round involving 700 students, then a third with 90, and the finals with 16. Each round could be seen online, allowing more English lovers to enjoy the event.
Mentors
The contest invited professionals as judges and as mentors to help get the best performances out of the competitors.
Special guests
On hand for the impromptu speech round were four special guests from New Oriental, including Michael Yu, its CEO, who provided the topics to the contestants.
Internships
The winners of the contest got internships from famous enterprises as awards, such as Himalaya, Baidu Library, Youdao dictionary, Zhilian Hiring, and Tencent Classroom. Online English is an English communication platform whose goal is to improve students’ oral English, and to help them practice both teamwork and an ability to survive in the real business world.