In order to further strengthen the exchange and cooperation of foreign language teaching and international high-quality personnel training among colleges and universities of Excellent League for the development of Double First Class University Plan, on November 2, the 3rd Excellence Cup English Speaking Contest was successfully held in Dalian University of Technology. Participants from nine universities of the League gave speeches with the theme of Chinese Dream, My Dream and impromptu speeches on various social hot issues, which brought the judges and the audience a feast of diverse views and witty remarks. Under the  guidance of Ma Hui, Liu Xiqin and Rong Rong from the School of Foreign Languages, students from SCUT achieved good results in the contest, making the best record for the university. Among the award recipients, He Mingjie, a second-year student at ISAM, won a third prize in the competition of the non-professional group.

 Award-winning students and instructors (He Mingjie, third from the left)  

Now, let's hear what He has learned from the experience.

"I feel privileged to participate in contest and have such a rewarding journey. Competing with students from various universities in a city that I have never been to is a very precious experience for me. By watching other people's speeches, I learned many different speech styles and techniques which could help better my performance for improvement.

Drawing on the preparation, I learned that practice makes perfect. In the early stage of the contest, I practiced impromptu speeches with my instructor again and again. In fact, there is no shortcut at all. Fluency can only be obtained through constant practice.

Although I didn't get the first prize in the end, I am quite satisfied with my performance. I also realize that with continuous efforts, everyone can enjoy the accomplishment of improved English speaking ability."

In addition to the instructor's careful guidance and his own efforts, the all-English teaching mode of ISAM enhances students' English capacity to a certain extent. Since the innovation class was changed to English teaching in 2016, the program has adopted a teaching method that emphasizes both English ability and professional knowledge. The objective is to cultivate international, high-quality top talents with a solid and broad theoretical basis of natural science and materials, with in-depth and systematic professional knowledge in materials, with international vision, strategic innovation thinking, independent scientific research ability and organizational leadership