Miami Dade College Chinese-Language Students Win Big at this Year’s Florida International Chinese Speech and Skit Competition

Miami, April 8, 2014 – Chinese-language students at Miami Dade College’s (MDC) prestigious Confucius Institute (CI) recently won eight awards at the 2014 Florida International Chinese Speech and Skit Contest. Among the wins, Carmen Raul, a 10th-grade student who receives language instruction from CI faculty, placed first in the competition’s Level 6 Chinese speech contest.

This year’s competition drew more than 130 students. The group of MDC competitors included six students from the Kendall Campus and the School of Continuing Education and Professional Development and two high-school students, who are taught by CI instructors at the institute’s partner school, the Contemporary Chinese School of South Florida (CCSSF – Miami).

“We are very proud of our student achievements, which will open new doors for their future intellectual and career developments,” said Dr. Jim Yu, director of the Confucius Institute.

The complete list of winners by campus and school include:

MDC Kendall Campus
Rene Betancourt, 2nd place, Chinese Speech Contest, Level 6
Arju Yudasto, 2nd place, Chinese Skit Contest, Level 2
Melissa Garcia, 3rd place, Chinese Speech Contest, Level 3

MDC Wolfson Campus (School of Continuing Education and Professional Development)
Madison Conroy, 2nd place, Chinese Speech Contest, Level 5
Eugena Moulton, 3rd place, Chinese Skit Contest, Level 1
Liliana Kawase, 3rd place, Chinese Skit Contest, Level 1

Contemporary Chinese School of South Florida (CCSSF – Miami), taught by CI faculty
Carmen Raul (10th-grade student), 1st place, Chinese Speech Contest, Level 6
Anna Raul (9th-grade student), 3rd place, Chinese Speech Contest, Level 6

MDC opened the Confucius Institute — a language, culture, and business center that is the first of its kind in South Florida — in 2010. Housed at Wolfson Campus, the Institute is a non-profit learning hub in partnership with China’s Jiangsu Normal University. CI offers credit and non-credit Chinese Mandarin instruction; educational, cultural and business seminars; and supports MDC’s study abroad programs, international education, and community outreach involving China.