On April 23, Bellaire’s students taking Chinese participated in the annual Chinese Speaking Competition.  After spending months preparing for the event, the Chinese foreign language students were anxious to compete against each other and other Chinese students in the Houston area.  Chinese teachers Ms. Tsai and Ms. Huang were proud to have their students represent the school at the competition where John Martins received 1^st place in the Non- Native Speaker competition, Nuejah Outten received 3^rd place in the Non- Native Speaker competition, Jonathan Zhang received 2^nd place in the Native Speaker competition and Mariana Keymolen, Samantha Su, Thalia Rigney, Dorothy Zhan, Tiffany Li, Grace Readore, Alyssa Yang, Alisa Lu, and Sara Tin- U received honorable mention awards.
Sophomore John Martins has been taking Chinese for almost three years now, having been influenced to take the class by his 4^th grade teacher who spent their childhood in China.  Martins remembered taking part in a similar speaking competition the previous year and felt motivated to participate again in the hopes of placing.  His preparation and hopes payed off after having placed 1^st in the Non- Native Speaking competition.

“I honestly did not expect to win,” Martins said.  “I had very tough opponents who I knew were very good at Chinese.  I was super nervous.  I spent a lot of time trying to relax and meditate which helped me a lot.  My mind worked a lot better when I was relaxed.”

Martins also remembered how often he practiced in preparation for the competition.  He worked with Ms. Tsai who pushed him to be the best he could.

“I spent maybe overall 10 hours practicing,” Martins said.  “Ms. Tsai was always insistent on meeting deadlines and getting our tones and speeds just right.  She pushed us a lot and would help help me after school almost everyday if I needed it.”

Being in such a competitive learning environment also helped Martins while practicing for the competition.  He felt motivated to show how well he could speak.

“I felt like the fact that there are a lot of Chinese kids in my class helps a lot,” Martins said.  “It forced us to use our Chinese to talk to them and it also allowed us to ask for help when we needed it.”

Martins was able to see the benefits of competing which also helped push him to continue practicing.  Competing was an overall great experience for him.

“The competition actually helped me a lot,” Martins said.  “I learned plenty of new words, I met new people, and my Chinese grammar and speaking improved too.  I got my name out there and a lot of the Taiwanese business workers gave me their contact information in case I needed anything.”

Chinese foreign language students hope to improve their Chinese speaking skills and look forward to competing while representing the school in the years to come.