Chinese Language 

Alina Qian

Teacher - Chinese (Mandarin)

What can learning Chinese lead to beyond the classroom?

For five Brunswick Secondary College students, their Chinese studies recently led to an exciting opportunity to take part in an international bilingual speech conference, connecting with students from China while also representing BSC on a national stage.

At the beginning of August, these talented students participated in the 17th GOODTALK International Bilingual Speech Conference at Deakin University. The conference brings together young people from different countries and cultural backgrounds through bilingual speech, language learning and intercultural exchange.

For our students, this was a chance to use Chinese in a real-world setting - not simply to complete a classroom task - but to communicate, present their ideas, meet new people and build confidence in front of an international audience.

The students had been preparing their speeches for many weeks, working hard to improve their pronunciation, fluency and presentation skills. Their dedication paid off, with 2 Silver Medals and 3 Bronze Medals awarded to our five participating students：

• Maya Glasson (Year 7) – Bronze Medal

• Greta Lawrie (Year 7) – Silver Medal

• Yihang Song (Year 8) – Silver Medal

• Isaac Batten (Year 9) – Bronze Medal

• Solly Johnston (Year 10) – Bronze Medal

This was also Brunswick Secondary College’s first year participating in GOODTALK, making the achievement particularly special. All the GOODTALK participants enjoyed communicating with people from other cultures, participation in international programs and competitions, developing public speaking and intercultural skills, and building connections that extend well beyond the classroom.

We are incredibly proud of our students for embracing this opportunity and representing Brunswick Secondary College with such confidence and enthusiasm. Congratulations to our five students on this wonderful achievement!