On Wednesday April 26th, LRC held the award presentation ceremony for the 2nd UIC MyET English Speaking Contest, which was a web-based contest jointly organized by the Learning Resource Centre and the English Language Centre. The contest began February 28th till March 15th, 2017. Presenters at the ceremony consisted of Prof. Zee Sze Yong (UIC Vice President), Dr. Viola Wong (Director of the English Language Centre), Ms. Fung Ying Cham (Deputy College Librarian) and Mr. Edward Martin (Lecturer of the English Language Centre).
The awardees and presenters
During the ceremony, Professor Zee shared his ideas of learning English with the attendees. Professor Zee pointed out an important aspect of learning English which is to use it every day. He remembers practicing English in front of a mirror, with limited resources and no advanced learning software such as MyET during his school days. He suggested that students should be awarded badges for using English every day, which can motivate them to practice harder. He also encouraged more students to participate in the contest and make use of LRC’s English learning resources.
Professor Zee shares his English learning experiences
Prof Zee Sze Yong presents the first place to Zhang Xingquan
Prof Zee Sze Yong with one of the 2nd place winners
Dr. Viola Wong with one of the 3rd place winners
Mr. Martin presents Honourable Mention award
After receiving his award, the 1st prize winner, Year 3 student Zhang Xingquan from DST, shared his experience of participating in the contest. The contest made him aware of MyET, which he found to be very useful as the software can pinpoint his weakness in English speech and help him improve his accent.
Over 270 students participated in the 2nd UIC MyET English Speaking Contest this year. The contest makes use of MyET’s award-winning technology “Automatic Speech Analysis System (ASAS©)” to analyze contestants’ speech on the four aspects of Pronunciation, Pitch, Timing and Emphasis, ensuring accurate and instant scoring.
MyET is one of the best pieces of software for learning to speak English in the market. Currently, LRC subscribes to over 40 courses under the MyET platform that can be accessed either via computer, laptop, or cellphone.
Excerpts of contestants’ testimonials:
Zhang Xingquan: “MyET is a good software for improving speaking ability, compared to similar products, it is widely used in the world, which provide a platform for English learners to talk lively and jovially.”
Zhang Tongyao: “It was a very good experience and opportunity for me to practice my English-speaking skill on pronunciation and tone. During the competition, I had a TOEFL test. Thus, the whole competition helped my pronunciation became more fluent and authentic through constant practicing.”
Li Yiting: “During the competition, I practiced over and over again, just to adjust myself to a better condition and try to get a higher score. I want to say thank you to MyET for giving me this great opportunity to practice my spoken English and lead my English to a higher level.”
