【時報訊】聖路易大學高中二年級學生 William Edwards日前贏得Cheng & Tsui公司所主辦之「第二屆全美中文教師暨學生卡拉OK網路歌唱大賽」個人組第一名。這是聖路易大學高中第一次有學生報名參與比賽。William Edwards在全美報名的數百名中文學生中拔得頭籌，贏得個人組冠軍。他特別感謝他的中文班同學Matt Cooley協助製作網路影片，才能得到如此佳績。
William Edwards在十月得知這個全美中文卡拉歌唱比賽後，就與他的中文老師簡瑞瑋討論如何準備。首先在簡老師提供的眾多中文歌曲中，他挑選了難度極高的”青花瓷”。William Edwards表示他喜愛挑戰自己的極限，而周杰倫的這首「青花瓷」正是他對自我挑戰的最佳寫照。
William Edwards表示在準備期間，簡瑞瑋老師指導他發音，音樂旋律，並詳細地解說這首歌的背景故事。他說：”更重要的是簡老師的熱忱給我很大的鼓勵與信心，讓我想要努力學習好這首歌。 我不斷地聽周杰倫的歌唱，我以為我已經準備好了，但在錄音期間，我還是重複了無數次，這首歌真的很難。”整個影片是在聖路易大學高中校園內拍攝完成， 另一位中文同學Matt Cooley拍攝製作並剪輯完成了這段四分鐘的影片。
簡瑞瑋老師則表示：“我對於William主動參與的決心十分感動，他只學了一年多的中文，花了很多時間準備，也鼓勵他的同學Matt 和他合作。 事實上，這兩位中文學生對此次比賽的用心程度，不亞於他們平常學習中文的熱忱，他們真可作為學習中文者的好榜樣。”
聖路易大學高中開設中文班已有三十多年的歷史，以往是聖路易地區唯一教授中文的高中。 近年來中文的學習熱潮不斷，也促使一些初中及高中開始提供中文課程，讓更多美國學生可以從小就接觸這個世界語言。
William Edwards的冠軍獎品是一個Xbox 360或是等值的商品，他也受邀成為明年的評審團成員。位於波士頓的Cheng & Tsui Inc. 是此次活動的主辦單位，也是全美亞洲語言的最大出版公司，提供全美各級學校亞洲語言學習者所需的眾多書籍，影片及相關資訊。
St. Louis University High School Sophomore StudentWilliam Edwards Wins Chinese Karaoke Singing Championship
Sophomore William Edwards has been named winner of the solo division of Cheng & Tsui SuperStar, a national video karaoke contest for Chinese language students. The first SLUH student to ever submit a video for the contest, Edwards topped more than 500 other entries in achieving this feat. His classmate Matt Cooley assisted in the production of the video.
Edwards learned about the contest in Chinese class at the beginning of the second quarter. Rueih-Wei Chien, his Chinese teacher, provided several song samples from which to choose. Edwards, who likes a challenge, purposely chose an extremely difficult song, Quing Hua Ci by Jay Chou.
Mrs. Chien served as his coach as he prepared for the video shoot. “She helped me in the pronunciations and melodies of the song. Above all, she had a lot of enthusiasm and really gave me a lot of energy.” Edwards also listened to the song many times to help him prepare, but admits “the singing was the hardest part of the process. We had to redo several takes to ensure I had it just right.”
After submitting his video, which was shot on SLUH’s campus by Cooley, Edwards says he was “amazed at the level of support from the entire SLUH community. I felt the brotherhood among my fellow students.” He also says he is grateful for the support from Cooley, Mrs. Chien and Mr. Tim O’Neil, who provided video assistance.
The 3 judge panel selected the SLUH team of Edwards and Cooley as the best. Judge Xiaodong Zhao said, “William, I highly commend you on choosing a song with many hard words. You sang well, especially the sentence “而我在等妳 炊煙裊裊昇起 隔江千萬里.” Each word was clearly and accurately pronounced. Great job!”. Judge for yourself: http://www.cheng-tsui.com/superstar/index.php?q=finalists
"I would like to thank William and Matthew for taking on this challenge in only their second year of Chinese language studies," says Mrs. Chien. "They dedicated the time and energy necessary to be successful. This is the same approach they bring to class each and everyday."
As winner of the solo division, Edwards will receive his choice of an American Express gift card, Xbox 360 or an iTouch. Cheng & Tsui, the contest sponsor, is an independent publisher and distributor of English and multilingual educational materials about Asia.
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