Jiang Chenxin - a Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival veteran and an award-winning writer - has scooped the South China Morning Post Student Linguist of the Year Award.
Judges Helen Kung Chan Wai-ping, senior curriculum development officer (English) of the Education Department, and Professor Evangeline Almberg, of the Department of Translation at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, described the Diocesan Girls' School (DGS) student as a polyglot. In addition to English, Putonghua and Cantonese, 15-year-old Chenxin can also speak a smattering of German.
Having won awards in many speech and writing competitions, including the Original Poetry Composition, she represented the SAR in the World School Debating Championships in Singapore last month. She was among the 16 teams that made it to the finals.
'It's nice to go into languages,' the Singapore-born student said. 'I think languages hold the key to different cultures.'
Both judges were impressed by the winner's forceful presentation style.
Chenxin will be awarded a $20,000 scholarship, a free course at the Art School of the Hong Kong Arts Centre and an academic programme in the United Kingdom.
