The Wenzao Ursuline University College of Languages in Taiwan recently held a speech contest for their international students. Molly decided to participate because it was a good chance for her to improve her Chinese and have some fun. The following is a Chinese and English transcript of her impressive speech.
大家好！我的名字是茉莉。茉莉花的茉莉。今天我要說的題目是'為什麼我喜歡來台灣學中文"。我來自美國，由美國媽媽扶養我長大。媽媽在我小的時候，從中國領養我到美國生活。因為我看起來就像一個台灣人或是大陸人，一般人看到我都以為我會說國語，可是當我一開口說話，大家就覺得很驚訝！
我來台灣的第一個目標是把中文學好，希望我能夠說流利的國語。第二個目標則是希望學習傳統的台灣文化和語言。我覺得跟別的國家比較起來，台灣能夠提供一個適合學習中文的環境，是個比較理想的地方。台灣人都非常友善也很誠實，很能夠接受外來的人。在這裡，生活的環境跟氣氛讓人感到輕鬆自在。
最近我的美國妈妈問了我一個問題。他問我"簡體字跟繁體字有什麼差別"我舉了一個例子給妈妈聽。我說，以"愛" 這個字來說，簡體字的愛跟繁體字的愛就很不一樣。簡體字的愛沒有'心'可是繁體字的愛有心。這讓我感覺到台灣是華語文化的中心。 台灣人保留傳統的繁體字，也得以保存傳統的花語文化。簡體字有時候可能會破壞文字的美感，也可能減少了傳承中國傳統文化的機會。
對世界上每一個國家而言，最重要的知識就是文字。透過文字，一個國家得以對全世界傳達自己的文化，語言，和傳統。我很高興我能有這個機會到台灣學習，我期許自己能在台灣學好中文，文字和華語文化。這是我這一年的目標。謝謝！
Hello everyone! My name is Molly. My name means"Jasmine flower". Today my speech contest theme is "Why I wanted to come to Taiwan to study Chinese". I come from America. When I was little my mother adopted me from China and brought me to America to live. However, because I look Taiwanese or Chinese when everyone first see's me they think I can speak perfect Chinese. But as soon as I start speaking they are very surprised!
My first goal in coming to Taiwan is to be able to speak extremely good Chinese! My second goal is that I hope to learn traditional Chinese culture and language. I feel that compared to other countries studying in Taiwan is the most ideal place to learn Chinese. Taiwanese people are very friendly, honest, and very welcoming to foreigners. Taiwan's also has a very relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.
Recently my American mother asked me a question. She asked me "What is the difference between simplified and traditional Chinese characters?" In response I gave her an example of the difference. I used the character 'ai" which means 'love'. As soon as you look at both the simplified and traditional version you will see that they are very different. The simplified version of 'love' does not have the character 'heart' but when you write 'love' in the traditional way there is a 'heart'. This made me feel that Taiwan is the heart of true Chinese culture. Because Taiwan uses traditional Chinese characters, therefore Taiwan has preserved traditional Chinese culture. Simplified characters sometimes damage the beauty of traditional Chinese characters and hinder the chance to pass on Chinese culture.
Every country's most important knowledge is its writing system. A writing system helps people share their culture, language, and traditions with the rest of the world. This is my reason for coming to Taiwan to study. Thank you!