Twins win first voiceover contest for young children

When 10-year-old twin sisters, Lee Pei-ying (李沛穎) and Lee Pei-hua (李沛樺), acted out their parts in perfect American English, there were no doubts that they won the hearts of the contest judges.

It was no surprise when they were later awarded first place in the final of the first National Animation Voiceover Contest. When asked about how they were going to use the award money, one of the sisters said, "pay for tuition fees!"

Yesterday many local children demonstrated their amazing English and acting abilities in the contest held by the C Want Creating Learning Company, a subsidiary of the China Television Company (CTV).

The contest used fragments from CTV's English-teaching program, ABC to Go, as material for the contest. The participants had to do voiceovers of the fragments. The participants consisted of children from three to 13 years old, but parents were allowed to support them as part of the team.

Some of the participants came from as far afield as Tainan and Kaohsiung, and there was also a team consisting of six people from one family.

Most children were bold and spoke English naturally, and they acted out their parts without being shy.

Most participants were familiar with the program and memorized the lines well, and many of them acted their lines in excellent North American accents.

15 teams were chosen to appear in the final and 5 teams were awarded prizes.

"With this program and contest, we are encouraging the children to make English a part of their life instead of only an academic subject," said the contest hostess, renowned CTV anchorwoman Shen Chun-hua (沈春華).