A 76-year-old man yesterday won an English-language speech contest for senior citizens that was designed to raise awareness of the elderly and highlight their continued ability to learn.
The competition was staged by the Taipei City Government's Bu-reau of Social Affairs, the Catholic Foundation for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia (天主教失智老人基金會), as well as a number of hospitals and homes for the elderly.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
There were 12 contestants, who spoke on the topic "My Family."
While the overall purpose of the competition was to promote consciousness of the needs of the elderly, the foundation had a particular point to make with its sponsorship of the event -- that the mental exercise involved in such disciplines as language learning can serve as an antidote to Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's causes nerve cells in the brain to die gradually, leading to dementia. Sufferers have problems with memory, judgment and thinking. There is as yet no cure for the disease, which has become more prevalent in Taiwan and elsewhere with rapid increases in lifespan.
Wang Jih-yuan (
"It's important to have the best possible English-studying environment," he said. "If everyone around you speaks English, your English skills will naturally improve."
Although the memories of the elderly may not be as good as those of youngsters, Wang said, elderly people can nonetheless improve their English skills by devoting time and effort to learning the language on a daily basis.
Contestant Lin Li-hua (
"I think learning English is a good pastime for me," said Lin, adding that having the courage to speak English out loud is necessary if one wants to learn the language well.
According to Chen Chun-yu (陳俊佑), a supervisor with the foundation, the contestants were judged on pronunciation, poise and speech content. The contestants were selected from an initial group of 25.
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