On May 18^th, the 2014 “FLTRP Cup” National English Debating Invitational kicked off at the FLTRP International Conference Center in Daxing, Beijing. 105 teams from different universities participated in this competition. After 8 preliminary rounds lasting 3 days, 32 teams survived the fierce contests. Fu Duanling and Liu Yinglun from the Department of Translation and Interpretation, the School of Foreign Languages and Literature, successfully entered the short list, together with other 7 teams, under the guidance of their coach, Ms. Chen Jinqiu. They went all the way to the quarter-final and then to the semi-final, as the only team from Central China to go so far, winning the National First Prize Award and setting the best record of Wuhan University in such competitions. Their eloquence and fluency in English left a deep impression on all those present, receiving praise from adjudicators and fellow debaters. Their coach, Ms. Chen Jinqiu also spoke highly of their performance, “They created a miracle.”

Fu Duanling is one of the Top 10 WHU 2013 Luojia Fengyun Students, also the first one from the School of Foreign Languages and Literature to receive the honor. As a former President of the English Debate Team of WHU, she implemented a series of reforms and led the team to take the crowns in all Central China Debate Tournaments held by the International Debate Education Association (IDEA) in 2013. She was herself the champion of the first and third Debate Tournaments.

Because of their wonderful performances, the winning students were sponsored by IDEA to participate in the 2013 China Open in Xi’an and win the Second Prize, the best among all the participating teams from Central China. With Fu Duanling’s efforts, the team gradually made a name in WHU and became widely known, attracting a large group of outstanding students from other schools. Meanwhile, Liu Yinglun, a former EDT President after Fu Duanling, is one of the Top 50 WHU Luojia Fengyun Students, winning awards for the team in various competitions. As a result, some students often joke, “Only the one with the title of WHU Luojia Fengyun Student can be qualified for the position of EDT President.”

The “FLTRP Cup” National English Debating Tournament was held for the very first time in 1997 and has been one of the most popular and prestigious English debate contests in China, adopting the British Parliamentary debate format. The 2014 “FLTRP Cup” National English Debating Invitational Tournament was hosted by the School Department of the Communist Youth League of China, the Secretariat of All-China Students Federation and the Beijing Foreign Studies University, and was organized by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research and the Chinese Education Television.

(Edited by Diana)