Spanish Consulate Prize to the Best Students of Spanish
Outreach
The Department of English and Communication has been teaching Spanish as a free elective since 2011. It is such a popular subject that a Minor in Spanish was launched in September 2019. Our students are very engaged and keen to explore the culture of the various Spanish-speaking countries and the Department has established a number of partnerships to bring Spanish-related activities to PolyU.
The most exciting of these is probably the Spanish Consulate’s prize for the best Spanish students. The Spanish Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau awards HK$10,000 to up to three students to carry on learning Spanish or discover Spain. The prize was first given in 2012 and since then more than 10 students have taken advantage of this opportunity to visit Spain to travel and study or to enrol in Spanish courses here in Hong Kong (a less attractive option but a necessary alternative over the last couple of years). Jackie Wong (SHTM) was the first of our students to travel to Spain, where she took a Spanish course at Malaga University. She enjoyed her stay very much and made a number of friends (with whom she is still in touch!). Jackie told us that:
I signed up for a one-month Spanish course there and had classes every weekday from 9 am - 1 pm. The schedule was great because I got to look around the city and went on small trips with my classmates after class. The bustling city centre and the intertwining streets of Malaga are always full of excitement. There wasn't a single day I felt bored!
David, a friend who I met through a Spanish practicing Skype session (part of our Spanish course at PolyU), was nice enough to let me stay with him and his family in Benalmadena, a beautiful neighbourhood in the Mediterranean coast. Learning to make traditional Spanish cuisines with them was always a fun activity at the weekends!
Photo: Jackie Wong (3rd from left in the back row) in Malaga
The prize takes account of students’ work over all the semesters they studied. Students are also asked to write a paper or make a presentation to be shortlisted for an interview with the Consulate’s cultural attaché. This year, the selection was very tough as there were many excellent candidates. In the end, the prize is shared between three of our Spanish students of ENGL3016 Spanish Intermediate I: Hung Sin Yu, Phoebe (SN), Lee Cheuk Ying, Gabriella (SN) and Mak Ching Ching, Ailsa (SN). Phoebe hopes to be able to travel to Spain later on this summer (if the quarantine allows). Ailsa and Gabriella will be busy with their placements this summer but they hope to take an online Spanish course.
Photo: (From left) Prof. Eric Friginal, Head of ENGL, the 2021-2022 winners of the prize: Mak Ching Ching, Ailsa, Lee Cheuk Ying, Gabriella and Hung Sin Yu, Phoebe, and Dr Renia Lopez, the Programme leader for the Minor in Spanish
