Students from Shantou University have claimed top honors at one of China's most prestigious national foreign language competitions, taking home one silver and two bronze awards at the national level.

The competition, officially known as the "FLTRP·ETIC Cup" National College Students' Foreign Language Proficiency Contest --- "Understanding Contemporary China" (全国大学生外语能力大赛), drew over 726,000 participants from 1,537 universities nationwide in 2025. Organized by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP) and hosted by Beijing Foreign Studies University, it is recognized on China's official National College Student Competition List. STU's competing team was coached by Dr. Wang Xiaoli and colleagues from the English Language Center and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature.

At the national finals held on December 8, Zhang Jiahui, a clinical medicine student from the College of Medicine, and Yuan Yongle, majoring in English at the College of Liberal Arts, each earned medals in the English Division's International Communication and Comprehensive Ability category — a silver and a bronze, respectively. A cross-college team led by Zhuang Bao'er added a bronze in the Short Video category.

The Guangdong regional competition in November set the stage for STU's national success. Yuan Yongle proved to be one of the team's standout performers, winning gold in the Comprehensive Ability category and adding a bronze in Speech. Mao Yue matched that gold medal performance in Comprehensive Ability, while Zhang Jiahui was equally impressive across multiple categories — earning silver in Speech, Comprehensive Ability, and Short Video. Rounding out the team's provincial showing, Zhuang Bao'er led a cross-college group to gold in the Short Video category.

Beyond the headline categories, STU students also made their mark in more specialized disciplines. Wang Sijie and Lin Jingrui took silver and bronze respectively in Interpreting, and Chen Yongsi and Li Rui did the same in Written Translation --- a clean sweep of the podium in both categories.

These results reflect STU's ongoing commitment to integrating language proficiency with real-world communication skills. Dr. Wang and her team's dedication --- and the students' spirit of collaboration and pursuit of excellence --- made these achievements possible.