2007首届福建省“双语之星”英语口语大赛暨CCTV迎奥运“希望之星”英语风采大赛福建赛区于3月25日在厦门、福州、漳州、晋江、邵武等七个分赛区同时进行初赛，全省两千五百多名选手纷纷畅谈自己的梦想。

　　The first round of the Fujian heats of the 2007 CCTV Star of Outlook English Talent Competition was held last Sunday. About 2,500 students took part in the competition in four categories: primary school students, middle school students, high school students and adults. Half of them will go through to the second round, to be held in late April.

　　Unlike last year's competition, this year the contestants' first challenge was a speaking test, delivering a prepared speech in one minute. The change was made to make the Fujian heats a better fit with the national finals in Beijing. It means that spoken English is given much more importance than last year.

　　“My biggest dream” was chosen as the topic of this competition, and it was a great topic to get the contestants talking. Thousands of different dreams were being shared at the same time across the province. Some wanted to be doctors, nurses or pilots; others dreamed of becoming football or basketball players. It was a pleasant surprise to find that a few contestants were eager to be environmentalists or volunteer teachers in poor areas. These dreams were touching and inspiring for all of us, students and adults alike. “It is because of these students that we have reason to believe that we will have a better world in the days to come,” commented Jessie, one of the judges.

　　While the contestants were giving their best, parents waited anxiously outside. “It is a good chance for my child to practice his oral English. He is always good at writing, but he is in need of this kind of competition. And this kind of speaking competition is very rare in our province, compared to some other places like Jiangsu or Zhejiang,” said one mother of a high school entrant.

　　The students themselves also cherish these competitions. Some had taken part in last year’s competition, and they came back again this year. They believe they are steadily making progress by competing, and know that it's the taking part that counts, not the winning.

　　The foreign judges were surprised by the performance and the dreams of these students. “They’re all excellent and sometimes it’s really hard to decide which one is better than the other,” said Alex, the judge for high school students, with a smile. The judges had a few pieces of advice for students who want to make it all the way: use body language, make eye contact with the judges, and most of all, relax and have fun!