Members of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee speak English on stage. [Photo/Zhejiang Daily]

Members of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC) improved their English-speaking at a contest in Hangzhou on Nov 22.

Sixty-nine organizations involved in preparing the Asian Games Hangzhou have been participating in English-speaking sessions since July. Fifteen organization were selected to compete in the contest based on their scores in previous sessions.

The contestants gave speeches with the theme "Asian Games and Me in 2022" and role-played different scenarios in which they help foreigners.

"Many of the contestants showed excellent English-speaking proficiency," said Chen Gang, a professor at Zhejiang University and a member of the jury panel.

Members of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee speak English during the contest. [Photo/Zhejiang Daily]

The publicity department of HAGOC and the athletes' team of the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Center tied for the championship.

According to HAGOC, more training sessions will be carried out before March 2023 to prepare staff members for the Games, which were originally set to run from Sept 10 to 25 this year but were rescheduled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new dates are Sept 23 to Oct 8, 2023. Competitions will also be staged in the co-host cities of Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing and Jinhua in Zhejiang province.