Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi Scores High 80% with the Chinese Spoken Word
50,000 Euros Prize for Innovation Challenge KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, scored a high 80% on his Chinese spoken language test at the Taiwan booth after the official opening of WCIT 2008 this morning.
(Photo: http://xprnnews.xfn.info/ITRI/20080519/HK088129.htm ) The Prime Minister was given a crash course in using a Chinese-Speaking Self-Learning software program installed on a personal computer that recognizes voice and pronunciation of Chinese words, which it then repeated.
The software program, developed by Institute for Information Industry of Taiwan, helps people learn the Mandarin dialect by scoring accuracy of pronunciation and tone. This easily-installed software provides people with limited time but who want to learn Chinese with an option that they can use on a desktop PC in the office or at home, or on a notebook computer while on the road. The prototype, available at the Taiwan booth at Exhibition Hall 1 at WCIT 2008 this week for visitors to see how they fare with their pronunciation and tone, will be commercialized by e-Learning vendors in Taiwan. The software has already been used with Taiwanese companies, language institutes in Vietnam, and IT companies in Brazil. People using this software are able to speak basic Chinese for conversation and general communication in one and a half months. Visitors to the Taiwan booth will be given a trial CD. Taiwan booth drums up excitement in IT innovation Dr Johnsee Lee, President of Industrial Technology Research Institute, who is the head of the Taiwan delegation at WCIT 2008, said that, "ITRI is here to showcase IT innovation from Taiwan, which has evolved from a manufacturing base to a high-tech digital base. For example, the Pocket Channel allows people to become instant broadcasters with their web-enabled mobile devices, in which they can use this unique one-to-many mobile streaming technology." The Taiwan booth was officially opened with a Wushu drum ceremony. Among the guests were the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Representative in Malaysia, Mr Victor Tseng; World Information Technology and Services Alliance Chairman George Newstrom; Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization President Ashank Desai; and PIKOM Chairman David Wong. Dr Lee also announced a joint challenge by ITRI and satellite-based organizations in Europe that will encourage people to develop technology innovations for the Galileo satellite. ITRI, together with organizations from Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and France, will award a prize of 50,000 Euros to the winning program, which will be evaluated based on originality (50%), feasibility (25%) and market potential (25%). Interested parties can find more information at http://www.galileo-masters.com/ . Taiwan Pavilion "Smart Living" Exhibit List Industrial Technology Research Institute Institute for Information Industry Chung Hwa Telecom About Taiwan Pavilion
About ITRI The Industrial Technology Research Institute is the largest non-profit R/D organization in Taiwan. ITRI was founded in 1973 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan, to develop globally competitive and forward-looking technologies to meet industrial needs, to strengthen industrial competitiveness, and to enhance the economic growth of Taiwan. Additional information can be found at http://www.itri.org.tw/ . About Institute of Information Industry The Institute for Information Industry (III) was established in 1979 as a non-governmental organization, jointly sponsored by the Taiwan government and prominent private enterprises, for the purpose of strengthening the developments of information industry in Taiwan. Additional information can be found at http://www.iii.org.tw/ About Chunghwa Telecom
Additional information can be found at http://www.cht.com.tw/ For media enquiries, please contact: Ms. June Lin
CONTACT: Ms. June Lin of Industrial Technology Research Institute, +886-3-5916093, or JuneLin@itri.org.tw Web site: http://www.iii.org.tw/
2008-05-19 23:26:35 0365801 PRNEWSWIRE
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