This year''s foreignnguage showcase was truly a dazzling disy-there were kids performing in just about everynguage you could imagine.


    Some of the children even chose rare, obscure tongues that barely anyone had heard of.


    Still, German, French, and Spanish remained the perennial favorites among the crowd.


    Languagepetitions are a different beastpared to the talent-heavy world of music contests. With enough time and sheer determination, even rote memorization could earn you a decent score.


    If musicpetitions are a test of raw talent, thennguage contests are all about hard work.


    Ste had to admit, the activities and courses organized by this elite private preschool were genuinely impressive. No wonder all these high-powered families fought to get their kids enrolled here.


    That said, no matter how much effort went into preparing for anguagepetition, these children were still so young. Skill levels varied wildly, even among those who had clearly practiced. And then there was the stage fright- nerves could easily wipe a carefully memorized vocabry list right out of a child''s mind.


    To make matters worse, some of the parents coaching their kids didn''t have the best pronunciation themselves.


    As a result, even the highest score among the earlier groups barely scraped an eighty-five.


    Abby leaned over and whispered, "Star, do they always have this many judges for every event? Wow, more than half of them are foreigners!"


    She made a quick headcount-there were over twenty judges sitting at the long table. Only five of them were actually responsible for scoring, but even those five were expected to listen to the opinions of the rest.


    Thest time Ste had apanied Marvin to a music contest, there were just as many judges, all of them professionals in their field.


    No doubt about it-this school had resources to spare.


    Ste nodded slightly. By the look of it, these judges were allnguage experts. Some even specialized in the rarernguages, which made sense-you couldn''t have unqualified people handing out scores.


    Soon, it was Keen and Rachel''s turn to perform.


    Just as Ste had expected, Keen was solid and steady, not a single misstep. Rachel, performing alongside him, didn''t let him down; her pronunciation was crisp and clear, every word precise.


    Thesepetitions could be deceptively simple-or unexpectedly difficult. After all, every region in the country had its own ent, which was why there was a "standard"nguage to unify things. It was the same everywhere: locals always thought foreign ents sounded a bit odd, and foreigners felt the same way in reverse.


    No matter how perfect your test scores, it could be hard to understand native speakers overseas if your pronunciation or intonation was off. Most people cared less about perfect grammar and more about how you actually sounded.


    Ste remembered her days at Solmaris, watching privileged ssmates mock the ents of students from other countries.


    But today, Rachel and Keen''s wless delivery and seamless recitation earned them a near-perfect score of ny-eight. The only points they lost were for Keen''s slightly stiff stage presence—he''d never studied acting before, and this was more than just reading lines; they had to perform a short dramatic scene together.


    Thepetition rolled on, and a few other pairs did stand out, but none came close-ny-two was the next highest score, still far behind Rachel and Keen.


    Mr. Burton stroked his beard and said, "Rachel''s really something, isn''t she? No one''s topped their score yet."


    Abby grinned. “Let her enjoy the spotlight for a few more minutes. She''s about to get knocked off her throne."