Year 12 Otumoetai College student Caitlin Busch has finished third at the National Speech Competition organised by the Spanish Teachers Association of New Zealand.

The competition rules are strict and make it difficult for the participants, with no teacher help allowed and just one week given to prepare.

Caitlin Busch is eyeing a career in language.

The topic for the speech was: television and its effect on children.

Caitlin's speech was three minutes long and she had to record it and send it in to be judged.

Caitlin has been learning Spanish since Year 9 and hopes to visit South America to teach English to Spanish speaking children.

She plans to continue learning Spanish when she does a Bachelor of Arts at Canterbury University.

Caitlin and her 13 year old sister Anastasia relocated to Tauranga from Christchurch after the February Earthquake.

They plan to finish the year at Otumoetai College and return to school in Christchurch next year. They are staying with their Grandparents.

Fellow Otumoetai College student Tyson Ratai also entered the competition and his speech was given encouraging comments from the judging panel.