Every
year there are numerous competitions held in English for Japanese students to
showcase. their English ability. Recently I had three students take part in a
speech competition. The participants in my school are part of the after school
English club so they enjoy learning English and participating in competitions
which use it.
This was the
third speech competition I have counseled students in since arriving last
August. My students have also participated in a national debate competition and
a 30-minute play competition, all in English.
When students
begin preparing the for speech competition they first think about an issue they
are interested in talking about. Once they have that issue in mind, they should
start drafting ideas in Japanese to begin adding the body to their speech. In
this most recent speech competition my students came to me with ideas jotted
down in Japanese. At this point is it best for them to work with their Japanese
English teacher, with whom they can better communicate, to get their ideas
down in English.
Ayaka choose to
write about the importance of space exploration, Fuka about the use of therapy
dogs in hospitals, and Megumi about women and the glass ceiling.
Next I can
correct any grammar troubles they are having and help the speech to sound more
natural and fluent. Once their speech is completely written and there are happy
with the product they begin the process of memorizing it. Students in my
school, and Japan in general, are exceptionally hardworking and studious. They
read over the speech time and time again to commit it to memory.
Then they begin
working with me, performing the speech out loud, so I can correct any unnatural
pronunciation they have. They have a goal of making it sound as natural as
possible. We also work on natural gestures, volume, speed, and inflection which
gives their speech character.
On the morning
of the competition we found out there were to be 16 speakers total, all in grades
10 and 11. Each speaker had between 4 and 5 1/2 minutes to speak and would be
docked points for being over or under the time. The speeches must be given from
memory and they aren’t allowed to look at their script while at the podium.
A few of the
speakers had moments of silence as they lost their place in their memory and
quietly mumbled to themselves to get back on track. Some speeches lacked some
organization and as an audience member is became hard to follow the point.
Others didn’t speak loudly or clearly enough.
Now you may call
me bias, but my three students did spectacular! So spectacular that my girls
took 1st 2nd and 3rd place out of five prizes
to be won. I think everyone in attendance from our
school was shocked at the wonderful result we had received. We were all so
incredibly proud.
