I hope everything is well at home because things are going great!
Been having alot of and enjoying my time here. Awhile back a
student of mine, named Julia, asked if I could come to a English speech
competition and if I would be willing to give a short 2 minute
speech. Oh course I agreed! I wasnt going to let an opportunity like
that pass me by. That was late April and well tonight, May 12th
it finally happened. Well I was about to teach my class 19 and I was
given this pink piece of paper and on it was an invitation to be a
judge at this English Speech Contest. I was not ready to be a judge
because in my mind my english is so horrible. So my class 19 got over
at like 5:45 and I hurried down to the teachers dining room and ate a
bowl of rice and cauliflower so so fast! I was shocked at
how fast I ate it! I had to because I needed to be back at the
classroom that I just got done teaching in by 6 so I could walk to the
studio with some of my students.
We climbed 5 flights of stairs and than walked into this very brightly
lit room and this room was very colorful and bright. The walls were a
very warm yellow and the floor was... I couldn't believe my eyes, CARPET!!!
Red carpet too! So it really stood out!!! Super bright lights hung from
the ceiling, others where on the floor all conjoining their brightness
on this massive task. Which had 3 mics and a butt load of fruit all
scattered on top of the desk!
The desk was facing us sort of like a
news casters' desk and the audience sat on these plastic chairs. They
were so uncomfortable! Well I sat down at my place at the judges
table. I knew it was my place because i had my very own name tag
marking my seat!
Next to the name tag was a bottle of water, and a
plate with even more fruit! Didnt understand the fruit until i read
this chalk board which said "English Talent Show and Fruit Quiz".
Then it clicked and i understood the "fruit" .
Now i didn't know what the English Talent Show meant.
Well i think it would sound better if
it was a Talent show rather than a speech contest.
7 o'clock rolled around and it was time to get the show on the road.
Yeah I was like ummmm ???? What do I do? In front of me were 10 slips
of paper with a students name in chinese and what class they were
from. Each student had to get up in front of all the bright lights
and this room that was now full of teachers, judges, and fellow
classmates. They had prepare a 5 minute presentation that most of
them memorized! I was impressed with every story! After each
presentation i would give them a score 1-10 depending on how great
they were! Only gave one 10 away and that was to a boy who told a
story of snow white. It was so funny i was laughing pretty good! He
ended up getting 2nd overall. After every student had given their
speech there was some time to kill while the score were being added up
to see who was the winner. During this time is when I gave my speech!
Yes I was nervous and did stutter. Wish I would spent more time
preparing it but I think I did alright. Afterwards the principal of the
school got up and gave a few comments and then the scores were
released.
The first part of the whole little thing was the "English Talent Show"
the second half was the fruit quiz. Now the kids were shown to a
word of a fruit, than that student had to explain only in english to
another student describing that fruit! Now this was great and not
much of a quiz but it got the kids using their english and was great!
I found this very funny because the students were describing the fruit
in weird ways it was great. For example like saying the color of an
orange is yellow! hahaha it was so awesome!!!!
After the "fruit quiz" was over they announced the winner of the
"english talent show" and then came the award ceremony. Since it was
all for fun all the kids received this certificate, a brand new
notebook and this nice pen! which i even got to present one to a
student! It was on this red tray that was escorted out by some other
students. I took it off the red velvety tray and gave it to the
student. It was so cool to see his eyes grow wide and the look upon
his face will always be with me! Sort of reminded the cat of Shrek.
It was so cute! After all the students were acknowledged for their
hard work, the principal got up and everyone clapped until he left the
room. Once he was out the clapping stop and the event just stopped.
It was weird ending but it was great! I stood around afterwards
congratulating students and taking pics with everyone!
oh yeah i totally forgot to tell you. The whole thing was recorded
and broad casted to the whole school. The room was like the news
room in high school. You know where the schools news was recorded and
than shown on the TVs in the classrooms. I bet this added to the
students nerves but they all did very well!!!
I was so happy to experience this friendly event. I like how they
kept it away from being a competition. It was just more about
celebrating that students put alot of effort and time into their
presentations. I was happy my students wanted me to be a part of this
experience and it has taught me so much! I love it here and days like
these always happen! Thank you China for such a great experience. I
hope everyone is doing well. Would like to hear from you! Love you tons!
Jordan
Beijing Time
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