English Speech Contest

Yup, that dreaded time of year has come around again. To make matters worse it is also Undokai season. Hard to practice when the noise from the brass band and kids screaming chants is coming thru the windows. Which of course are open because its 30 degrees and God-knows-how much humidity and air-con? Arimasen.

But I am really excited to be coaching this year because it is going to be interesting. Buoyed by the success of sending one of our kids to the Nationals in Tokyo last year, my base school is gunning for another win. However I am privately rooting for the underdog, a girl from another school who last year tried so hard but burst into tears at the end of the competition. She hadn't had any extra coaching and it showed. Her teacher is lovely but a bit frazzled and disorganised when it comes to preparing well in advance to make sure she gets enough time to not just memorize the speech but make sure she's pronouncing it correctly.

I got her teacher's cell phone number so I could bombard her with text messages reminding her that I was available for coaching, and would she like me to come in and help? It seems to be working so far, she has written an original speech which is quite difficult and she has memorized it. I have managed to catch her before she let her bad pronounciation become a habit. Tonight I realised how much she'd improved - she is back in the game. I just pray she can pull a good one out on the day and avoid the tears of last year.

It's sad, the one time of the year I actually have something to work towards!