Fall Issue, 2014

two weeks, students were asked to deliver one to two public speeches daily. “This was the first experience for many students to speak publicly in English. I still remember there was one student who, at the beginning, found it extremely difficult to engage in public speaking. She wrote every single word down on note cards and used them to cover her face when she stood on the stage, feeling too shy to speak. But on the last day, she didn’t need any notes at all to deliver a speech. She is now more confident.” Not only did the work of SpeechExpress improve the confidence and self- esteem of students but also, local English teachers were impressed by SpeechExpress’ pedagogy and slowly incorporated interactive activities into their normal English lessons. “The Vice-Principal informed us that drama was new to his school. He was so impressed by our interactive drama class that he aims to implement an inter-class drama activity in the next school year. When I heard about this, I felt so moved – our work paid off!” With the success of the summer camp, Alison said SpeechExpress would definitely run the programme again next year. “It’s a win-win situation where students in Mainland China and we, the organisers, have benefited from the programme. We hope to continue our work next year and beyond, expanding it to other cities in China.” speechexpress.org Practicing the class cheer to represent the class name enhanced the team spirit. Discussions between the students and teachers on global issues. The volunteer teachers’ crazy dance and games impressed me a lot. I was able to have more confidence to speak out in English. Yan Yan A secondary school student in Fuzhou 35 SERVICE 100