前言
There are times in our lives when we are all called on to give some kind of speech. It’s not easy though to prepare for such an occasion. The English Speech Contest is the book you need to be better prepared.
Learning a new language involves four main parts; reading, writing, listening and speaking. Each one requires much study, homework and practice—there is no magic formula for learning English or any other language—just hard work and repetition.
Over the years I’ve seen many students who are capable of reading and writing English very well. Listening is challenging, because of the different speeds, accents and pronunciations that people use. But for many foreign language learners speaking is their biggest challenge.
Some students are shy, and others simply don’t have the opportunities to talk with native speakers. One of the best ways to improve your spoken English is through public speaking, which is why most schools have speech contests.
Speech contests force students to apply some of the language skills they have learned, in a manner that pushes them to be better. In particular, speech contests force students to use good writing skills to prepare a speech, and then students must use their speaking skills to communicate with an audience.
Unfortunately, most students have never been trained in how to prepare and give an effective speech. Plus, many teachers are so busy that they don’t have time to train each individual student in this process. That is why Bill Quinn wrote this book—to provide a helpful guide for students and teachers on how to prepare for public speaking and speech contests. Bill has worked with Studio Classroom for over ten years, mainly as the host of the Advanced Magazine radio program. Prior to joining Studio Classroom he spent nearly twenty years in the business world, in sales and marketing, so Bill understands the importance of being a good speaker in real-life situations.
During his time with Studio Classroom he had the opportunity to judge over 100 speech contests around Taiwan, and Bill noticed that most students weren’t being adequately prepared for this most important life skill. In addition, most students and teachers didn’t understand how important it is for their future success. Of the four basic building blocks of learning a language—reading, writing, listening and speaking, being able to confidently speak the language is the most important. Speaking is our most effective tool, in any language, so it’s important that we are comfortable with that. This book isn’t just about winning speech contests; this book is about preparing for life and learning a valuable skill that you will use throughout your career. And this is for all students, because today’s shy student could become tomorrow’s successful leader. Our job as teachers is to give students the right tools and instruction to help them make progress, each day.
我們的一生中總會遇到某些場合必須被請上台,發表某種類型的演說。然而,為這樣的場合做準備可不是一件輕鬆容易的事。《英語演講比賽》(The English Speech Contest)就是一本你需要未雨綢繆的工具書。
學習一種新的語言,主要包含四個範疇:聽、說、讀、寫。每一項都需要付出許多心力去研習、自修和練習。無論學英文或任何其他語言,都沒有神奇的速成公式,唯有透過下苦功和反覆練習才能夠精進。多年來,我觀察到很多學生的英文讀寫能力都相當好,聽的方面因為講話速度快慢、使用的口音與發音不同,挑戰性也比較高;但對於大多數學習外語的人而言,「開口說」仍是最大的挑戰。
有些學生因生性害羞,而另一些學生則單純因為缺乏用英語和母語人士面對面談話的機會。透過公開演講是提升英文口語能力最好的途徑之一,這就是大部分學校為此舉辦演講比賽的原因。利用競賽的方式促使學生應用所學習的語言技巧,從某方面來說也是督促他們更加進步的方式。尤其值得一提的是,準備講稿的過程會迫使學生必須使用良好的寫作技巧,而後也必須善用他們的口說技巧與觀眾溝通。
很可惜,大多數學生從未受過相關訓練,不能知曉如何準備並呈現一場成效顯著的演說。再者,許多為人師者也因為公事繁忙,無法抽出時間為學生在準備演講的過程中進行個別訓練。這也是Bill Quinn決定提筆寫下這本書的動機,他希望為需要準備公開演說及演講比賽的師生們,提供一本實用的入門書。Bill至今已與空中英語教室共事超過10年,期間主要擔任彭蒙惠進階英語廣播節目的主持人。在加入空中英語教室的團隊之前,他在業界從事市場行銷領域的工作也有近20年資歷,因此Bill深刻體認在實際生活中面對各種情況時,作為一名優秀演講者的重要性。
於空中英語教室任職期間,Bill曾在台灣各地百餘場演講比賽中擔任評審,而他注意到多數學生對於這項最重要的生活實務技能,準備得並不充分。更甚者,大部份的老師及學生都沒有了解到,這項技能對他們的未來成敗的影響甚巨。聽、說、讀、寫這四大基本要素在學習語言的過程中,能夠信心十足地開口說是最重要的一步。在任何語言中,言談是我們最有力的工具,因此若能自在地談吐是相當重要的。這本書並非僅為在演講比賽中獲勝而寫,書裏更著筆於為人生做足準備,並讓您學習到日後在職場當中受用無窮的寶貴技能。謹將此書獻給所有的學生,因為今日羞怯的學生可能成為明日成功的領導者。而我們身為人師的工作,即是提供學生們正確的工具和指引,幫助他們日臻進步。
空英創辦人 Doris Brougham