Speech Contest

Last Sunday I had to wake up early because I had to pick up Kane Feaver, who is one of the judges from New Zealand, at Musashi Urawa station. It was so cold that when I arrived at the station he was freezing. And then, our Eigo no Ie Speech contest was held.

There are 3 parts in this speech contest; grade 7 and 9 in the morning, grade 4-6 at 17:30, and grade 8 at 19:30. So we were really busy on this day.

Through watching and listening to all the performances, I reminds my experiences of speech contests. When I was 11 years old, it was the very first time for me to make a speech in English. The title was "I am a tree" like this.


I am a tree. I have a great family.
Look! Your earth is green and beautiful.
My leaves make your air.
My roots hold water for your river.

You kill many trees. That's all right.
You need us for houses, for boxes, for chopsticks.

But remember.
You need us for your air and water, too.
Keep us on your mountains.
Enjoy us in your gardens and parks.
Let us live together.
Then your earth, our earth, will always be green and beautiful.


I really felt nervous at that time. And I was really happy when Ms. Araki called me as a first winner and Mr. Ogura gave me a prize with a great smile. I'll never forget that experience.

Luckily it is easier for me to copy the [r] sound than any other students. So now I have a typical American (North part) English or Canadian English.
Anyway I want you to practice pronouncing the English words, phrases, sentenses, and passages with a beautiful intonation and stress. What is important is to use English!! Don't be deceived the evil English around you.