B is for Breakfast

For the past month our boss has been preparing for, and many of our students have been diligently rehearsing for, perhaps the greatest moment of their young lives: The 21st Sang Jin Academy English Speech Contest.

Though I poke fun, these speech contests are pretty serious business at our academy. The children vie for a spot at the multi-yearly events, and spend an entire month memorising and practicing some fairly difficult English speeches. I have trouble memorising passages in my own language, let alone a foreign one, and these kids have matching hand actions to boot.

We're just beginning to figure out why the students find these contests so appealing. Although performing memorised speeches may not be the contest of choice in North America, I'm pretty sure it has an allure similar to spelling bees and talent shows: the recognition of achievement, and perhaps more importantly, the awarding of prizes. I can get down with that.

This Monday evening all that preparation came to a head and half the academy (along with their parents) came out to a local hall to support their friends and children.

(The assembled gathering and nervous contestants.)

Shayne and I, along with some of the other part-time foreign teachers, were there as the exalted judges, and I had the added duty of being the MC. Let's just say that any butterflies that threatened to burst from their cocoons went back to sleep after I realised that the majority of those gathered would have little idea of what I was saying. Even if one of them caught a stumble they would automatically assume it was some sophisticated nuance of English grammar. And the other judges wouldn't sell me out - they were just there for the free vitamin drinks. I couldn't lose!

(Me plotting to change "And next up is Soo Hae for her speech" to "Sirrah, hail forth fair Soo Hae and regale us with your recitation." Tee hee!)

First up though, was our boss, Mrs. An, to explain everything in Korean. We're not sure what she said, we just know that it took a long time. Thank goodness for those vitamin drinks.

What became apparent eventually, however, was that Mrs. An was preparing the audience for a brief English lesson - and I was the teacher! She then had me come up on the stage and repeat the words "thank you very much" and "breakfast" about a dozen times each, allowing the hundred or so people present to emulate my pronunciation each time. I'm not sure how someone could possibly note the position of my tongue and lips from fifty feet away, but hopefully my extreme embarrassment paid off in some small way. It did provide some first class entertainment for the other judges though. Sigh.

Once the contest got underway we were faced with the task of judging 19 little kids on their memorisation and pronunciation. Thankfully we were spared from having to publicly crush the little tykes, as we were able to keep our judgments secret on a tally sheet. Above is little Chul Jin giving his speech, "I Like Candy." Definitely one of the cuter kids that night; just look at those giant lollipops and his scared little face. Priceless.


Here's another student, Chan Woo, reciting the Yoric speech from Hamlet. Just joking, he's telling a joke about a genie and 3 guys on a desert island.

Anyways, after the speeches, each of the foreign teachers (that's me, Shayne, and one of the part-timers who got suckered in) had one of our classes come up to perform a song. We'd been working on this for a month, and had a little inside bet on whose class would do the best. Surprising us all, including himself, Shayne's class wiped out the competition with a rendition of "It's a Small World." The critics have been silenced: a tone-deaf individual can indeed teach a group of children to sing a song well. I've included the video below for your listening pleasure. (Editors note: for some reason the YouTube video didn't align the sound correctly, so there's a bit of a lag between the action and the music. You can get the idea though.)



At the end of the night, all the students were brought up to the stage for the awards. Unfortunately (taking a cue from American culture), there really was only one prize: first. All the other kids got a set of notebooks (all the better to write lines with m'dear).

After the obligatory photos, and "thank you" dinner with the other judges and teachers, the event was officially over. Our boss was satisfied, the kids seemed happy, and we went home for some well-deserved sleep.

Jo