HKFYG “Speaking for All” Workshop

To let us gain more speaking skills and techniques through popular culture, the English Society invited the HKFYG Institute for Leadership to organize a workshop revolving around cultural myths. Instructors came from different countries, such as Chad, Singapore, Indonesia, France, Venezuela and the United States. About 50 of our S2-S5 club members participated in this workshop.

 

Instructors of the workshop came from all over the world.

 

On 15th April, we joined a workshop called “Speaking for All”. The host, Jey, who came from Singapore, started the workshop with some warm-up activities on Mentimeter, such as asking us how we felt at that moment and our views on different topics. The activity successfully narrowed our distance between each other despite being on Zoom since all of the responses were accepted by the host and participants. The students could enthusiastically express their thoughts and feelings. Thus, this activity encouraged students to participate in a safe and inclusive environment.

 

Interactive warm-up activities on Mentimeter.

 

After that, we were divided into different groups. We used sticky notes or images on Jamboard to share our knowledge about fascinating countries. Since each group leader came from a different country, they shared special facts about his/her native country, such as the country’s signature food or other aspects of their popular culture. We deepened our understanding of the diverse cultures and learned to respect cultural differences to develop our worldviews. Thanks to the high participation of students during this sharing, students could actively express their views using various methods while being held accountable for  their responses.

 

Sharing fascinating knowledge about different countries.

 

Moreover, some group leaders shared some myths and legends from countries like Venezuela and Chad. Through this sharing, we gained knowledge about the more unfamiliar aspects of Venezuela and Chad. After listening to the sharing, it was our turn to share our myths and legends from Hong Kong and China. As most of our myths and legends were common ones that we have heard before, it put us at ease in sharing what we knew through storytelling. During this process, the group leader invited us to share our opinions on our myths and legends, such as Chang’e Flying to the Moon, to everyone. This particular part of storytelling allowed us to practice the use of English and build up our confidence in communicating in English.

 

We were sharing the myths and legends (Chang’s Flying to the Moon).

 

After attending this workshop, students could understand that learning English is not just all about the DSE, but also connecting with others from different parts of the world. English Society is really committed to organizing awesome activities for promoting English in the campus. Stay tuned, and next time you can be in our activities too!

5E Chiu Wing Tung

English Society

 

All participants had a great time at the workshop.