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Learning English through Debating

It is our honor to participate in three debate matches this year. We put in a lot
of effort to prepare the debate scripts and rebuttals. We are glad that we were Senior Debaters
eventually victorious in all three competitions.
Iris:
Date Match Motion Winning team Sera:
It’s my first time to participate in
7 Dec, 2018 E-cigarettes cause PTMS write the debate script, and a debate competition and I felt
It is the second time I helped
more harm than it is my pleasure that I could so nervous the day before. I was
afraid that I wouldn’t finish my
good make a contribution to the speech in 3 minutes. I was really
VS memorable experience and panicking, but with the help of
English debate team. It is a
I felt much more relaxed and
27 Feb, 2019 That Eddie Carbone PTMS kind of exposure. my teammates, coach and teacher,
I have learnt a lot from this
is responsible for confident. Luckily, we won and
his own death Esther Lee: succeeded in the competition.
VS You meet great people and expand your
Chan Ka Yee Kayelynne
From the debate competition, meeting
27 Feb, 2019 That renewable PTMS understanding of the world. This term, I was chosen to join
energy will resolve other debaters from Hong Kong True the debate session of the reading
the global energy Light Middle School was the best part. I forum in King Ling
got to meet so many brilliant and talented
VS crisis students who were super ambitious and global energy crisis’. I was chosen
College. The motion was
really intelligent. Everyone paid full
‘Renewable energy can resolve the
great meeting students from different
to be the third speaker and it was
Li Chung Yan, Yannes attention and tried to do their best. It was one of the most unforgettable
Becky Leung: schools, and most importantly, to know experiences in my life.
You learn how to have faith and confidence in I am very happy to be in the debate team. My their views and thoughts on E-cigarettes.
yourself. the first time I joined a real debate competition,
One of the most important things I learned my English subject and also with critical thinking, Choi Sum Yu, Jessica
most unforgettable memory in the debate team is
from the debate competition was learning to be
Last week, we had a debate competition, but unluckily, I was sick on that
and the topic was based on a book. How amazing
confident and have faith in myself. During the
is that?! Based on my previous knowledge,
day so I couldn’t go. However, I still enjoyed the time when I prepared the
debate competition, my team debated against a
I just always thought that debate topics were
speeches. Through this preparation, I learned a lot about literature. Also, this is
team of EMI students, some of them are even
about social issues or the environment, such as
my fi rst time debating topics about literature, and I found it quite challenging!
native English speakers. During this, even though
‘Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to
Because there were not many facts to talk about, it was quite hard to think of
we were really nervous debating them, we stayed
a younger age?’ Form this debate competition, I
the rebuttals. However, it was still a very special experience for me, because
calm – we realized we were still learning and that
have learnt a lot of speaking and writing skills.
during this debate competition I improved myself a lot, like my higher-order
everything in the end was going to be alright. To
These techniques helped me to perform better in
thinking skills. I have learnt to think from diff erent perspectives, and that we
our surprise, we ended up winning the debate.
should only search for information on reliable websites. I’m grateful that I
We were really shocked and really relieved that
which can be used on many different occasions
and subjects, not just English.
have been on the debate team for two years already, and I hope I can have more
we actually got through that. This experience
taught me that no matter what your opponent
Other than that, I have learnt to be confident
chances to go to more competitions!
may say, you have to have faith in yourself. You
while talking on stage, since I have never spoken
have to have confidence in yourself and keep
English in front of this many people. After this
debating. Because I learned how to speak with
debate competition, I will always remember to
more confi dence, I trusted myself in making good
maintain eye contact with people while talking,
Chow Hiu Yau, Vanessa
arguments and providing evidence to support my
and make better use of pausing for effect. I’ve
learnt to understand the script completely before
Debate is always a way for me to learn. Learn to cooperate with teammates, learn
understand more.
position.” saying it out loud, so that the audience can to create a script, learn to think with different perspectives. And this time, our dear
opponent was pretty strong, especially in English. It made me stress so much.
The motion of the match was “Banning E-cigarettes does more good than harm”. From
Chan Ka Yee Kayelynne have learned a lot from this process regardless of whether we won or not.
researching and discussing the information to typing the script, there is no doubt that we
This term, I was chosen to join the debate session of the reading forum in King Ling Debate is all about cooperation, and I really enjoy spending time with my teammates.
College. The motion was ‘Renewable energy can resolve the global energy crisis’. I was chosen to be We learned from each other, we helped each other, and I really appreciate that all of us were
the third speaker and it was one of the most unforgettable experiences in my life.
It was my fi rst time to be the third speaker in a debate competition outside of our school, as I was believe that the price of success is probably our time and eff ort. In a nutshell, to me, debate is
willing to put in all our eff ort and time to prepare and compete. We ended up winning the
always the fi rst speaker in previous debates. This was my fi rst time having to do rebuttals and I was
extremely nervous. I was so lucky to have such great teammates like Esther in my team, because she
competition, and the feeling that all our hard work paid off is so awesome. Therefore, I truly
really helped me through all of this. I had some trouble writing my script and I kept on asking her
not only enjoyable for me, but also it's a lesson that I can learn from.
for help. She always replied to me kindly and helped me with my problems.During the competition,
I didn’t quite understand what our opponent said, but luckily Esther helped me and told me what
rebuttals and points to use. It was such a nerve-racking experience for me but it was also one of the
most amazing experiences in my life.
We worked hard both before and during this match, and when I heard that we won, I was so happy. Junior Debaters
All of our hard work paid off and I hope that I can have more experiences like this in the future.
Yau Wing Yan, Selene Carmen Lui
I’m really glad that I joined the English Debate Team. Although it is my fi rst During my time in the debate team I learnt a lot.
Hannah Young Hoi Lam
year on the team, I have had an amazing time learning debate skills and meeting
At fi rst, I was really scared of speaking in front
First of all, I will talk about my experience in the debate team. When I had the first debate. My English skill was very poor at
new friends. have also become more confi dent and made some
Not only have I improved my English ability, but I
of the senior students and teachers, because
fi rst lesson, I felt very scared as I had not experienced anything like this before.
I thought that I was not really that important
Then the teacher asked me to debate with other members of the team. I was
nice friends. My most memorable moment is my
and I was really shy. But after an unforgettable
nervous because others spoke English very well. However, the teacher told me
activity -‘a mini-debate between S.1 students’,
not to be scared, just try to speak to them. After I tried to speak with them, I felt
that time, but I was the fi rst speaker in the debate.
I fi nally realised that we can achieve our goals
I understood that my ability was low, so I knew
more confi dent. Now, I can speak easily when debating.
and be debaters. Although I am in S1, I cannot
Second, I have learnt some debate skills. The teacher told us how to rebut to write an argument, and they taught me how to
that I would drag my team down. However, my
just rely on the senior students. I should try
team did not give up on me. They encouraged me
against others which is a useful skill. Moreover, after I had the debate, the
more instead of just sitting and waiting for
teacher gave us some suggestion, so that we can improve ourselves and be
something to happen or someone to help. After
make it a strong argument. I am very grateful for
the mini-debate match, I learned to be more
it and I really appreciate their help. At the end of
better next time. the debate, my team won. At that time I was so
Third, every week the teacher gave us diff erent topics to debate. The purpose is
independent and to be brave when speaking in
debates in the future. proud of myself and very grateful to my team.
to expand our knowledge and experience discussing a variety of topics.
front of people. I hope I can experience more
I have a lot of great memories from the English Debate Team.
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