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Learning English through Debating

“When we see obstacles, instead of saying ‘Why me?’, we

should say ‘Try me!”
The above quote is how one of our debaters suggested
approaching debate matches. They’re not easy, but what
you get from being in the debate team is undoubtedly

work and effort into something and then seeing it come to
3B Dewanna Tong worth it. There’s nothing quite like putting in hours of hard
It’s the first year in the Debate Team for me. Although I fruition in just an hour of debate. Let’s see what some of
was inexperienced, which lead to a lack of confidence in our Debate Team had to say about it.
the beginning, Ms Leung, Zoe and all of my teammates
encouraged me to overcome the practices and preparation 4B Fayette So
which were tough and hard.
This was a meaningful experience for me since it was my
In my first debate match, since I really had no experience of first year in the Debate Team, just like my teammates. I was
debating, I was extremely nervous and anxious before the very nervous since I was not familiar with English debate.
Zoom meeting. To come up with ideas for the rebuttals, we Obviously, as a beginner, my teammates and I needed
first had to listen to what our competitors said and add the more practice to improve our skills and polish our scripts.
rebuttals into my script in real time. Though our team lost We gathered once a week, we practised and we did a lot of
that match in the end, my teachers and teammates didn’t research. Usually, we stayed until six in the evening. It was
criticise me, instead they even gave tons of support and exhausting, but fortunately hard work pays off, and after a
encouragement. This really made me feel touched. Also, the few battles we gave our finest performance and experienced
process of doing research, writing scripts and practising was our first victory.
hard, but the knowledge we learnt from each of the debate This win is a memory that I will never forget. The key to
topics was useful and valuable for us in our future. After success is to learn from the mistakes we have made before,
winning our first match, I realised the feeling of victory is correct them and do better than the last time. Although it
undoubtedly the best
was tiring at times, it was still fun. I am glad that I’ve learnt
After participating in some competitions, I now understand so many skills and have been given ample opportunities to
that victory is not the most important part of the competition, practise with my teammates through different battles. It was
it’s the knowledge learnt during preparing for the debate not an easy job for our teammates as we were all new to
match and the feedback from the judges that are the real this, but everyone treated the challenges seriously and kept
gems. “When we see obstacles, instead of saying ‘Why 100 percent focused while completing the tasks.
me?’, we should say ‘Try me!” Joining the debate team was Debate not only boosted my critical thinking but also gave
not an easy task and it had its challenges. One difficulty me more confidence to speak to an audience. Yet, it also
for me was holding in my laughter when I was speaking in gave me insight into a variety of everyday societal matters
front of others. Our teachers were so good at helping us both in Hong Kong and on an international scale. It taught
and teaching us to use different methods to overcome such me to be sensitive to what is happening around me, which
obstacles and in the end we did it.
could also be beneficial when tackling reading and speaking
After joining the Debate Team, I have become much more exams. Given all of the above, there is no doubt that it has
confident in speaking in a public setting, and I am really glad deepened my mastery of English. I find debate interesting
that I joined this particular extra-curricular activity. and I really enjoyed my time in the Debate Team.
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