2017年12月16日、名古屋外国語大学で開催された、Oral Communication Festivalに、3年生の石原和加子さんが参加しました。その様子を石原さんに書いてもらいましたので、紹介いたします。
Oral Communication Festival 2017
Wakako Ishihara
When I first heard about this event, I thought it was a good chance to try something new. I’m usually composed and mild. However, in this festival, I have to express myself exaggeratedly. I knew I wasn’t good at doing presentation in front of a lot of people, but I also felt excited to speak English in such a big scale event.
Although I started writing my composition one month before the event, I only began rehearsal in the last two weeks. In these two weeks, I practiced English pronunciation and memorized the script every day. I could memorize almost all sentences a week before the Dec.16 event, but my problem was that I forgot some words while doing my presentation on the day. Moreover, I needed to speak more loudly and my gestures were still vague.
On the performance day I felt nervous, but I decided the following things in my heart, “Even if I forgot words, I don’t care. Be confident and smile all the time.” I think I could do my best, but there were a lot of points that I can improve upon. For example, my pronunciation was good but not like native pronunciation. Moreover, I should have prepared earlier and thought about my clothing and stage interpretation more.
After the presentation, many students and teachers gave me comments. I was impressed to hear these comments. Some people were interested in extensive reading and they said they want to start reading too. And some people said they were interested in the books I introduced, so they want to read them. I really felt what I did so far wasn’t a waste of time.
I could communicate with many people and I was happy to hear their direct opinions. I learned a lot from the other university’s presentations and original dramas. Their English pronunciation, movement, and voices were attractive and I admired them. They were all natural and realistic. Reviews from the other students and teachers were very valuable. I knew the importance of exchanging opinions. The same as rehearsal, I noticed my weak points through the other people’s eyes and their advice. Without anyone’s help, my presentation wouldn’t be successful. Furthermore, I also felt the value of taking part in the event. I could feel the atmosphere of the place and saw the audience reaction. I’m sure I couldn’t feel so impressive by just watching a DVD of the event. More than anything else, simply meeting and talking with a lot of people was the best. We rarely have such opportunity. In this event, we wrote comments to each university. While I was writing, my comments were reflected in my presentation. I was influenced by the other performances and think I'd like to make use of those techniques next time.
From now on, I think I can do anything with confidence such as a presentation or speech. I will express myself clearer than before. If I could say something to people who will try Oral Communication Festival next time, I’ll advise the following things.
- Prepare well.
- Have confidence.
- Try to smile while doing performance (depends on the situation).
I want to say many thanks to the people who gave me advice and help for my presentation as follows, Prof.Yuka Kusanagi, Prof. Martin Connelly, Prof. Motoko Fukaya, Kazuki Ikematsu, Mihiro Ogawam and Ikumi Asayama.
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