A Speech

[여왕]

I delivered this speech about four years back at a Toastmasters International club of which I am a member. TI is a place where people interested in improving their speaking skills come and give two minute impromptu speeches or long talks (somewhere between 25 to 30 minutes). As one of the charter members of this club, I try to attend each meeting, actively participate in all activities, and network with other members. This club has been an eyeopener in that it taught me there are so many Americans who want to improve their speaking skills. So if you feel like you"re going nowhwere or making little progress with English, you"re in good company. So keep your head up and stand tall. As they say, practice makes perfect. To tweak it a little bit, practice with confidence in you and the future makes perfect. Hope you enjoy the following piece.

ENGLISH, THE CAUSE OF JOY AND DISTRESS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

I still vividly remember the first time I spoke English. It was about 14 years ago when I was passing through the zoo with the church young adults staff. I witnessed a drunken Korean aggravating monkeys by poking them. I also spotted two Americans trying to persuade the man to stop poking. But the Korean insisted. My heart raced and the staff was coaxing me into mediating the situation. They knew English literature was my major. I could feel my heart beating faster. Deep inside I maybe knew I would thrive under duress. So I took the big step into mediating between the two parties while speaking in English. The situation didn"t end the way I wanted. The two Americans left the place hoping that I would talk the Korean into stopping poking.

That incident served as a catalyst for me to study English harder. Other than English lit being my major, I always thought that to become a missionary, having a good command of English was a must. Right now, looking back on all those agonies and heartaches, I find the experiences bittersweet. I am still working on my English trying to pick up new expressions and to sharpen the sword of my pronunciation. To me, English is going to be a life-long friend. Sometimes friendly and sometimes betraying, like, when I make grammatical mistakes or mispronounce certain words or get mistreated because of the language.

I said English is my friend; Not so for many international students. I want to invite you to think with me about the life of many international students. You might think of yourself as a missionary on a mission who has a poor command of the local language. Almost all international students who come to the States are well educated and spoken highly of in their respective countries. As soon as they set their feet on American soil, however, most of them go mute and reticent, developing two kinds of tendencies. The first tendency is to face the reality and keep at it. The other tendency is to shy away from it, shying away from English speaking people and any meeting where they are made vulnerable and insecure. They only go to classes. Inside they want to speak English well but their perfectionism or fear of losing face just makes it hard for them to come out. That’s for students.

But what about immigrants or people living in the States? As I have helped many adults with their English, I found that many Koreans who have lived here for 5 years or even 10 or 15 years, learn survival English but barely communicate with Americans. When going to the hospital, school, lawyer’s office, they stumble on inarticulate pronunciations or sentences. People working in those places, if kind, would slow down and try to cooperate. But most people are not of that sort. They frown or raise their voice, which in turn makes non-English speakers more vulnerable and ashamed. Many people in that situation develop a destructive or suicidal attitude. They distance themselves from Americans. 

Why am I letting you into this world which in the States you will probably never experience? I asked you to imagine yourself as a missionary. Imagine leaving your comfort zone. You will feel vulnerable and insecure. Inside of you, you find two entities fighting between the attitude of being proactive and facing the reality and the attitude of avoiding any situation where you are exposed mentally. Our sinful nature tells us to cover that vulnerability or to be away from feeling naked. Even if I cannot truly provide any crystal-clear solutions to this problem, one thing I can say is this: Do to others as you would have them do to you. To put it another way, be kinder than you have to be. When you run into international students, put yourself in their shoes and develop a listening ear. Be careful not to have a condescending attitude. You can be placed in a situation where you would feel the same way as they feel. As you start to act that way, the die-hard cynic attitude, which might be found in some international students, will change and they will accelerate their efforts to better their English. Many of them are really working hard swallowing bitterness and their pride.

Think about this. This is our mutual task to help each other. As they say, it takes two to tango. We are partners placed in a training arena where you are helped by international students to become conscious of yourself and have a sense of being on the mission field. On the part of international students, they are pushed to improve their English skills as well as study their respective fields. If we lose this perspective, life can be really hard and boring for most international students as well as for English speaking counterparts.

English is a hard language for most of us. It brings us joy as well as distress. If we could work together, we can make it a life-long friend instead of an enemy we have to face every day.

[hyunook]

Great speech!^^

[여왕]

Thanks for the compliment.