Attending Oral English Contests are a valuable experience for me. Not only do I aim at winning a prize or gaining honor for the university, but also making lots of friends, whose majors vary from art to science. While the traditional view of these competitions may mainly focus on the pronunciation or tones of the speaker, I gradually did realize that it’s more like a test for logical thinking and individual perspective. Students who could enter the final competition have an excellent accent, so the judges would focus more on the question and answer part or the improvised speech. The topic of the speech is based from the recent events on campus, to those from around the world.
　　I’ve mentioned the importance of personal perception, the significance of oral English is never to be forgotten. Since that’s the main standard for the teachers to choose qualified students to participate in the competition on behalf of the university. I’m so fortunate to have been chosen by the English teachers Fanghong and Wangjuan, who are the tutors best at training students. In the three years of college life, I have had many opportunities to attend various kinds of contests. From the Oral English competition in Hubei Province to the 21st century cup. The contents and the principles of each competition may be distinct, so at first, I found it hard to get used to so many different competitions. However, gradually, I discovered that to improve my speaking and thinking ability is the core value that can enable me to perform well in various contests. The students who compete in smaller competitions may gain good experienced. Then it is more possible for him or her to get the opportunity to attend more formal contests. I do think I’m lucky to get so many chances. The more competitions I attend, the better attitude and thinking method I’ll get, and these valuable experiences finally enabled me to participate in the 21st century cup.
　　The preparation for this competition is rigorous. Understanding the principles of the contest is very important. It consisted of three parts; the prepared speech of 4 or 5 minutes, then came the improvised speech for about 3 or 4 minutes, finally the judges would target on the prepared and unprepared speech to raise 2 questions, and each required less than a 2 minute answer.
　　The first task is to write a speech for the topic assigned. And the very topic I got for the regional competition was “honesty and integrity in education”. Another big topic and a small answer. That’s the traditional routine we follow to write any speeches. At the beginning, I arranged the speech in 3 parts; the first was a small story which reflected the reality that the dishonesty had already entered into every aspect of our society, including the education field as well. Then, a deeper analysis was raised to show that fame and money may be the main cause of the cheating behavior in education. Finally, it occurred to me that the method of solving the problem should be significant, and it took 50% of my speech. First of all, we should purify our heart and soul, that is, to inform the younger generation that to learn knowledge all by oneself is the core value of education. More than passing the exams and getting high marks. Secondly, the significance of the social group is important. Since the community the advocating for individual thinking and logical thinking could arouse student’s interests in researching and discovering the truth rather than focusing on tests only. Meanwhile, high-tech could be a tool in hand to enable us to protect integrity. For instance, monitors can make sure that the exams are deprived of cheating, and e-censorship would easily detect two identical papers which are then suspected of plagiarism. At last the paragraph is completed. And the amendments were made times to make the speech more easily to understand and the language was more influential. Since there lies the difference between a composition and a speech. The first emphasize on its comprehensiveness while the last depends on the influence on people.
　　Through the phone interview, I finally got the ticket for the south regional final contest. I was a bit nervous and didn’t do well on the prepared speech. As I’m not someone who’s very expressive and passionate. When it comes to me with the topic of my unprepared speech, I was glad since the topic was rather close to our daily life, “are pets necessary for the family nowadays?” I first set an example of my aunt, whose daughter went abroad, and the pet dog went with her everywhere. From the example we could see the importance of the comfort we get from pets. Besides, we could also see the news of pets saving the owner, or pets helping humans with daily chores. To keep a pet is a good idea. Still, some side-effects of the pets are to be shown to make the speech complete. The first question for me is that, pets are wearing various clothes even if they like it or not, is that right? I just asked a question back: “How do you know that they do not like them?” This is a change to the serious atmosphere, and I give my success to it partly, since a flexible and creative mind in the contest is usually important. Meanwhile, through the observation of other contestants, I found that logical analysis, and graceful performance is even more attractive.
　　The final competition held in Beijing had come to its end. I didn’t go into the final, and I got the third prize. I’m not that satisfied. I lack the ability of analyzing the topic and arranging the ideas in a logical and appropriate way. That would be my goal for improvement of my oral English. Since English is only a tool for communication. The individual thinking and the broad view over the world is the core value we are looking forwards.