Brandon Learning Centre: British Education - process, preparation and practicalities

Wedding presents serve a number of purposes; they demonstrate that you care for the couple, that you want to give them a good start or (if we are being cynical) that you want to use your wealth to impress or even to cement business contacts. If you are short on the cash but long on the love, a poem is a heavenly present that really does keep on giving. Beautifully re-copied on a scroll or frame (depending on your creativity and budget) a poem is always a winner. As an extra gift, you could even offer to recite at the Wedding Breakfast. Last year, we had a fabulous student at Brandon Learning Centre who wanted to practice a poem for his Grandparent's 50th wedding anniverary. I heard later that his Grandmother said that this was the most meaningful gift she had every received. Ideas could include: Sonnets from the Portugese - Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sweetly pretty and has the benefit of being instantly quotable: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to

The Brontes; marooned in their Haworth parsonage on the edge of the wild moors. Writing thrilling, visceral and untamed literature that touches the deep core of our beings. At the risk of sounding like a Sixth Form essay, I want to spend a few Good Friday moments on Emily Bronte's Last Lines ; a poem which explores the role of God in our lives. This poem is a powerful Good Friday reading. Traditionally Good Friday is a time when we are looking for hope and reflecting on the coming resurrection. The language of the poem is a powerful; full of imagery of being tossed on life's ocean. There is a stunning series of verbs "changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears" which encapsulate the circle of life. Last Lines is a poem which should be read slowly, giving listeners time to reflect. The main trap for a reader is the enjambment (when the sense runs on to the next line) which needs to be respected in order to convey meaning. Emily Bronte only lived for thirty

Brandon Learning Centre is normally a haven of tranquility in the maelstrom of Causeway Bay. Students discuss literature in measured tones, small children give engaging presentations and even science experiments take place in an atmosphere of studious calm. Not this week though. Oh no. Easter revision is upon us and everywhere we see teenagers frantically leafing through files of notes, prep school boys trying to cram vocabulary into over-stuffed heads and teachers desperately printing revision sheets. So how do you avoid being swept into last minute panic? 1: Plan a timetable allocating time to each subject. Work out how much work you have to cover and allocate periods to each block. Make it realistic; look at the time you have allowed and double it! Build in rest periods and any other activities (tennis?) you know that you will do. There is no point creating a work of fiction! 2: "Chunk" your work. Don't try to cover too much in one session. 3: Test yourself aft

Every speech has the potential for disaster; you lose your train of thought, get distracted or (God forbid) fall off the platform. Last week during my annual Cantonese speech opening the Helping Hand Cookie Day, I managed to commit the first two sins but not, fortunately, the third. What do you do when you are standing on a stage in front of an audience and all goes wrong? Option one is to turn and run off the stage with the result that, for the rest of your days, you will remember the moment and cringe. Option two is to make the best of it, catch your breath, aplogise to the audience and carry on. This is the option I chose. Of course I was mortified but I did manage to pick up, apologised for my rotten pronounciation and rounded off my speech with a small shred of dignity intact. Later, I spoke to someone who had been in my audience and hadn't realised that anything had gone wrong. In an ideal world, every speech would be perfect. In the world we live in, this may not b

My wonderful father in law reminded me of one of my favourite poems during a discussion on military tactics last night. This may sound unlikely but is a perfect example of how poetry, once learned, is never forgotten. The poem in question is "Vitai Lampada" by Sir Henry Newbolt. Written at a time when England's public schools were producing a generation which would fight for the Empire, the poem is an mix of the reality of war ("the square that broke" ie the remains of the formation of men after the Battle of Abu Klea and the puncturing of the myth of infallibility) and the love of honour and companionship embedded in the school system. The title roughly translates as "the passing on of the light"; an idea which is echoed in the third verse. From schoolboy dreams to carnage on the battlefield, the poem is at once stirring and desperate. Vitai Lambada - Sir Henry Newbolt There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night — Ten to make and the

I have just returned from Queensland where we have experienced the worst floods since 1974. Entire communities have been devastated. Out of this misery has emerged the shining example of the indominatable Australian spirit. Complete strangers risking their lives to save others, incredible stories of heroism and the quiet pride, determination and resilience of those who have lost everything. And the emergence of a crisis leader in the mould of wartime politicians; Anna Bligh, Premier of Queensland. Communicating during a crisis is never easy. Managing the balance between empathising with loss, creating a shared identity and establishing strong leadership to allow people to move forwards is a challenge. The most memorable speeches acknowledge the darkness of the times whilst identifying the qualities which will allow a people to move on (The classic example of this must be Churchill's speech made after the Dunkirk evacuation, a stirring use of rhetoric; "We shall fight them on t

Christmas presents and public speaking skills aren't an obvious combination but with a bit of creativity, the link can be made! For your children: encourage "show and tell" by asking children to introduce their new presents to family members. Use questions to develop a framework and help them to expand on the information they are giving. This is a great way to get your children making presentations because their enthusiasm over-rides any fear. For adults: try a "present debate" in which everyone has to give a one minute speech arguing why they have received the ultimate present. After each round, vote for the most popular gift based on the persuasive speech (not your own preferences!) Winner avoids the washing up. Effective public speaking begins with a basic interest in the subject and a desire to communicate. Both of these criteria are answered as you unwrap a fabulous Christmas present and can't wait to tell everyone about it! Happy Christmas...

Post Christmas lunch.. full to the brim with turkey and Chritmas spirit, what could be better than to amuse the family with a cautionary tale? These poems/monologues were a strange beastie, incredibly popular in the late nineteeth/early twenties century. The master is Hilaire Belloc whose Cautionary Tales are full of examples of people whose actions bring them to a (normally abrupt) end. Although the subject matter is macarbre, these poems make wonderful performance pieces. The lyrical language lends itself to reading outloud and you can use pauses to increase anticipation before revealing the climax. At Brandon Learning Centre, we have poetry reading shows twice a year and I have noticed that the audiences will lean forward as performers pause before the high point of their poems. My father, who is a born performer, used to read "Albert and the Lion" in which the combination of a small boy, a walking stick and a lion leads to a predictable result. The monologue was originall

The art of public speaking was developed by the Ancient Greeks. Speeches were not approached casually but carefully crafted paying strict attention to the rules of rhetoric. Aristotle dedicated an entire book to the topic, imaginatively entitled "Rhetoric." We are so lazy these days that the thought of trawling through classical literature to find inspiration fills most of us with dread. So much easier to buy one of those fabulous airport books with catchy titles promising instant public speaking skills in ten easy lessons, right? Wrong. Why waste your time on pale imitations when you can go direct to the source? I taught presentation skills to a class of fifteen year olds who not only grasped Aristotle's concepts immediately but also identified examples they had encountered. Bear in mind that this was a class of Cantonese speakers who were operating in English. Impressive. Aristotle on credibility: "Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when

The Irish have always had a love of performance and I grew up surrounded by powerful speakers and singers. Family parties would always end up with people reciting, singing ballads and dancing (usually me but there was money involved!) We all had "party pieces" which would be trundled out in front of a crowd of relatives who had heard them a hundred times before. As a child, performing in front of a non-critical, family audience is a perfect start to a public speaking career. Memorising poetry at an early age helps to develop an appreciation for language and stretches the vocabulary. The love and encouragement that you receive from the family will stay with you forever. So this Christmas, instead of loafing in front of the television, try some of the sites below and start performing. Wonderful Radio 4 poetry programme with readings of contemporary and classic poetry A treasure trove of poetry Use the quote search function to identify half remembered poems My father's party

Bible reading is an art form unto itself. Firstly, you have to struggle with language, then come to terms with the concept of reading the word of God. Once you have mastered those two points, you have to deliver the message in a way that doesn't make you sound like a hysteric. Simple eh? The Language: If you are lucky, you will be reading from the King James version. Why lucky? Because the language you are about to encounter stands with Shakespeare in the ranks of richness. Elegant phrasing, resonant sounds that roll off the tongue. Compare Ruth 1:16 "where you go I will go" (New International Version) with "wither thou goest;I will go" (King James Version) The meaning: read the second site suggested below which displays all versions of the text togetther with commentaries. Instant comprehension will follow! The delivery: Bible reading is not drama. The key is that the reader fades into the background, allowing the listener to focus on the words. This means work