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

This week, we have over 200 of our students taking the English Speaking Board public speaking assessments. Each students will have to make a presentation, share a favourite book and poem and interact as part of a listening group. I know that all our students are well prepared but here are some last minute ideas which apply to any presentation you make. Cue cards: If you are using cue cards, make sure that they only contain key words so you aren't tempted to read. Number your cue cards; there is nothing worse than dropping them just before your speech. Visual aids: If you are using PowerPoint, try to incorporate pictures rather than words. Use your visual aids to remind you of your main points. Choose images/graphs which add more information or insight to your points. Audience interaction: Try to scan your audience as you speak. Judge the area you have to work with and consider moving around to emphasise your key points. Relax and smile; audiences will engage

The days running up to any exam are always a mixture of excitement, anticipation and outright terror. We have the Winchester College exams next week and Common Entrance at the beginning of June. Try following these steps to avoid turning up in a state of nervous exhaustion... Leading up to the exam: Review your notes. Flick through textbooks; sometimes the images they contain can aid memory. Transfer your key notes to flashcards that you can review before the exam. If you really don't understand a topic, speak to a teacher as soon as possible. The topic may not come up on the exam but worrying about it may prevent you from focusing on what you do know. The night before the exam: Get a good night's sleep. Pack your pencilcase. Make sure that you have a couple of pens, pencil, sharpener, rubber, calculator and any mathematical instruments you might need. Put your books away; your goal is to have a relaxed mind. The morning of the exam: Double check your equipment.

When you are presenting in a foreign language, there are a few steps you need to think about: Read your speech or poem to a native speaker and get feedback. If at all possible, get a native speaker to record your piece for you. Finally, don't take yourself too seriously; you are making an effort to communicate which is invariably appreciated. As part of our French classes, students are encouraged to present in French. We always start off with poetry as the rhythm aids pronunciation. The following is a poem I particularly like by Raymond Queneau. The narrator is teaching chicks about eggs. After describing the shape and colour of the shell, the teacher realises that he can't show the chicks the interior as, if he does so, he will be removing the source of their existence! Which came first, the chicken, the egg, or the lesson about the egg? La leçon de choses Raymond Queneau Venez, poussins, Asseyez-vous Je vais vous instruire sur l’œuf Dont tous vous venez, poussins.

Spring is a time for new life, a message paralleled in the glory of the Resurrection. Even in Hong Kong, I can see signs of spring through the pollution! A.E. Housman's work A Shropshire Lad contains the following poem which is ideal for this time of the year. The beauty and simplicity of the images attracts the listener to the poem's key message of seizing opportunities to enjoy nature's beauty now. I particularly like to think of cherry trees wearing white for Easter. Read this and then go for a walk... from A Shropshire Lad II Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide. Now, of my threescore years and ten, Twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more. And since to look at things in bloom Fifty springs are little room, About the woodlands I will go To see the cherry hung with snow. Ad Gloriam Dei.

Technically this is a hymn but it reads wonderfully and is perfect for a children's Easter recital. What could be more joyous and reflective of rebirth at this time of year than the voices of children? At Eastertime the lillies fair And lovely flowers bloom everywhere At Eastertime, At Eastertime, How glad the world at Eastertime Delightful and to the point. Perfect!

The shopping heaven of Causway Bay has been taken over! The usual marauding gangs of trolley wielding shoppers have to play second fiddle to shoals of Smurfs, gaggles of Greek Gods and a whole legion of Romans. It's Sevens time. Brandon Learning Centre on Leighton Road is right in the middle of the action and we have a bird's eye view of the carnage as it unfolds. It is fascinating to see which children have realised that something unusual is going on (very few) and how many take the squadrons of cross-dressing Rugbymen in their stride. Does any of this have a connection to public speaking? Not really but it is great fun!

I can't revise until... I've tidied my desk, sharpened my pencils, made a cup of coffee, rearranged my notes (continue ad infinitum) As Easter revision panic looms, the excuses build up, creating a wall between you and exam success. To misquote The Art of War; know your enemy. Identify whatever you do instead of revising and build it into your revision timetable. In scheduling your prevarication, you avoid running behind time which creates additional panic. Admittedly, a twenty minute block marked "tidy desk" looks less impressive than one marked "advanced mathematics" but this is the reality so name your demons!