巴尔地摩国际学校 史静梅
面向华府社区的大型公益活动“大华府首届中文讲故事大赛”经过三个多月的时间，从筹备，报名，紧张的初赛到激烈的决赛。12月9日终于在博城中文学校，落下帷幕。
我校张晓霞，申帅羽老师带领的一年级五名参赛队员，全部进入决赛。除一名选手因故弃权外，另外四名选手全部参加了决赛。其中
Marcia Brown----Second place（二等奖）
Xavier Morgan----Third place（三等奖）
Nimah Aime----Third place（三等奖）
Sonja Boxall----Excellent award（优秀奖）
11月18日，我们学校的小选手参加完初赛后，哈维中文学校副校长梁辉冯砚君老师等撰文对我校的孩子进行了评论：“如果合上你的双眼，你一定会像我一样认同讲故事者，一定会是一个地地道道的中国孩子，而且是一个连北京儿化音都发得非常标准的中国孩子。睁开双眼，事实会将你突然吓倒，他们竟是黑皮肤黑眼睛的美国人。”
今天，史静梅老师特地拨通了本届故事大赛评委负责人王璐老师家的电话，（王老师是中国戏剧家协会会员、辽宁省戏剧家协会理事、沈阳市朗诵协会理事等，响誉大华府地区的语言专家。）史静梅请王老师就我校参赛的小朋友的表现，给我们学校中文部的师生一点珍贵的点评，以便我们老师更好地教中文，孩子们更好地提高。王璐老师热情地从电话中接受了史静梅老师的采访，她说：我对你们学校来的这几个孩子印象很深。他们没有中国孩子们的拘谨，和紧张。他们没受环境的影响，而是保持一种自然放松的状态，和观众心灵交流，发挥得很好。
孩子们在松弛，自然的同时，对故事中的人物性格刻画得非常好。特别是讲《狐狸和乌鸦》的小朋友（Marcia Brown），她的“内心视像”非常好，随着她的眼光，就让观众好像感到地上一只狡猾的狐狸睁着眼，正跟树枝上的乌鸦对话。这孩子的基本素质非常好，如果没有这个活动，她也可能不会被发现，一辈子就这么过去了。这个讲故事活动，给孩子们提供了一个展示的平台，像她（Marcia Brown）这样的孩子的与生俱来的“内心视像”被发掘出来了。她做到了人物语言性格化，一次次狐狸和乌鸦的对话，把狐狸狡猾阴险的性格刻画得非常好，非常生动。同时她也希望我们的小朋友生活中更多地使用中文，这样一来，应答交流就会更自然，对故事理解更加深刻。
听了王璐老师的金玉良言，史静梅深深地感到，我们的小朋友，要感谢博城中文学校和哈维中文学校给我们提供了这么好的一个机会！要感谢我们的申帅羽老师做了大量的工作说服家长同意孩子们积极参加比赛！更要感谢我们的家长一次次风雨无阻的送我们的孩子，走很远的车程，赶来参加一次次比赛。
这次大赛，展示了我校教学水平。发掘了孩子们的语言潜能。申帅羽老师在带领全班孩子准备故事的过程中，无形中就让全班孩子们多学了好多故事，多认识了很多汉字。她利用这个机会，使自己全班孩子们的中文水平，提高了一大截！我们BIA有这样的好老师，真是我们孩子的福气！
The
Reflection of First Chinese Storytelling Contest in Metropolitan DC
Baltimore International Academy
Translation:yuanyuan Chen
First Chinese
Storytelling Contest for the DC Metropolitan areas, a significant public
charity event for the residing communities had its final competition at Potomac
Chinese School after more than three months of hard work on preparation,
registration, an intense first round and an exciting final round.
Five students
from Baltimore International Academy (BIA), directed by Ms. Xiaoxia Zhang and
Ms. Shuaiyu Shen participated in the Storytelling competition. Four of
the five participants of the first round went on to succeed in the finals. (The
fifth student who also performed well in the first round withdrew from the
finals for personal reason). The result of the contest is as follows:
Marcia Brown----Second place
Xavier Morgan----Third place
Nimah Aime----Third place
Sonja Boxall----Excellent award
On November
18, Mr. Hui Liang, the Assistant Principal from Howard County Chinese School
and Ms. Yanjun Feng made comments on the BIA participants:
” If you keep
your eyes closed, you definitely will have the same thought as I did: the
student telling the story must be a native Chinese child speaking every word
accurately and with a standard Beijing accent. Open your eyes, and you
would be surprised to see these kids with brown skin and eyes are not Chinese
at all, but rather Americans.”
Today, Ms.Shi made a
phone call to one of the judges of this Storytelling Contest, Ms. Lu Wang, a
well-known Chinese Language Specialists in Metropolitan DC area, and formerly a
member of Chinese Dramatists Association, Director of Liaoning Provincial
Dramatists Association and Director of Liaoning Provincial Speech Association.
Ms. Shi asked Ms. Wang to comment on the contest performance of BIA’s
kids and to give some suggestions to BIA Chinese teachers that would help them
to teach more effectively. Ms. Wang enthusiastically accepted the
interview saying:
“I was very impressed by the children from your school. Unlike Chinese children, they didn’t seem awkward or nervous. They were not affected by the changes of the environment so they kept relaxed and communicated with the audience through their soul. That’s why they did so well during the contest.’’
“I was very impressed by the children from your school. Unlike Chinese children, they didn’t seem awkward or nervous. They were not affected by the changes of the environment so they kept relaxed and communicated with the audience through their soul. That’s why they did so well during the contest.’’
Naturally and relaxed, BIA students successfully portrayed the
characters of the stories, especially Marcia Brown who told a story of the “Fox
and Crow” and had a great “Inner Vision”. With her eyes moving, Marcia
personified a cunning fox talking to the crow on the branch of a three.
This is a child with great potential and quality. Without this
activity, her true Chinese language talent would probably not be recognized by
the teachers. This storytelling contest offered a platform for children
like Marcia Brown with an “Inner Vision” to be discovered. She gave life to the
language and to the characters. She portrayed a cunning and malicious fox
successfully through dialogue with the crow. Ms. Wang expressed her hope
that more of BIA students will have opportunities to speak Chinese language in
their daily lives, so that more of them would be able to fully comprehend the
stories and to communicate them as deeply and naturally as Marcia Brown,
and the other participants.
All of the
valuable tips from Ms. Lu Wang made Ms. Shi realize that BIA students are
thankful for the great opportunity sponsored by Potomac Chinese School and
Howard County Chinese School and for all the time and work Ms. Shuaiyu Shen
spent convincing parents to support their child’s participation in this
contest. Of course, we should especially thank BIA parents for coming to
the each of the contests with their child, despite the long drive and cold
weather.
The contest proved the
effectiveness of the Chinese teaching and learning capabilities of the students
at BIA. While preparing for the contest, the entire First Grade class
read many stories and learned many new Chinese characters. Ms. Shen used this
opportunity to help her class move their Chinese ability to a higher level. It
is our students’ fortune to have such good teachers like Ms. Shen at BIA.
