So with that said, I wanted to include in this post some information about what the Speech & Debate team actually IS because before I got here, I had a really bad idea about it all. I thought of it as a "debate" team when in reality, debate is only 1 out of 5 events.
I found out that I'd be the head coach of this team when I was accepted for Fulbright. It was not forced upon me, but rather presented by my amazing predecessor as "Here's something I did that worked well; if you want to continue it, I can help." I happily accepted once I learned that events were in English and not Bulgarian. I'd be a useless coach if events were in Bulgarian.
The team is part of the BEST Foundation (Bulgarian English Speech & Debate Tournaments) which was founded by fellow Fulbrighters, including my predecessor. The organization is an NGO which hosts regional and national tournaments, as well as a US Qualifying tournament which is held here in Blagoevgrad next spring. Nearly all of the the ETAs with Fulbright have inherited a BEST team, so we are all in the same boat. However, my team is HUGE and has a record of success so it feels like I'm trying to jump onto a moving train.
For simplicity, I'll outline the 5 events below:
1. Original Oratory. This is the standard "speech" event in which the students gives an original, memorized speech about an issue of importance to him/her. I've heard oratories on topics from racism to bad role models to the status of Bulgaria as a "modern colony." Oratories are up to 10 minutes long and, as mentioned, are memorized. Imagine memorizing and performing a speech in a foreign language in school. These kids are outstanding.
2. Duo Interpretation. In duo, the two students perform a scene out of a published book, play, poem, etc. As with oratory the work is memorized except the students are not writing the work themselves, hence the term "interpretation." Students "cut" a longer piece of work into a 10 minute performance. For instance, I have two students who are performing "West Side Story" in 10 minutes. Think of it as the "highlight" version of the story. One of the coolest rules is that students are not allowed to look at each other. It makes for some pretty amazing acting. My students are far better actors/actresses than I ever was.
3/4. Prose/Poetry. I'm including these events together because they are so similar. In each case, students take a written piece of prose or poetry and read it aloud. It sounds easy (just reading something out loud), but most of the work comes in adding appropriate gestures, changes in tone of voice/intonation, and appropriate or dramatic pauses. These are some of the hardest things to learn how to do in a foreign language, so it's amazing that these students can do so.
5. Debate. Debate is still the most foreign concept for me, but I'm catching on. Each debate team is composed of 3 members. There are 4 speeches given for each team. Each team is either the government (proposition) or the opposition. For our fall tournament, the debate topics are: Ahmed Mohamed's scholarship, counter-immigration measures, and outsourcing in Bulgaria. Before the tournament, students do not know which side they will be on, so they have to research from both sides. I think that's where a lot of the real learning occurs: trying to formulate arguments on a side that you may not necessarily agree with. There's also an impromptu debate topic that is introduced at the tournament itself.
So far, I've been overwhelmed by the amount of logistics it takes to get a team to a tournament (blue ink only for this form, the 3 names not 2 names on this sheet, the ISBN on this form, etc.) but the student leaders have been amazing. Viktor, Lollie, Yoana, Kari: shout out to you guys! You've made my life a lot easier.
As I said before, our first tournament is in about 2.5 weeks (Nov 15-16) in Stara Zagora. I will be sure to keep everyone posted on how we do. Fingers crossed :D
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