Lung Kong WFSL Lau Wong Fat Secondary School

English Newsletter 2014-2015

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Learning outside the Classroom LIFE-WIDE LEARNING AROUND THE WORLD

Life-wide Learning Day may sound new to our students, but it definitely is something to look forward to next year. Apart from educational field trips and dynamic dragon-dancing demonstrations, S1 and S2 students were given the opportunity to learn English outside the classroom. They watched a drama called Around the World in 80 Days at Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre. Some students even claimed, “this is actually the first time for me to watch a drama at a theatre live!!”. Before the show, students were given a series of workshops and induction programmes about the story. Their language skills have also been strengthened through these authentic learning opportunities.

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

Have you ever imagined that a person could travel around the world in just 80 days more than 100 years ago? Mr. Phileas Fogg has proved to us that it is not a mission impossible. Around the World in 80 Days is a very meaningful story. Through a wonderful worldwide journey, students understand that even if they encounter different challenges in their lives, nothing is impossible to a willing heart. With determination and confidence, they shall be able to overcome any difficulties and obstacles ahead of them and achieve their goals one day.

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"Hip Hip Hooray!” This year’s S1 English Camp took place at the Sai Kung Recreation Centre from 2nd to 4th July. With the help of Students Camp Leaders, all English teachers and the NET, this residential English language camp had so much to offer. With an emphasis on learning and speaking English, the camp aimed to encourage students to use English as a language of communication with each other outside the classroom. A number of training sessions were also held for the Camp Leaders beforehand. We took the advantage of an authentic environment for our students to discuss and share their ideas in English learning while having fun in different activities. This time, students were split into eight planets and the camp was run very smoothly with many positive surprises and feedbacks.

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There were two types of activities - the coached activities and language activities. The integration of coached activities in our programme planning benefited our English Camp greatly. Also, the Sai Kung Recreation Centre offered a range of indoor and outdoor sports to our young and energetic campers. Under the supervision of licensed coaches at the centre, we all enjoyed the coached activities in the camp such as archery, squash, gateball, roller-skating and rock-climbing. All in all, those coached activities and language activities were very valuable spices to our busy days during the camp. Most of all, students were involved in learning and practising their English all day and in different situations. The camp was unique and it offered a great learning experience of a lifetime to our students!

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Inspiring Success Stories S6B Wong Ho Hin won the championship in S6 Solo Verse Speaking after participating in this competition for 9 years; Students from S1A brought home the second place in Choral Speaking; S5B Lui Tak Ching took part in the Solo Verse Speaking for the first time and was awarded the third place. S4A Chan Pak Chee proved her talent in Solo Verse Speaking by getting the third place for the second year. Two S4 girls, namely Chan I Wing from S4C and Leung Hong Kei from S4A, won the second place for Dramatic Duologue, which was a new entry for our school.

66th Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival

Nurturing Multiple Talents The Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival has become a yearly tradition for Lung Kong students. As usual, more than 100 students took part in this event in this school year. Instead of confining students to Solo Verse Speaking and Public Speaking, this year, students have been introduced to other interesting entries, including Dramatic Duologue, Dramatic Scenes and Choral Speaking, which successfully aroused students’ interests in participating in the festival to showcase their multiple talents.

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Learning English through Poems and Songs

Other traditions of Lung Kong include our annual S1 Inter-class Choral-speaking Competition and the Assembly of “Learning English through Poems and Songs”. Every year, students get to showcase their learning outcomes and learn from their peers in these events. It is also a good opportunity to celebrate the success of those winners in the Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival.

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Musical Appreciation - Oliver Twist 5B Chan Tak Wai Eva

Who is Oliver Twist?

Oliver Twist is the second novel by the great English author Charles Dickens. The story is about an orphan, Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to London where he meets the leader of a gang of juvenile pickpockets. Naïvely unaware of their unlawful activities, Oliver has become one of them.

A Breathtaking Evening

Oliver Twist has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and is the basis for a highly successful musical play. Luckily, 20 Lung Kong musical-lovers were given a chance to appreciate this classic at Hong Kong Cultural Centre as one of the annual activities of the English Drama Club. Honestly, I have watched many musicals in my life, but it was my first time watching it live! I was totally stunned and mesmerized. My breath was simply taken away by the intense, vivid and lively performance of the actors and actresses.

A Professional Amateurish Show

Most of the actors in this musical are teenagers or even children. Although their performance is not up to the professional standard, their passion and preparation is impressive and remarkable. I spotted no mistake throughout the one-and-a-half-hour show. There were many vocal parts, dance-steps and lines to remember but all my companions agreed that they spotted no mistakes in the concert. If you close your eyes, you can’t imagine they are only amateurish school kids! It was a perfect show to me!

Nothing is Impossible

After watching this show, I have become more positive towards life! Despite all untold sufferings faced, Oliver did not give up on himself. He held onto his faith in spite of those adversities and uncertainties presented to him. With hope and determination, nothing is impossible! I was so touched to see that Oliver finally found his granddad at the end of the story. I got a bit teary to witness that touching moment.

Articles from Students

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Let’s Celebrate Cultural Differences

5A Leung Tsun Yam David

Humour Actually is Round the Corner Do you still remember the Indian Vivek Mahbubani who came to our school to share his funny experiences and stories with us? The whole talk was filled with joy and laughter. However, it was not exactly a show for fun. Vivek has successfully brought us into his world and we have learnt to see things from a foreigner’s perspective. Nowadays, many people don’t know how to love those who are around them. Many don’t treasure what they have possessed. Many others complain about how meaningless life is. Fortunately, Vivek has taught us how to look at things from a “fun” angle. We should explore funny people and things around us each day. When a year has passed, there are at least 365 funny bits in your life. He believes that one funny thing can make you laugh and humour is actually just a new angle of how you look at life.

From Tease to Ease

With his profound talent in languages, Vivek has decided to not to waste a bit of it. He uses this non-native-tongue to bring joy to the community and becomes a stand-up comedian. However, this path has never been an easy one. When he was in primary school, he used to be mocked by his classmates. The kids teased him, made fun of him and even called him names. But he did not blame anyone. Instead, he paid extra attention to this “culture” and observed the interaction among them and learnt to be part of this new culture. Now, he has successfully adapted to this new life and wins congeniality. He has also decided to turn this culture into many of his funny jokes.

Say NO to discrimination

After the talk, I have become more capable of dealing with problems. Life is meaningful. We may experience our downs sometimes but we should never complain or give up easily. Because of the problems or challenges we face, we become stronger and tougher. We will then be able to get over more hurdles in our life. Besides, I now understand discrimination can crush a person and we should never ever discriminate against anyone because of his skin colour, gender or ability. Everyone is unique. We should respect a person for who he or she is. Stereotyping and discrimination only bar us from understanding and loving a person.

Articles from Students

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Speak Up Act Out - Improvised Drama Competition

organized by EDB

The Lung Kong WFSL Lau Wong Fat Lung Kong Players won their very first team award at the 2014 Speak Out Act Up, Hong Kong Improvisational Drama Competition. The Lung Kong Players beat many other competitors for this team prize in this competitive competition. Improvised drama is acting and creating a story performance without a written script. The objective is for students to be able to react and respond to each other without the memorization of lines. Improvised drama enhances students’ listening skills, language fluency and creativity. But most importantly, it is fun. Their hard work has paid off and it must be a memorable experience for all of them as they not only got to act in front of a large audience, they were also given a chance to speak English loud and proud.

Inter-school Competitions

Lung Kong Players