The Essentials of Chinese Speech and Drama Class - Apple Pie Language

There are a myriad of activities that are available for speech and drama students. Teachers no longer feel the need to stick to the standard musicals and plays in a bid to help the students to improve upon their vocal skills, acting and characterization. There are a number of unusual activities can go hand in hand with the traditional methods to enhance their dramatic skills which will help them be the best that they can be.

In the Singaporean context, bilingualism – English + one’s mother tongue – is what the formal educational scene strives for. However, since most of our academic subjects are taught in English, the only time a child gets to be exposed to his/her mother tongue is during its subject lesson. What subtracts the time usage of one’s mother tongue even more is also the replacement of the familial mother tongue language with English – as the educational backgrounds of modern parents have been raised.

Joining a Chinese speech and drama enrichment is one very effective way to expose children to Mandarin through fun and “play”! These speech students can be encouraged to show their creativity and give information about a particular item or product (real or fiction). When they get the opportunity to mimic the fast paced diction that goes with television commercials they not only get the opportunity to learn pronunciation, word choice, pacing and vocal tone but also get to learn how to market a product and idea effectively. They can even get to practice speech writing and delivery.

All actors have to have the ability to move with conviction while they are onstage. Learning some traditional dances is a great way to learn about the culture and also tone the body while improving on movement.

Speech and drama class is fun but it can be even more so with a comical character. This will give the students the perfect opportunity to be silly. Full costume and makeup will make it even more of a reality for them. They can study the comical characters and put on their own show after.

Bringing a little history in is always good so the speech and drama students can pick a particular event that occurred and dramatize it. It will not only help them to have a better understanding of what took place but also give them a great learning opportunity.

Last but not least they can put their own improvisation group together. This allows them to think on the spot. They are able to make up different situations and act them out. This exercise spurns creativity. It may be a scene from the palace or a typical peasant story of their versions of a classic fairy tale. No matter what the option they will be able to get as they envision it, no critique or anything.

The essentials of Chinese speech and drama class are pretty simple. The student gets to learn about the history of Chinese culture and gets to experience certain traditional aspects of folklore. The great thing is that they can have a lot of fun while learning.