I gotta blog this right away while it's still fresh on my mind man.
Some people might be aware of 'Toastmasters', a kind of workshop to encourage and teach commoners the way to speak rightly and confidently in front of the public. And I was invited to this very interesting eye-opening session at Queensway CC this evening by my dear friend, Mezzo Melz.
He have been actively participating in the English Toastmasters workshops and have gotten himself many 'ribbons' to the assessments he went through. To up the challenge, he decided to try Chinese Toastmasters this time. For whatever reasons (I disliked the word 'whatever' very much, but have 2nd opinion to the definition of this word now! Story to be continued...), I agreed to support him in his 2nd speech this evening.
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| 作业（二）第一演讲人，袁辉仲 |
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| He making the speech on "随便" |
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| Congratulations on another addition to your colourful ribbons! =D |
Much to my surprise, I see the enthusiasms in every members and the efforts they'd put in in performing their assessments (whether impromptu or after much practise). It was indeed one of the things that I've gained in attending this workshop.
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| The new members to the Chinese Toastmasters Club making their vows |
I suddenly recalled the days when I suxed at language except for Chinese during my Primary School days when I always scored over 85 marks, merit in my oral tests, and how I wished I can remain these excellent results then and now.
When Mezzo Melz sent me the agenda for the workshop (there were 3 main parts), I was like "what the ... ?!" The agenda was in traditional Chinese characters and many of the characters looked SO new to me!
Come to the change in my point of view towards words like 'whatever' & 'anything', I really gotta bow head to Mezzo Melz. It was because of the speech that he gave towards the attitudes, perceptions and definitions of "随便" that created that "whoas" and "blinks" in my mind. "
随便 - 真的是随便吗？难道，‘随机应变’就不是随便吗？" Agreeing to the contents of his speech, many a times we got irritated by these words, cos' it's an expression of fickle-mindedness and care-less of the issues and decisions around you. But do one really mean it when they say any of these words?
This made me recall an incident my Dad had with my Mom. When he asked her of the type of food she would like, she'd always give 'anything' as a reply. And when the food she sees my Dad bought isn't to her likings, she will get irritated. That goes to show that she doesn't mean 'anything', anything.
Anyways, it's really difficult for me to express my realisation to my change in point of view towards 'whatever'. I will just go saying "you get what I mean?" over and over again when one ask and I reply.
Just to note the teachings that I've learned through this workshop:
(1) “
没有看法，也是一种看法。”
(2) “
上台靠机会、下台靠智慧。”
(3) “
机会是留给来准备的人。”
(4) “
学习要认真、认真并不代表严肃。”
It was really a fruitful evening to me and I believe to the people at the workshop!
