６月15日の金曜日に、英語レシテーションコンテストが開催されました！ 先日行われた学年予選で選ばれた、中学生４５人（各学年１５人）と高校生２５名が参加しましたが、みんなとてもすばらしい発表ができました。
レシテーション（recitation）とは、「暗記」という意味です。つまり、生徒達は課題文のなかから選んだ英文を暗記し、それを他の生徒たちの前で暗唱するのです。どんな文章を暗記するのかというと・・・ 一例として、今回中学生の部で優勝した生徒の課題文をのせておきます。
THE ANT AND THE DOVE
One day a thirsty ant was running by a river. He stopped and drank some water. He slipped and fell into the river. Hecould not swim.“Help me. Please help me. I can’t swim,” he cried. A dove was building her nest in a tree near the river. She heard the ant. She took a leaf and threw it to him. It fell in front of him. He climbed on the leaf and reached the shore. “Thank you, Mrs. Dove,” he said, “You are very kind. You helped me very much. Thank you very much.” “Good-by, Mr. Ant. Be careful. Don’t fall into the river again.”
A few weeks after that, the kind dove was sitting in her nest in the tree. A hunter in the woods saw her. He raised his gun. He was aiming at her. Just then the ant saw the hunter. He ran and bit the hunter’sfoot. “Ouch!” he cried and dropped his gun. The dove heard the hunter and flew out of the nest. The hunter said, “I give up.” He took his gun and walked out of the woods. The dove flew to her nest again. Then she said to the ant,“Thank you, Mr. Ant. You helped me very much. You are very kind. Thank you very much.”“Not at all. I’m very happy.”he said.
どうでしょうか。結構長いですよね！暗唱は、日本語でもなかなか難しいものですが、今回は英語の文ですのでさらに難しくなります。生徒たちは１ヶ月以上も前から練習して、この大会に備えてきました。そして本番で、その成果をみごとに発揮してみせてくれました！
今回はコンテストなのでどうしても順位をつけなければなりませんでしたが、わたしは出場したどの生徒にも、大きなはなまるをあげたいと思いました！
