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SCMP Reporter

Standing up and speaking in front of your peers is daunting, especially if it's in a second language.

But some students have found a fun and exciting way to practise their English, build confidence and expand their horizons:   drama.

Heep Yunn School is one of many in Hong Kong that have incorporated drama into their curriculum to boost their students' confidence in speaking English  and exploring life.

'Bit by bit we teach the students some simple acting skills,' said William Yip Shun-him, a stage artist and drama instructor who is teaching drama at about half a dozen schools.

'Their English benefits from  skills such as pronunciation.'

Yip started teaching young people drama when he was still a student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in the late 1990s.

He said more schools - even those with little space in their budget for drama classes - were willing to include acting lessons because teachers had witnessed such positive changes in their students.

'The teachers realise that drama can help with their students' personal development,' said Yip. 'From the first day when the students look confused in class . . . to when they are performing brilliantly on stage - some teachers are just overwhelmed by the process.'

On the day of the interview, Yip was teaching a group of girls how to deliver their lines loudly with the help of deep breathing techniques.

'It's  okay. You can be loud, don't worry,' he told a girl who was practising  speaking at the top of her voice and looked at him anxiously as he approached.

This is not something the students would normally hear from their teachers  if they were talking loudly in class.

'You have to give them the space and motivation to be more creative. Otherwise it will be difficult when they grow older and have more constraints.'

Yip then called on one of the shiest girls  to deliver a line in front of the class. Her first few attempts failed and she couldn't  finish the  sentence. Some girls  giggled, but Yip silenced the class and encouraged the girl to continue.

In the end, the girl succeeded: her loud, clear voice stunned the class and earned  a burst of applause.

'This is a very important moment  for her,' said Yip.

To never stop trying is a message that Yip tries to instil in his students. As for the rest, drama, one of our oldest  art forms,  will  work its magic.

'I can assume different identities and  experience different lives in drama,' said Esther Tsui Yue-hei, a Form One student.

Her classmate Stepffy Lo Sui-yan added that drama is more than just memorising and delivering lines;  it is also about thinking from other people's - the characters' - point of view as a means to explore life.

'I can explore the inner feelings of other people,' she said. 'For example, when I'm playing the role of a down and out character, I'm experiencing something that is totally different from my own life.'



Life is a stage ...