The Vocabulary Book It can be frustrating for students who want toexpress themselves, but are not able to find theright English words. Having a rich selection ofvocabulary to use in the classroom as well as indailyconversationisthecornerstonefundamentaltobecomingafluentEnglishspeaker. Building a diverse, dynamic and extensive range ofvocabularyshouldbeagoalthatallKTSstudentsshouldreachfor.Thisisthereasonwhyin2011–2012wehaveintroducedtheKTSVocabularyBooks. With the aid of the Vocabulary Books, KTS studentshave been able to broaden their vocabulary as well ascollect some ‘Vocabulary Building Certificates’ throughdiligentlywritingdownwordsandphrasesduringtheirEnglishandOrallessons,aswellasbygettinghighmarksin their vocabulary quizzes. Accumulation of thesecertificateswillresultinthembeingexchangedforschoolcoupons.Asyoucansee,hardworkreallydoespayoff!

you’ll be rewarded lavishly!“ Be a busy vocabulary bee” –

2011-2012 Issue No. 8

THE VISION

Outstanding Newsletter). This year, students have been taking part in different activities which can widen their horizons. Students can expand their knowledge through reading about places, and develop their interpersonal skills through having outdoor visits.

Kowloon Tong School(Primary Section)

Welcome to our eighth issue of Kowloon Tong School’s Newsletter – The Vision (Vivid Inspirational Stimulating Intelligent

Brian Cheung 3C

Emily Chan 5C

Janis Kwong 4B Result: ChampionPoem: ‘I Can See You Now’

Q. What is your ‘secret to success’ and what advice would you give to students who are participating in the Speech Festival next academic year?

Listencarefullytotheteacherwhoistrainingyou.Also,practisingathome isvery importantbecause we can use the advice the teacher hasgivenusandreadthepoembetterthenextday.Lastly,studentsmustremembertolooksadif itisasadpoemandtosmilealotif it isahappypoem.Itisimportanttoshowourunderstandingofthepoem.

VersespeakingandcompetingintheHongKongSpeechFestivalissomethingstudentslookforwardto immensely every autumn. From September toDecember,KTSisbuzzingwithstudentspractisingandrecitingtheirversesateveryopportunity. KTSstudentshavearealgiftformakingwords‘comealive’andconveyingthespecialmeaningofeachpoem.Teachersdiligently train thestudentsin verse speaking techniques such as showing asenseofrhythmwhichisnaturalandfree-flowing,stressingthecorrectsyllablesandsentences,havinganappropriatetoneforthepoem,andsharingthemoodofthepoem. Afterpractisingforhoursandhoursatschoolandathome, students continue tobecomemoreandmoreconfident,andareabletodisplaythatgreatsenseofperformancewhichiseversoimportantinverse speaking.Whata special timeautumn isatKTSasweallsharethejoyofversespeaking!

Overcome your fears, Listen to the cheers!

Everyone can be a poet, You just didn’t know it!

Techniques about Verse Speaking

Q1. How did you prepare for the Speech Festival?IpractisedalotwithMissChow.Wepractised at least three times a week,

and sometimes we practised many times during theday.Mr.Sellersalsogavesomegreatadviceasheissoexperiencedinthiscompetition.Ofcourse,practisingathomewasabigpartofthepreparationaswell.Q2. What techniques, in your opinion, are most

important when learning verse speaking? Whenlearningversespeaking,wemustbecomeacharacterinthepoem.Wemustreallyunderstandthepoem. Stressing the right syllables is very importanttoo.

Ryan Kwok 5DResult: ChampionPoem: ‘I’m the One Who Rules

the School’

2A HoKyle Champion2B LamSumYing Champion3A WongKwunHo Champion4B KwongYanLam Champion5A ChuiWaiYuenIvan Champion5D KwokTszHim Champion6A ChanManKit ChampionP.1-3Boys ChoralSpeaking Champion1C YauChunHei 1strunner-up1D WongYatMing 1strunner-up1D LauSzeTung 1strunner-up2A MakTinSumGabriel 1strunner-up3C YikYuChin 1strunner-up5A WongHoiLam 1strunner-up5A ChanChunYin 1strunner-up5C HoWingInVivian 1strunner-up6A IpChingLam 1strunner-up6B ShumLuoYi 1strunner-up1A ChanWingYing 2ndrunner-up1A CheungYanKiu 2ndrunner-up1D LiuSiuYung 2ndrunner-up2B KwongSeeChing 2ndrunner-up2C ChengMatthewYanNok 2ndrunner-up2D WangHingLingYana 2ndrunner-up3B MakPuiYu 2ndrunner-up4B ToKaChunMagnus 2ndrunner-up5A ChunOnChing 2ndrunner-up6E KwokYatHei 2ndrunner-up4A SoPakYui 2ndrunner-up

Results of 63rd Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival:

Lachlan Ian Fraser 6F

In KTS, I’ve been lucky

tolearnalotofthingsand

meetlotsoffriends.Iwant

tothanktheHeadmistress,

the Vice Headmistress and

all the teachers for all the

help theyhavegivenusduringour six

yearsinKowloonTongSchool.

One of my best times at KTS was

winning the inter-school football

competitionwithmyteam-mateswhich

made everyone very happy. But most

ofall,Iamhappytohavemetsomany

friends, and will always remember the

happy times that we had together at

KTS.

Thank you KTS, we may be leaving

you,butwewillneverforgetyou.

Goodbye Message to KTSChris Li 6D

AftersixyearsinKTS,Iamgraduatingfromprimaryschoolandabouttoembarkonthenext journey. Remembering my life in KTS,I am so thankful to the Headmistress, ViceHeadmistress, teachers and my classmates.The Headmistress provided resources for usto satisfy our curiosity. Teachers helped usgrow, from childish to mature, from callowto seasoned; and classmates supportedme whenever I faced difficulties. Going tosecondary school, I feel both nervous andexcited, but I know that KTS has given methe courage to face the ever-changingworld.

Goodbye,KTS.Thesadnesswillhelpustobetterappreciatethehappytimeswehavespenttogether.

Elliar Cheung 3C

In the English Poetry

Recitationclass,MrsD’souza

teaches us how to recite

poetry with good facial

and vocal expression. We

learnt how to make our recitations

interesting for the audience by varying the

pace,volumeandpitch inourvoices.Some

poemsrequiretheuseofdifferentvoicesfor

differentcharacters,andwehadalotoffun

practisingthis.

Mrs.D’souzaheldaPoets’Caféwhichwas

excitingbecausetheclassroomwassetupin

a café style with colourful table cloths and

flowersonthetables.Wealsohadsomenice

food and juice. Each student had to recite

a poem and I recited a poem called “The

Crocodile’sToothache”,sinceIthoughtitwas

aninterestingpoem.IreallyliketheEnglish

PoetryRecitationclass!

Yana Wong 2D

IliketobeintheEnglishPoetryRecitation class because in thisclass the teacher is Mrs. D’souza.Sheiskindandalwaystalkstous.Ithinkthisclassisinterestinganditisahappyclass.Inthelastlessonofthefirst term, we had aPoet’s Café. In thecafé, each studentstood in front oftheclassandreadapoem that we hadlearnt. In this class,we learnt differentthings like facialexpressions, voicecontrol and how topronounce wordscorrectly. It is a funclass.Iwanttobeinthisclassforever!

Poetry Recitation Class

Oneofourschool’smissionsistoletstudentstakepartinvariousfieldtrips.Thus,studentscanacquireadeeperunderstandingofdifferentculturesandbroadentheirhorizons. Foronesuchtrip,ourstudentsvisitedtwoschools inSingaporewheretheyattendedsomeoftheirclassesandexperienceddifferentteachingandlearningstyles.OurstudentshadopportunitiestotalkaboutKTSandHongKongastheysharedinformationaboutthedifferentcultureswiththehoststudents.ThebonuswastheyconversedinEnglish!Theyalsodidabitofsightseeingtoaddtotheexcitement.Allthisprovidesagreateducationalexperiencewhilepreparingourstudentsfortheoutsideworld.ThistripisorganizedeveryyearforourP.5–P.6students.ReadontoseewhatourstudentshavetosayabouttheirtriptoSingapore.

HennaCindy Sung 5A

I went on a trip to Singapore with my teachers andschoolmates on 7th February, 2012. I felt very happyandexcitedtohavetheopportunitytogo. On the second day of the trip, all of us visitedEdgefield Primary School. My buddy from thatschool drew a henna design for me! First, my buddy

usedapentodrawabeautifuldesignonmyhand.Ifeltscaredthatthepenwouldmakemedirty!Thenonehourlater,mybuddytoldmeIhadtowashmyhand.Theflowerwhichmybuddydrewdidn’tdisappearandIsawanorangefloweronmyhand!Ifeltsurprised!Itlookedbeautifulandthedesignstayedonmyhandforaweek!Ifelthonouredaftermybuddydrewthishennadesignforme.Thiswasoneofthemostunforgettabledaysofmylife!

Street DancingNatalie Cheung 6A

Haveyoueverheardofstreetdancing?Howabouttryingit? OntheseconddayofourtriptoSingapore,wevisitedEdgefieldPrimarySchoolandtriedthis popular dance in the school hall! Wewereallveryintriguedbythisdifferent,but

stimulatingdance.Buthowdidstreetdancingoriginate? Street dancing is a part of hip-hop culture, which isaculturedevelopedbyAmericanblack teenagers. Itcanbedivided into twocategories:breakdanceandhip-hopdance.Breakdanceusuallyinvolvesmovesthataresimilartogymnasticmovessuchassupportingyourselfwithyourhandsandspinningontheground,soit’squitechallengingandmaynotbesuitableforeveryone.Butthemoresimplifiedversion,hip-hopdancemaysuityou.Ithasmanyvariationswithuniquecharacteristics.Notableonesaretherobotdance–wheredancershavetomovetheirlimbsinaroboticmannerwithlocking,involvinglotsofarmmovements.Streetdancingisnowusuallypractisedindancestudios,andsomeschoolslikeEdgefieldPrimarySchoolevenusestreetdancingaspartofthesyllabusoftheirP.E.lessons!Streetdancingissurelyagreatactivityforrecreation.Ifyouareinterested,youcanevenparticipateinsomestreetdancinglessonsincommunitycentres!

School Trip to Singapore

General Information TheU.K.isaunitybetweenfourdifferentcountries:England,Scotland,WalesandNorthernIreland.ItislocatedinthenorthernhemisphereandisjusttotheleftofmainlandEurope.Englandisthebiggestofthefourcountriesand isprobably themost recognizableof the four,around theworld.Notonlyisitfamousforitshistoryandculture,butitisalsothehomeoftwofamousKTSteachers–Mr.SellersandMr.Mannering!With4countriesand63millionpeople,theUnitedKingdomisaveryimportantpartofbothEuropeandtheWorld.The Flag TheU.K.flag (theUnion Jack) isvery recognizable,butmanypeopledon’tknowthatitismadeupoftheSt.George’sFlag(England),St.Andrew’sFlag(Scotland),andtheSt.Patrick’sFlag(N.Ireland).

The Currency The U.K. uses a currency called pound sterling, or more commonly‘pound’.Thereareeightdifferentcoinvalues,andfourdifferentbanknotevalues(thebiggestonebeing50pounds–whichisabout600HongKongdollars). Did you know that each coin and banknote from the Bank ofEnglandmusthavetheQueen’sheadonit?

Some Customs The United Kingdom has a lot ofcustoms and a lot of famous traditionsandpeople. WeknowthatShakespearewasfromEngland,asweretheBeatlesand,ofcourse,CharlesDickens.But,didyouknowthatJ.K.RowlingisfromScotlandandRoaldDahlwasfromWales? FoodisabigpartoftheU.K.traditionandvaries,dependingonwhichcountryyouarein.InEngland,fishandchipsorbangersandmash(sausagesandmashedpotato)havebeenafavouritefoodforhundredsofyears.InScotlandtheyhaveaslightlydifferenttraditionaldishcalledHaggis.Thisismadefromlamb’slung,liverandheartwhichisservedintheliningofasheep’sstomach!Interesting fact: DidyouknowmostfishandchipshopsinEnglandserveChinesetakeaway?If

youwanttospeakCantoneseinEngland–gotoafishandchipshop,youmightbeservedbyHongKongpeople!

Tourist Spots TherearelotsoffamousplacesintheU.K.BuckinghamPalaceiswheretheQueenlivesmostofthetime,butsheactuallyhas3otherhomes,includingWindsorCastlewhichisaround900yearsold. The famous Hogwart’s Express leaves from King’s Cross inLondon(butplatform9¾doesn’treallyexist).Oneofthemostfamous places in the U.K. would have to be Stonehenge. Builtaround5000yearsagoandstill standingtoday, it isbelievedtohavebeenaburialground,butnobodyiscertain.Howdidpeoplecarrythestonesthere?Didaliensbuildit?It’soneoftheworld’sgreatmysteries!

The United Kingdom

Laverbread Haggis

Buckingham Palace

English Learning Tips

StudyingEnglishismuchlikestudyinganyothersubject;sometimesitcanbealittletedious.Agreatway to ‘spice itup’ is to include funactivities tohelpyou learnwithout realizing it. Simplyreadingafewjokescanreallyhelpyourlevelofunderstanding.Learninginterestingexpressionsoridiomsalsohelpstoputyourbrainintogear–“how?”youmayask.Well,anidiomisafigureofspeechthatdoesn’thaveanobviousmeaning,sobylearningthemwestarttolearnaroundEnglishwords,andnotjustdirectlywhattheymean. Great techniques to improve your English can be really simple yet make a really big difference.Thebestpossiblethingyoucandoispractiseeachandeveryday.Whetherit’sreading,speakingorwriting,doalittleeveryday,andyouwillseeyourabilityrisequickly.Motivationisveryimportanttoo,thinkoffunEnglishthingstodo—watchingamovieinEnglish,singingEnglishsongs,orjustspeakingtoyourfriendsinEnglish–allofthishelpsalot!Don’tbeafraidtospeakEnglish!Makingmistakesispartofthelearningprocess,andmakingmistakesnowjustmeansyouwon’tmakethemlateron. Onthispagewehavesomecommon idioms toaidyourEnglish learning.Remember,youcanneverhavetoomuchfunwhenstudying.

English Fun Page

Idioms – Common idioms matching exercise

Figureout () a. Somethingthatiscommonoreasytoget.Tohaveablast () b. Recoverfromanillnessorbadnews.Monkeysee,monkeydo () c. Notrememberanythingallofasudden.Can’tstand () d. Tobecomeunsureaboutabigdecision.Adimeadozen () e. Todislikesomethingverymuch.Goblank () f. Tocopysomethingsomebodydoesandnotunderstand why.

Getover () g. Tounderstandafterthinkingaboutit.Havesecondthoughts () h.Tohaveafantastictime.Pieceofcake () i. Somethingthatcanbeachievedeasily.

1.2.3.4.5.6.

7.8.9.

ANSWER:1–g2–h3–f4–e5–a6–c7–b8–d9–i

We cannot finish talking aboutthe U.K. without mentioning allthesportinghistorythere.Football,rugby and cricket were all inventedinEngland.TheyarethemainsportsintheU.K.Thereisalonghistoryofsporting success, and this year thesummer Olympics will be held inLondon, England. Let’s see if theycanmatchtheoutstandingOlympicGamesheldinBeijingfouryearsago.

So,witharichhistory,lotsoffamousplaces,funthingstodoandsportstoplay,theUKwouldbeaperfectplacetovisitforanybodywantingtoimprovetheirEnglish,orjusttakeashortvacationandimmersethemselvesinthiscountry’srichanddiverseculture.

Hogwart’s Express Stonehenge

Consultants: HeadmistressMsYeungMeeKuen ViceHeadmistressMissLeungYeeWahCommittee members: MissCheSoYin,MsTongKaWai,MsWongSauWai, MrSellers,MrsD’souza,MrTuominen,MrMannering

Address: NKIL2721CumberlandRoad, KowloonTongTel: 23363802Website: www.ktsps.edu.hk