Students will perform individually. Each student will draw a card specifying a subject within the general topics listed below. The student will have three minutes to formulate ideas. A dictionary may be consulted, but no help may be received from anyone else. The talk is to be given without notes; it cannot be read. We have indicated parenthetically the kind of subjects the student can expect.
The student should introduce self and the subject of the talk. For example, the student might say, “Meu nome é Sarah Simpleton e vou falar sobre as oportunidades para as mulheres no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos.”
The student is expected to talk for at least two minutes, up to a maximum of five. The ability to talk for more than two minutes (provided the student stays on topic) will be weighted in the student’s favor.
At the end of the talk the judges may ask simple questions in Portuguese about the content of the talk.
Students will be judged on:
content (adherence to topic)
presentation (expression and projection)
fluency (absence of hesitations)
linguistic accuracy (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary)
length of talk (at least two minutes; more is better, up to a maximum of five)
responses to questions from the judges
GENERAL TOPICS
Topics will be drawn from those listed below. The questions in italics are meant to be representative of the types of questions that may be asked about that topic.
As vantagens de falar uma segunda língua (Quais são algumas vantagens de falar uma segunda língua?)
Os benefícios de viajar a outros países (Quais são os benefícios de viajar a outros países?)
A educação (Quais são algumas diferenças entre as escolas no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos?)
A comida (Compare a comida brasileira com a comida norteamericana.)
A família no mundo atual (Como as famílias brasileiras têm mudado nos últimos anos?)
A música (Fale sobre um gênero musical de um país de língua portuguesa.)
Atividades de lazer (Quais são algumas diferenças entre as atividades que os jovens fazem no seu tempo livre no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos?)