Memories of the English Bible Recitation Contest

Source: https://youtu.be/iM5-bLFdfLk?si=rTQsZhhRLqfebDMF

Watching this video suddenly reminded me of my high school days when I enjoyed listening to the radio.

At that time, I was an avid listener of KBS 1FM and Far East Broadcasting Company. One day, I learned that they were holding an English Bible recitation contest. At the time, I had an NIV Korean-English parallel Bible and a Bible cassette tape my father had given me. The required passage was Matthew 6, and after learning this, I went crazy, listening to and repeating the cassette tape dozens, maybe hundreds of times a day, going through the entire process of memorization.

About a week before the recitation contest, I had the opportunity to recite the entire Matthew 6 in front of all the students during the church's middle and high school service. The student pastor who liked me at the time also spoke English, and I still remember his admiring gaze.

On the day of the contest, I proudly wore my favorite school uniform (I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said I entered this M school because of this uniform) and participated in the contest. I expected a good result, but surprisingly, my name wasn't on the list. I asked around and later found out that the reason was that my phrasing wasn't quite right. Anyway, my church teacher even came to cheer me on that day, which made it all the more disappointing. But looking back now, regardless of whether I won or not, it was a precious and valuable time to become closer to English.

Seventeen years into my life in America, I'm still not sure if my phrasing is still weak. But what's amazing is that, as an extreme introvert, how was I able to recite those difficult(?) English passages flawlessly in front of my friends and classmates without getting nervous? Even when I attended free ESL classes in my neighborhood in America, I was incredibly stressed just giving a short presentation.