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Nathaniel Sung remembers feeling nervous as he tried speaking in English to Hong Kong’s Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin.
Coming from a school where he was mostly taught in Chinese, Sung was worried about his English skills.
“We’re surrounded by Cantonese. English could be an auxiliary language,” said the 18-year-old, who graduated from SKH St Simon’s Lui Ming Choi Secondary School this year.
Helping students like Sung develop conversational skills was the purpose of this event hosted by Small Talks Circles, an NGO broadening students’ horizons beyond academics.
“The knowledge [from] ... the books is very rigid. But through STC [Small Talks Circles], you have the opportunity to ask questions to people who you only see on TV,” Sung said.
The group’s 78-year-old founder, Philip Leung, encouraged Sung and other participants to speak more and not be afraid of making mistakes.
“I see students transform from being anxious and nervous to being a public speaker,” Leung said.
How this group began
Since 2010, Small Talks Circles has hosted about 10 events every year for students to practise English in conversational settings. They often invite professional leaders from different backgrounds to speak with programme participants.
Leung believes these skills are key to holistic development.
“You need to have a basket of things, a balance of profile, to make you a complete person, an outstanding individual,” he said.
When Leung worked in the United States in the 1980s, he met university students from Asia and was disappointed by the lack of balance in their approach to life. They struggled to make conversation and focused solely on doing well in classes and finding good jobs.
“This is not a balanced education. This is only one snippet of education. Education goes far beyond that,” Leung said. “You need [social skills] ... when you step out of the campus into a real-world situation. You need to know how to deal with people.”
Decades later, this prompted Leung to start Small Talks Circles as a space for students to get a taste of the real world.
Leung said some hesitated at first when speaking English – some even mixed in Chinese – but would slowly become more confident. He was pleased when they became brave enough to grab a mic at an event.
“They’re doing well now. Even though it’s not perfect, it’s not going to be perfect anyway,” he said.
Communication skills
Anson Ho, Sung’s classmate, said Small Talks Circles empowered him with skills to run events and lead others. The 17-year-old recalled guiding younger pupils during an overnight camp.
“[Leung] taught all the skills that I needed to operate in this event, and you just have 100 per cent, full control,” he recalled.
The student noted the importance of taking the initiative to learn about communication.
“You have to be the active one. You have to be brave to try and maybe fail sometimes so that you can grow from that,” he said.
Another participant, Jack Ching, who graduated from Harbour School, foresees that these soft skills will come in handy when he begins his career.
“Without good communication, it is hard to transmit ideas,” the 18-year-old said. “This is a very important skill that I learned from STC: to network with people that are community leaders.”
