Szóval?! National Debate Championship and trainings 2011-2012 on EU matters

An innovative way to develop active citizenship skills – A Management Partnership Agreement (MPA) programme of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Szóval?! is a unique youth programme. It is a competition for high-school students in a fairly unconventional way: it does not measure the knowledge you have or whether you have learnt your subjects properly. What it measures, on the other hand, is whether you are able to present what you know, and whether you are able to argue for it or even defend it in a debate.

Debating is a game, played by school-teams of three. The teams argue for or against a given statement according to certain rules: the time of the speeches, the order of the speakers, even the time for questions, are all set.

Szóval?! is a nationwide competition for high-school students. It is a competition about debating – should yours be the cleverest rebuttal, you are going to get great prizes.
The competition has three rounds: the pre-selection, the regional finals and the national finals. There will be different – but EU-related – topics for the turns.

Although debating is not only a successful teaching method but also an entertaining leisure activity in Western Europe and in the USA, it is not really common in Hungary, especially not in high schools. With the contribution of Szóval?! teachers and students are given the chance to get to know debating and its advantages. Debating develops various skills simultaneously: communication and presentation skills are the ones that develop most strikingly, but the development of critical and analytical thinking is also significant.

Closely linked to the competition, we organise 3 trainings: the teachers who prepare the teams are given the chance to attend a training (Felkészítőtanár képzés) where they are introduced to new methods and techniques. We also organise a training for debate-judges (Bíróképzés), and a two days training (Tanuljuk Európát!) for all the teachers who want to impove their skills and are interested in new techniques, methods and best practices about teachnig the EU.

Apart from the competition, other exciting programmes are offered:

For the first time, this year university students are not left out from the great programmes presented by Szóval?!. The need for a place where university students can develop their communication and speaking skills was urgent, therefore, the Vitaakadémia (Debate Academy) was launched. Vitaakadémia offers a unique opportunity for those who are too old to participate in the high-school competition. During a two-day long training university students are presented with the method of debating and the essentials of public speaking. Special events, so-called club-events are going to take place after the two-day long training, where debaters can gather, meet and debate again. These events are going to be thematic: Argumentation technique, Debate situations, Creativity, the EU and Presentation Skills are all going to be incorporated into the schedule.

The Szóval?! Photo contest is an online competition for the teams who are already involved in the Szóval?! competition.

The Disputa-Rap-szódia (Debating Rhapsody) is a lyricist contest about debating. The contest is open for every high-school student of the country, regardless of whether he/she is already involved in the Szóval?! programme. The winner of the contest will have the opportunity to perform with a well-known Hungarian hip-hop performer.

The VitaCoolTúra (Debate-cool-tour) is an online game, where students can practise debating and arguing.

And the 5 days Summer Camp for debaters in July.

Do you want to take part?

Debate  R(ha)sody Lyrics  Contest is for you! Are you a secondary school student?  Are you good with words?  Can you rap?  You feel the rhythm and the beat?  And you even have an opinion?  Then the Debate R(h)apsody Lyrics  Contest is for you! As  part of  the National „Szóval” Debate Championship this year there will be a rap-lyrics competition: all you have to do is  write some catchy, rough  words and tunes on a EU-topic and then fearlessly  perform  your rap.

So pour out your arguments  with awesome, frightful  straighforwardness and sincereness,  let your opinion and thoughts rhyme  and then share it with others! The best entries will be preformed by  Busa Pista , one of the best known stars of Hungarian slam-poetry and rap. Here are the topics for the 2012 competition:

• Unity in diversity
• European Citizen
• „Multiculti” – meeting of cultures
• Europe is yours also!
• Euro-euro-euro
• Free on  the web  

The music beats downloadable for the raps can be found HERE.

ITALIANO!

Sei uno studente della scuola secondaria di II Grado?  Sei bravo con le parole?  Ti piace il RAP?  Senti il ritmo e la musica?  Hai delle tue idee? Dunque il concorso “parole-rap e musica” è per te: tutto ciò che devi fare è scrivere parole e melodie orecchiabili su argomenti che riguardano l’Unione Europea. E, poi, senza timore esegui il tuo pezzo rap! Proponi i tuoi argomenti senza nessuna paura, con franchezza e schiettezza, fai in modo che i tuoi pensieri e le tue opinioni fluiscano in versi.

I migliori brani saranno eseguiti da Busa Pista, uno dei più conosciuti personaggi ungheresi nel mondo del rap e della poesia critica.

Ecco gli argomenti proposti per il concorso 2012:

• Uniti nella diversità
• Cittadini Europei
• “Multiculti” –incontro di culture
• L’Europa è anche tua!
• Euro-euro-euro
• Liberi nel web

Invia il tuo brano entro il 26 aprile a info@szoval.eu
Se ti occorrono delle basi le trovi su http://www.szoval.eu/esemenyek/rap-szodia

Register now by sending your submission by  April 26th  to  info@szoval.eu !