On 16th March, we, 5A, had a three-hour long debate. Nick Allen, from Vienna’s English Theatre, taught us how to express ourselves, how to listen to our opponents and how important it is to have the courage to stand up and say what we think!
In the first hour Nick gave us an introduction about ancient Greece, where the youngsters were already taught how to hold speeches and how to express themselves. Because of the historical development in Austria, we have forgotten how to stand up for ourselves.
For the following two hours, we discussed two topics. Six front-benchers debated on “Soft drugs should be legalized in Austria” and “All-day school should be introduced in Austria”. What the outcome of this discussion was, is actually not important. The aim of this debate was to learn how to express ourselves, how to talk properly, how our body language affects the first impressions we give. In these respects Nick gave us the opportunity to have some experience which will help us for sure.

5A (written by Nadia Schäffer, photos by Mario Hiti)