A speech on the importance of education
SPEAKER’S NOTE:
The 10th day of September is Teachers’ Day in China. On this special day we honour our teachers for their hard work and dedication to education. To acknowledge the contributions of all teachers I hereby share the transcript of one of my speeches on the importance of education.
In Mid 2009 I joined a public speaking club (the Northern Exposure Toastmasters Club) and I was invited to talk about myself at one of its meetings. I delivered a speech entitled “Education has changed my life”, and the submission is a slightly revised version of my original speech. I share it because I feel it is still very relevant – it is never too much to emphasize how important education is in our lives.
Supported by a Ford Foundation IFP fellowship I started my PhD program (in public health) at the University of Melbourne in 2004 and successfully completed my PhD in 2007. I have been a health researcher at Cancer Council Victoria since then.
Best regards,
Lin Li
FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE SPEECH:
Title of speech: “Education has changed my life”
(Delivered by Dr. Lin Li in July 2009 at a meeting of the Northern Exposure Toastmasters Club, Melbourne)
Thank you Toastmaster.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen:
I believe in education. Without a good education I could not be here tonight, speaking to you in English.
I was born in 1968 in a small village in Yunnan province in southwest China. My parents are farmers who speak ethnic Bai language, which is my first language. They have 3 sons and I am the second one. My mother is illiterate. She cannot read or write. My father had about 9 years’ education, and so did my older brother. My younger brother only had 3 years’ schooling and dropped out. I am the only member in my family that received higher education.
It’s a big challenge for Bai ethnic students to overcome language barrier. We only started to learn Chinese in primary school, and all tests and exams were in Chinese. In 1981 about 90 Bai
The 10th day of September is Teachers’ Day in China. On this special day we honour our teachers for their hard work and dedication to education. To acknowledge the contributions of all teachers I hereby share the transcript of one of my speeches on the importance of education.
In Mid 2009 I joined a public speaking club (the Northern Exposure Toastmasters Club) and I was invited to talk about myself at one of its meetings. I delivered a speech entitled “Education has changed my life”, and the submission is a slightly revised version of my original speech. I share it because I feel it is still very relevant – it is never too much to emphasize how important education is in our lives.
Supported by a Ford Foundation IFP fellowship I started my PhD program (in public health) at the University of Melbourne in 2004 and successfully completed my PhD in 2007. I have been a health researcher at Cancer Council Victoria since then.
Best regards,
Lin Li
FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE SPEECH:
Title of speech: “Education has changed my life”
(Delivered by Dr. Lin Li in July 2009 at a meeting of the Northern Exposure Toastmasters Club, Melbourne)
Thank you Toastmaster.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen:
I believe in education. Without a good education I could not be here tonight, speaking to you in English.
I was born in 1968 in a small village in Yunnan province in southwest China. My parents are farmers who speak ethnic Bai language, which is my first language. They have 3 sons and I am the second one. My mother is illiterate. She cannot read or write. My father had about 9 years’ education, and so did my older brother. My younger brother only had 3 years’ schooling and dropped out. I am the only member in my family that received higher education.
It’s a big challenge for Bai ethnic students to overcome language barrier. We only started to learn Chinese in primary school, and all tests and exams were in Chinese. In 1981 about 90 Bai