That which is most familiar to the tongue is dearest to the heart.

Icelandic Language Day, 16 November - Leifur S. Garðarsson, head teacher at Áslandsskóli, writes:

That which is most familiar to the tongue is dearest to the heart.

On the 25th anniversary of the Grand Reading Competition

On the day of the Icelandic language, we hold the annual Great Reading Competition at Ásland School. Each year, the school's Year 7 pupils take part in the competition. The aim of the competition is to increase the role of spoken language in the country's schools and raise the nation's awareness of its importance. It provides a good opportunity to cultivate two aspects of the mother tongue: quality reading aloud and presentation skills. The emphasis is on students reading aloud for their own enjoyment and that of others.

The competition works as follows: teachers prepare their students and hold a preliminary round within the school, where a number of students are selected to proceed to the next stage. This part is called the breeding stage. The preliminary round is held at the school, where typically 10 pupils read through to the final, and from there two pupils go on to take part in the final competition, which takes place at Hafnarborg, the cultural and arts centre of Hafnarfjörður. This part of the competition is often called the festival part.

Graduation ceremonies are, in fact, harvest festivals, where the harvest of hard training is celebrated.
A polished reading is unthinkable without preparation, and teachers put a great deal of work into training their pupils. The aim is for the reading to be so well prepared that the pupil is so confident it is no longer a reading but a performance. A reading is almost pointless unless it is for the understanding and enjoyment of the audience. To help children achieve this goal, we encourage parents to take part in their children's preparation by listening to them and assisting with the choice of text when they are tasked with selecting a text of their own choice.

When training students, there are several things to consider. Correct posture is covered: standing on both feet, breathing deeply and looking forwards. It is important that the voice carries, that its volume is correct and that the breathing is right. When reading aloud, one sometimes needs to pronounce more firmly and clearly than in normal conversation, and the pronunciation must be careful and clear so that every word is understood. The meaning of the text must be conveyed, for example, by slowing down the reading, inserting pauses in the right places and conveying nuances to the audience without overacting. Good rapport with the audience means they will pay closer attention and feel that they are being addressed directly.

In my opinion, the Great Reading Competition is one of the most remarkable development projects ever undertaken in the country's schools. The project began in 1996 with the participation of pupils in Hafnarfjörður and Álftanes, with the aim of supporting the section of the national curriculum on presentation and expression. As it happens, I was the Year 7 form tutor at Öldutúnsskóli at the time, and have therefore followed this project from the very beginning. The project has grown and flourished under the strong leadership of Ingibjörg Einarsdóttir, former head of the Hafnarfjörður School Office. Ingibjörg has been the project's driving force, managing it with great flair. Without her dedication to the project, it would never have grown and flourished as well as it has.

Nationally, the project has been run by Röddir, an association for quality reading aloud and public speaking. But now Röddir has decided to „send the child away from home“, encouraging local authorities to take over the project. I echo that encouragement and believe that Hafnarfjörður and other municipalities should welcome the project and develop their own reading competition. In this way, we can, with a clear conscience, support this important aspect of mother-tongue teaching in future, as we have done to date.