Two IPB Students Win Two Awards in English Debate Competition
Two Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) students were awarded Top 5 Best Speaker in Novice Category at Java Overland Varsity English Debate (JOVED) 2018, Yogyakarta on 13-17 July. They are Ardella Maharani and Farhan Hanif Putra. In addition to being the top 5 Best Speaker they also managed to seize the Runner-Up Novice Category with Ilhamda El Zuhri.
"Alhamdulillah we got the best speakers and runners-up. At first we did not expect to get an award," said Ardella Maharani, a student of Actuarial Studies Program Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA).
JOVED event is an English debate event held every year and invites debaters from all over Indonesia. Usually the issues raised in JOVED are international issues, such as political issues, human rights, economy, health and international relations.
"The English debate is heavier than the Indonesian debate, because the debaters have to understand issues around the world. Not only the issues that are happening now, but also the previous issues that also become trending topic," added Ardella.
Ardella said to understand the current global issues, she has to read a lot of international news. There are several international newspaper that can be subscribed like The Guardians, BBC, and Economics.
"Reading A lot of international news is important for English debaters. In addition to increase insight into international issues, reading news can open our minds so that it is easy to convey during the debate later," added Ardella.
In addition to the international issues raised, the most assessed factor in the English debate is the content of thought submitted by debaters. Unlike the Indonesian debate, in the English debate the rules of the language are less cared for so that although the English grammar are bad, but the content of his thoughts is in accordance with the issues raised, there is still a chance to win the debate.
As debaters since junior high school, Ardella advised other debaters to never give up in the process of honing their debate skills. Because the debate was not easy, especially the English debate. "Loses and wins are common in the debate competition, so I’m still happy even though I lost in the debate competition," said Ardella. (FM)
