MENI Theme - Hope and Uncertainty
Recording Transcript
Lisa: I hope, with efforts, I will be able to communicate with people confidently in Canada one day, becoming someone that I used to be again. I mean, I am already in Canada where people speak English all the time. If I still cannot improve my spoken English, it will be so embarrassing.
However, I cannot do this all by myself. I need help. If I continue to be isolated from the Canadian community, I do not think my spoken English is really going to improve. I am worried that my spoken English will still be as bad as it is now after I graduate.Kandy:
Although I feel it is easier to get along with Canadian students, my limited spoken English places a direct barrier for any interaction between us. I know only when I fix my pronunciation and fluency problems in English can I really make some international friends.
But I don’t know how to really fix these problems, especially pronunciation. For instance, Canadian students still think I am saying the word “dream” when I am actually saying the word “gym” even after being corrected repeatedly by them. It is so embarrassing and frustrating. I desperately want to fix it, but I don’t have a clue about where and how to start.
Composing Process
In composing the music for this piece, I used a moderate tempo and major scale to create the motif for hope—the perceived possibility of oral English improvement participants held because of the English-speaking environment that surrounded them in Canada. Then I used contrasting low and high range piano sounds at various points to represent participants’ doubts and worries about whether or not this possibility could be transferred into reality. The piece ends with an amplified melody with chords to further represent the uncertainty that shadowed the hope participants held for their educational journey in Canada.
