English Movie Dubbing Contest

I arrived in the Student Center at 6:00 PM and chatted with my students as they showed me to my seat on the first row behind a folded name card distinguishing me as a judge for the 2nd Annual English Movie Dubbing Contest.

In all, there would be 11 groups performing tonight and I was a judge. While I judged, I was focused on the predetermined categories for scoring. Each group received a score for pronunciation, performance, teamwork, and overall impression.

I find judging difficult. I don't want to give the first groups scores too high (or too low) not knowing how the other groups will perform. It really didn't matter as every group was about equal with only minor distinctions.

Most of the groups chose cartoons, as the dialogue is usually easier then dramas, so it was fun to watch all the movies again. I was glad that Kanyon had watched all of the movies so I remembered all the lines. I was a little dissappointed when the students' missed my favorite line from Finding Nemo. After smelling the blood from Dory's nose, Bruce yells, "I having fish tonight!"

There were some good groups too. The best of them included sound effects in addition to the dialogue. The group performing Babe brought in a bag of strawberries and a tin bowl and spoon. As they performed, one student munched on the strawberries mimicking the mouse in the movie and another student banged the bowl as a dinner bell!

Check out the movies the students chose to dub: Shrek 3, Alice in Wonderland, Twilight (x2), The Incredibles (x2), Open Season, Finding Nemo, Call of the Wild, Babe, and Chipmunks The Movie.

I enjoyed the competition. So much so to be invited back to judge the finals? We'll see about that!