Language learning should be enjoyable and poetry can be of great benefit as a means of encouraging learners to experiment creatively with the language.
With this in mind, the British Culture Association (BCA) recently organised its second limerick competition for all Form 3 and 4 students in Malta and Gozo, to promote the learning of language through literature.
Limericks were originally developed 170 years ago and were popularised by Edward Lear, who has somewhat of a connection with Malta, having lived at 9, Via Torri, Sliema, for four months in 1886.
The competition's adjudicating panel, which comprised newly appointed BCA chairman Clare Vassallo Thake, Alfred Ellul, Alan Marsh and Clare Padovani, was pleased to receive a good number of entries from 13 different schools and an increased response from state schools.
Ms Padovani, the competition co-ordinator, reported that although some limericks sounded mechanical or contrived, students were successful in using the limerick form as a creative yet structured mode for expressing their ideas about a topic they experience in their everyday life - technology.
Students used wit, empathy and humour to express their views and came up with interesting, personal observations about mobiles, robots, e-mail, snail mail, teachers, technology, and being tangled in the wide world web.
Credit was given to those entries which communicated subtleties of language, left the reader with a sense of surprise, or sounded interesting when read out even if, at times, the rhythmic beat associated with the classical limerick was broken.
During the prize-giving ceremony for the finalists, which was held at the Robert Samut Hall, Floriana, Ms Padovani especially thanked the school heads and teachers who, in spite of syllabus time constraints, went the extra mile to encourage their students to participate. She expressed the hope that the event had contributed in a small way to encourage learners to experiment creatively with the English language.
Prizes were distributed by Charles Cilia director of Student Services at the Education Directorate. Featured here the top three winning limericks in the Form 3 and 4 categories.
The BCA has recently launched its own website: www.bcamalta.org. Secondary school students who wish to post their writings - compositions, poems, interviews, short plays, or book and film reviews on the website may log on under the Young BCA section.
Form 4
1st prize - Computers and teachers
Louise Zammit (aged 14), St Martin's College, Swatar.
There was a teacher called Mike
Who nearly fell off his bike
The fault was a bee
But he blamed it on me
And that is what teachers are like.
Now onto computers I go
And I must say that some are quite slow
They've got all these viruses
Which give you the sinuses
'Coz the antivirus version is low.
Now computers may be used in a good way
And not as my teacher might say
Some have the internet
Which is very good to get
You're stuck to the screen for a whole day.
Did Shakespeare use Microsoft Word?
Teachers say that a quill he preferred
And it's certainly clear
That he word-processed 'Lear'
And he grammar checked 'Richard the Third'.
2nd prize - My mobile and I
Martina Ungaro (aged 14), St Martin's College, Swatar.
There was a young girl that was me
Who yearned for a mobile for free.
So I spread the word round
In case one could be found
And it was, lucky me hee, hee, hee.
My mobile and I we're a team
And so much in love it may seem
Cheek to cheek; lip to lip
Till my credit's in dip
Or my mum, in a rage starts to scream.
And so C U soon Annemarie
My battery's low I can see.
Come 4 T b my guest
Will give 'Moby' a rest
He's worked hard all day long, yes sirree.
3rd prize - A day in the life of the computer
Sara Camenzuli (aged 14), Sacred Heart Convent, St Julian's.
There was a young student named Kay
Who used me quite often that day
She pressed all she found
Almost spun me around
But she's smart for her age I must say.
Kay started by using Excel
A program she seems to know well
She wrote a lot of dates
Which she probably hates
But she must for her school show and tell.
She then started surfing the net
And chatted with mates that she met
She enjoyed fun games
By guessing the names
Of some actors she did not know yet.
Kay suddenly opened the Word
And wrote about Natty the Bird
So I opened my mouth
To print it all out
Just then all the strange noises were heard.
By that time I needed a rest
I'm surprised she heard my request
She logged off at once
Not even a glance
And she sprinted to welcome a guest.
Form 3
1st prize - Tangled in the World Wide Web
Lydia Hope Ricards (aged 13), Bishop's Conservatory, Victoria, Gozo.
You can find anything on the net
From a snake to a used jumbo jet
To find a new house
Just jiggle the mouse
Anytime from sun-up to sunset.
Computers are great said Sir Ron
When the people in power had gone
Alone with the web
He contacts Zagreb
And Beijing, Djakarta and Bonn.
Be careful you might get entwined
'cause Google can get in your mind
A fellow I know
Could not let go
He shouted yahoo and went blind.
2nd prize - My mobile and I
Marija Cachia (aged 13), Girls' Junior Lyceum and Secondary School, Victoria, Gozo.
It was February 11th, 2004
The day was quite dreary, it was such a bore!
My mother stepped near
She told me: "Come here!"
And my heart to the sky did it soar!
A mobile it was, all shiny and new
Like flowery petals, all covered with dew.
"You're such a good girl!
You deserve such a pearl!"
But if I deserved it I hadn't a clue.
I have it so close to me ever since then,
It's safe in my pockets, as if in a den.
I take it to school
Behave like a fool
We've been best of friends, like football and men.
3rd prize - E-mail and snail mail
Jamie Green (aged 14), Our Lady Immaculate School, Hamrun.
There once was a thing called mail
Which used to go by air or sail
But mail grew an 'e'
Which made it so free
And now is known to be snail.
Letters, letters all put in piles
But now no need to walk for miles
No need for stamps
Or writing cramps
And neither postmen with happy smiles.
We used to have pen pals across the sea
We could have had one, two, maybe three
But that was back then
Now we use MSN
All my friends use it....even me.