Band 7+: Describe the time when you first talked in a foreign language

I would like to share my experience when I first tried to speak in a foreign language. The language was English, which is not my mother tongue. The incident happened when I was in high school. I remember it clearly because our school organized a middle school debate competition, and participants were required to speak only in English. At that time, I was not very confident about my English speaking skills, but my teacher encouraged me to participate. The event was held in the school auditorium, and I went there with my classmates who were also participating in the debate competition. The topic of the debate was related to the importance of technology in education. When it was my turn to speak, I stood up and began to present my arguments. At first, I was extremely nervous and worried about making grammatical mistakes or mispronouncing words. I could even feel my hands shaking. But as I continued, I noticed that people were listening attentively, and that gave me confidence. I managed to complete my speech in English, and even though it wasn't perfect, I was proud of myself for trying. This experience was very meaningful to me because it was the first time that I spoke in English in front of so many people. The mistakes I made made me realize that mistakes are a part of the learning process, and the only way to improve is by practicing. After that, I became more motivated to learn and use English in my conversations. Overall, I felt nervous in the beginning, but later I felt extremely proud and satisfied. It was a small but important step that boosted my confidence in using a foreign language.