Every year students in foreign language classes are required to recite level-based poems. In addition, many students choose to take their speaking skills to Clemson’s poetry declamation competition. In preparation for both the classroom recitation and Clemson’s competition, students are beginning to choose and learn their poems.

For students, poem recitation is an opportunity to apply their knowledge of the language and demonstrate their speaking skills. Sophomore Sam Snyder from Ms. Brooke Lloyd’s Spanish III class said, “Poetry recitation has helped me learn the proper pronunciation for words that we see in class.”

Students are also finding poem recitation helpful outside of the classroom. Junior Kevin Kerner from Mr. Lector Zamore’s Spanish IIII class said, “I like doing the poem recitation for Spanish because it helps with memorization.” Sophomore Sabrina Haider from Ms. Johanna Sharp’s French II class said, “I like poem recitation because it gives me a chance to test out my memorization and rhythmic skills.”