Wondering: are #storytelling contests for children a thing in other countries too?

In Hungary they are a staple in elementary school. Unfortunately, kids are made to learn folktales word for word and then recite them. Emphasis is on clear speech and mimicked regional "folksy" dialects. Also, tales are often chosen by teachers or parents rather than the kid. Not to mention the "contest" aspect. Now there's a cultural discussion developing around this.

Anything similar in other countries?

@TarkabarkaHolgy not in Italy. My experience as a foreigner with kids in HU is there's an insane amount of competition going on since grade 1. Multiple ones for maths, reading, drawing, enunciation, poetry reading, environmental studies. It's baffling.

We had almost none in Italy when I was a kid, until high school, and even then basically just math Olympics and some writing completions.

@riffraff yeah. I never realized it was so prevalent in Hungary, but as an adult it seems weird.

@TarkabarkaHolgy @riffraff maybe heritage of the socialist era?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUUUZKYApoc (taxidermia #nsfw #gross)

@TarkabarkaHolgy we didn't have that but it'd be fun if one could choose their own story and didn't have to mimic an accent they don't have I think xD

Good training for if you ever want to be a bard in d&d 😂

@UkeBLCatboy and if they were allowed to just tell, instead of reciting text. Kids are naturally good storytellers when they have a story they are excited about

@TarkabarkaHolgy ah, but isn't the idea to tell the story correctly/with the og text but with flair/drama to make it interesting with oral storytelling?

@UkeBLCatboy nope :D Stories, traditionally, are not text. In oral tradition, people knew the story, and used their own words to tell it. "Word for word" recitation for folktales is weird.

@TarkabarkaHolgy Not a thing here. Competition is not generally allowed in Norwegian schools, and for the reasons you highlight: the educational point of the arrangement is lost in focus on the contest. I would be fun to have the kids entertaining one another with stories, though.

@SimonRoyHughes I bet you don't have oral exams either, where one kid has to stand up in front of the class and answer questions until the teacher loudly decides on their grade

@TarkabarkaHolgy 😳 We have oral exams, but nothing like that. (We don't encourage bullies to go into teaching.)

@SimonRoyHughes lol yep. I never realized how not normal this was until I tried to explain it to American friends. Many teachers revel in slooowly turning the pages of the class book to select the victim. This is basically shared trauma for all Hungarian students.

@buherator @TarkabarkaHolgy I asked some friends from ex-socialist countries and they don't seem to have as many. They do have more than Italy, so it might be that it was indeed a factor.