<p>No, I am not a ■■■■■ (Actually, I did not know what this word meant before I got accused of being one on CC !)
I am an international student, and I had never heard of debate before I started reading admission stats on CC.
I understand it is some kind of rhetoric competition. I like this: it has some kind of antique greek flavour.
How is it organised? do you get classes for this ? how do you become a debater ? is there any free training material available somewhere ?</p>
<p>its an interscholastic competition on two levels (three if you count both types of nationals).
to be eligible to attend debate competitions, your school must sign up and pay dues to all levels that they plan on competing on (ex: if you only want to debate on the sate level you pay dues to your states association and if you want to compete on both state and national levels, you pay to you state and to the National Forensics League)
there are numerous sub categories available at most tournaments and some states have special events that others don’t. there is everything from dramatic interpretations of plays and published materials to debate on a given resolution.
if you google training material, it should be available, but most teams have coaches and moderators and varsity kids who run training sessions. </p>
<p>depending on the country you live in, you might be eligible to attend US Nationals. We usually host some kids from Korea, Japan, and England.</p>