December 2, 1999 at 12:00 am #28158
David
Participant
I am Asian and was in a public-speaking class in high school (Toastmasters). We had Asian nationals from places like Thailand in the class – they were all shy, too. To me, the No. 1 reason they were shy was that certain students were making fun of them (i.e. their accents). If you want to help them, tell the ridiculing students to behave.