Japanese story: student talks her way to Tokyo
31st October 2003
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| Yong Ju Yoo |
First year student from Korea, Yong Ju Yoo, has been awarded a trip to Japan after taking first prize in the open division of the Annual Japanese Language Speech Contest co-hosted by the Japanese Embassy and the Japan Foundation.
Yong Ju delivered her speech entitled ‘Connecting the two countries: Japan and Korea’, to a panel of judges and the Ambassador of Japan, Mr Atsushi Hatakenaka, who presented her with first prize. The speech described a friendship she had developed with a Japanese girl called Miki Kaneko. Yong Ju focused on the importance of overcoming prejudices and forming friendships between the two countries, particularly given their strained relationship.
Shie Haur Tan, also studying Japanese studies at UNSW, took second prize in the Open Beginners Division with his speech, ‘What I gained from Tae Kwon Do’.
“We are absolutely delighted with the results,” says Dr Chichiro Kinoshita Thomson, Associate Professor of Japanese studies and head of the school of modern language studies.
“The contest enables students to practise their language skills in a challenging context. UNSW have dominated the NSW state competitions for some years now, so taking this year’s first prize in the Australian national final is a long-awaited victory.”
The Japanese Speech Contests, which have been running since 1969, are held across Australia with first place winners proceeding to the Australian national finals. The contest is open to university students studying Japanese as a Language other than English (LOTE) and who do not speak Japanese as their native language.
Yong Ju delivered her speech entitled ‘Connecting the two countries: Japan and Korea’, to a panel of judges and the Ambassador of Japan, Mr Atsushi Hatakenaka, who presented her with first prize. The speech described a friendship she had developed with a Japanese girl called Miki Kaneko. Yong Ju focused on the importance of overcoming prejudices and forming friendships between the two countries, particularly given their strained relationship.
Shie Haur Tan, also studying Japanese studies at UNSW, took second prize in the Open Beginners Division with his speech, ‘What I gained from Tae Kwon Do’.
“We are absolutely delighted with the results,” says Dr Chichiro Kinoshita Thomson, Associate Professor of Japanese studies and head of the school of modern language studies.
“The contest enables students to practise their language skills in a challenging context. UNSW have dominated the NSW state competitions for some years now, so taking this year’s first prize in the Australian national final is a long-awaited victory.”
The Japanese Speech Contests, which have been running since 1969, are held across Australia with first place winners proceeding to the Australian national finals. The contest is open to university students studying Japanese as a Language other than English (LOTE) and who do not speak Japanese as their native language.
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