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The Third Japanese Speech Contest for University Students

4th February, 2008

On Saturday 2nd February, the Third Japanese Speech Contest for University Students final was held at Imperial College. The event, co-organised by BATJ and the Japan Foundation, saw finalists in two categories battle it out for some fantastic prizes.

In category 1, for students studying Japanese as a main degree subject, the six finalists were competing for the first prize of a return ticket to Japan, a Japan rail pass and £1000. Michael Downey, a 3rd year student from the University of Leeds, took the prize for his speech entitled 'The unique Japanese approach to showing consideration for others and its disappearance from modern society'. Second place went to Antoni Slodkowski, a 2nd year student at SOAS, who spoke on 'Living in a Japanese teahouse - cultural experience in Kyoto'. Antoni won a digital camera and £500.

The six category 2 finalists all study Japanese as an elective or optional course. The first prize of a notebook PC went to Handoo Seo, a 2nd year student at Imperial College, for his speech 'Life's magic'. In second place, Faizal Farokh asked 'Do video games have a bad influence on youths?' Faizal, a 4th year student at Imperial College, won a digital camera and £500.

The standard of all the speeches was very high, and all finalists took home goody bags from JP-Books and tea sets from the Japan Centre. There were also prizes for audience members who took part in a raffle, as well as enjoying a Japan Quiz, and a J-pop singalong.

Please click 'download attachment' below to read a summary of the winners' speeches.

The Japan Foundation would like to thank Baker & McKenzie LLP, The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Japan Airlines, the Japan Centre, JP-Books, Ricoh UK Ltd and Toshiba of Europe Ltd for their generous support.

Finalists of the Third University Speech Contest

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News, views, teaching ideas and course information designed for everyone involved in teaching Japanese in the UK. Volume 26 September 2006 Nihongo Cup attracts record number of entries Setting up a network for Stepping Out Japanese Works Teacher's Pages: Lafcadio Hearn: A love of Old Japan Undergraduates compete in new Japanese speech contest Download Download ZIP version

Mado is now available to you online!   To make the most of this interactive online only version simply download as usual and then save a copy to your desktop. From the saved copy you will be able to access the sound files with ease. Volume 25 April 2006 Undergraduates compete in new Japanese speech contest Head start inspires action in japanese Expanding the Japan-related Network Teacher's Pages: Waste not want not: Mottanai! Download Download ZIP version Volume 24 January 2006- Interactive version! The Launch of Ready Steady NihonGO! Why Practice Pronunciation? Japanese Clubs - 35 Years of Gonenkai Teacher?fs Pages: Japanese Pronunciation Download Download ZIP version Volume 23 September 2005 Setting standards for Japanese Manga and anime in your classroom The power of speech Teachers Page: Dealing with dilemmas Download Volume 22 April 2005 15 years of Urawa Higher Education Focus New Library books GCSE Reading Resource Download Volume 21 January 2005 Ready Steady NihonGO: Moving forward in 2005 Q & A: WJEC Level 1 Certificate in Japanese Resources: Using ICT in the Classroom Teachers Page: CV for the Future Download Volume 20 September 2004 Speech Contest; Finals Day report Annual Support Programmes Resources: Tobu reviewed Teachers Page: Kanji Mix and Match Download Volume 19 April 2004 Working together with other Japan-related organisations Standards in Japanese :The Languages Ladder Head Start 2004 reviewed Stretching Out reviewed Teachers Page: Reading for A Level Download Volume 18 January 2004 JLC Re-launches Speech Contest for Schools Stepping Out reviewed Ready Steady NihonGO Reports from the Primary Conference Teachers Page: Laughter Brings Good luck (Fukuwarai) Download Volume 17 September 2003 Refresher course at new centre Ready Steady NihonGO British Council Education and Training What’s New in the Library British Council Education and Training Teachers Page: Plan your Dream Trip to Japan with Dragons, Snakes and Ladders Download Volume 16 April 2003 Japan Foundation on the move Biggest ever Head Start The National Languages Strategy: Languages for all, Languages for life Top-ten online resources Teachers Page: Using ICT to keep up with current issues Download Volume 15 January 2003 Celebrating Japanese Teaching in the UK Taking Control – event review Japanese for Everyday Communication – event review Primary Japanese Jle-uk Tobu wins award Teachers Page: Haiku for the New Year Download Volume 14 September 2002 Starting Younger Getting to grips with Grammar The Green Paper Urawa Nikki Teacher Page: A Place Near Me Download Volume 13 April 2002 Japanese Degree Course Report Update Japan 2001: Education reviewed Teachers Page: Teaching Japanese through Mathematics Download Volume 12 January 2002 Class Acts: Success Stories from the UK Japanese Classroom Q & A: AS exam Resources: CD-ROMS reviewed Teachers Page: Writing a Diary Download Volume 11 September 2001 Symposium on Bridging the sectorial divide Flights of Fancy Resources: Preview of Mirai stages 3 & 4 Teachers Page: Making a Speech in Japanese Download Volume 10 April 2001 WJEC Teachers Page: Motivating through Manga, Download Volume 9 January 2001 Tobu Japan 2001 Special inc. Class Acts, Homestay UK, Higher Education seminar Resources: Ima reviewed… Teachers Page: Kanji Families Download Volume 8 September 2000 Homestay UK Teachers Page: Talking about Careers… Download (Part 1) Download (Part 2) Volume 7 May 2000 Starting Young Japanese A Level set texts… Teachers Page: Let’s Recycle Download Volume 6 January 2000 Staffing Japanese A level update Focus on A Level Resources… Teachers Page: Omikuji Download Volume 5 September 1999 Refresher Course reviewed Annual Support Programmes Exchanges with Japan Teachers Page: Talking Timetables, Download Volume 4 April 1999 Head Start reviewed The new A level Japanese ALL launches Japanese Language Committee… Teachers Page: Food, Fitness and Health Download

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