Contact: Satsuki Sokol (Cultural Affairs and Information Section)
TEL 713-652-2977 EMAIL
WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR STATE-WIDE
JAPANESE LANGUAGE SPEECH CONTEST
January 28, 2005 (Houston, Texas) -- The 16th Annual Japanese Language
Speech Contest was held on Saturday, January 23rd at St. Edward’s
University in Austin. Ranging in age from 9 to 48, the 41 contestants
competed in preliminary rounds in the morning with the six top
contestants in each division progressing on to the final round in the
afternoon. A reception was held in honor of all the participants
immediately following the awards ceremony.
There were two special prizes awarded this year. The grand prize for a
round-trip ticket to Japan from Continental Airlines went to Eric
Tschetter, 22, a UT-Austin student. He talked about the reasons
why the Japanese say “jozu desu ne” (you are really good [at Japanese])
to foreigners. The runner up was Min-Jeong Cho, 16, from Bellaire High
School, who won a Seiko Japanese/English electronic dictionary. She
compared gairaigo (foreign words that are incorporated into Japanese)
to cockroaches. Participants and audience members enjoyed a taiko
(Japanese drums) by contestants from Austin, Michelle Tracy, 14 and
Sarah Martin, 9, during the scoring intermission.
Recipient of first prize in the adult division and grand prize winner,
Eric Tschetter states that this is his fifth year studying Japanese,
but the first time he has entered a Japanese language speech contest.
When asked how he felt during the competition, he commented, “First,
realizing that I won the division was very exciting, there was some
very tough competition and I wasn't certain that my speech would hold
up. Then, I found out that I won the ticket to Japan as well,
which made me even more excited.” Following graduation this May, Eric
plans to seek employment in Japan.
The Annual Japanese Language Speech Contest is sponsored by the
Japan-America Societies of Texas through a grant from The Japan
Foundation. This year’s contest was organized by the Consulate-General
of Japan at Houston and the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin,
Inc. "It is very encouraging to see so many talented, young students of
the Japanese language in the state of Texas. The high quality of
speeches, especially this year, reflects a growing interest in Japan. I
am delighted that the Consulate General of Japan, Houston and the
combined Japan-America Societies of Texas were able to provide Japanese
language learners in Texas with the opportunity to demonstrate their
speech-writing and public speaking skills," states Stephen Portnoy,
President of the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin, Inc.
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Finalists at the 16th Annual Japanese Language Speech Contest
CONSULATE-GENERAL OF JAPAN AT HOUSTON