April 10, 2020
Canada National Japanese Speech Contest goes Virtual
The 31st annual Canada National Japanese Speech Contest (NJSC) was held online for the first time on Sunday, March 29th, 2020. Originally scheduled to be held in Toronto, due to the current situation regarding COVID-19, the contest was moved to a virtual format for the first time in its history. Despite the last minute change, the contest was a success, with audiences watching the live stream from as far as the USA, Italy, Egypt, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The event featured 26 contestants from coast to coast. There were 3 representatives from Alberta, including 2 students from the University of Calgary: Cindy Xia, in the intermediate category, and Claire Sharp, in the open category. Cindy Xia won the second prize for her speech “Our Fish”. Claire Sharp won the third prize for her speech “The Sands of Time”.
Cindy is pursuing a degree in International Relations. Her speech spoke of the importance of her childhood fish growing up, and how it felt like they were supporting her during times of difficulty. Claire is majoring in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Political Science. Her speech discussed the importance of history and how this has shaped current society, and that changes must be made to create a sustainable future.
Cindy Xia was awarded first place (Intermediate) in the Regional contest held earlier in March.
Congratulations to Cindy and Claire!
We would like to congratulate both Cindy Xia and Claire Sharp on their success, and deeply appreciate the hard work and assistance from our instructors. We look forward to seeing more University of Calgary students participating in the speech contest next year, and also, to see the interest this contest generates in the future.
The Canada National Japanese Speech Contest was established in 1989 under the auspices of the Japanese Embassy in Ottawa in order to promote Japanese language education in Canada. Consulates General of Japan, universities and corporations have provided amazing support and assistance in making this event very successful and important to the Japanese community. Each year, many students from the University of Calgary enter the Alberta district contest, proceed to the National contest and come back with very good results.
Related content
