KOSMIC's 32st Annual Japanese Speech Contest for International Students--Report

On Saturday, December 3rd, students, alumni, and faculty members gathered at the Mita Public Speaking Hall (Mita Enzetsu-kan) for the 32st Annual Japanese Speech Contest hosted by KOSMIC.

Eleven international students gave speeches according to the theme for this year: "Discovery, wonders of Japan (or your native country)".

The contestants all gave great speeches that they had been preparing specially for this contest with their Japanese tutors since October.

Every speech was thoughtful, and they allowed even the Japanese members of the audience to rediscover Japan with new perspectives from outside of the country.

The title of the winning speeches and the nationality of the prize winner (in parentheses) are as follows:

Advanced Level First Prize
"The contrary culture-shock" (Korea)

Advanced Level Second Prize
"Japanese people are unique" (America)

Elementary and Intermediate Level First Prize
"A tree inside the woods: Discover Japanese people" (Korea)

Elementary and Intermediate Level Second Prize
"The uniqueness of Japan that I discovered" (Taiwan)

After the speeches, a behind-the-scenes video was shown to the audience to share the real story behind each contestant. The video included scenes from the speakers' tutoring sessions and their impressions of participating in this speech contest.

Details of the Event
Date: December 3rd, 2016 13:00~16:00
Location: Mita Public Speaking Hall (Mita Enzetsu-kan), Mita Campus,
Number of the Contestants: 11 Students

Host of the Speech Contest
KOSMIC: http://kosmic.blog.so-net.ne.jp/