UF Students Selected as Finalists for the Ohio Japanese Speaking Contest

Four students from The University of Findlay were selected as finalists for the Japan-American Society of Central Ohio’s (JASCO) 15^th Annual Japanese Language Speech Contest at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
Jhanae Gartman, Japanese major (Columbus); Kali Dumpert, computer science major (Huber Heights); Molliey Gill, Japanese and TESOL major (Montpelier); and Shelby Buzzell, Japanese major (Perrysburg), represented the University at the event.
Gartman won the Pronunciation Award. “It’s a chance to challenge what I’ve learned so far and to start getting comfortable with speaking the language,” she said.
To enter the 2014 Japanese Language Speech Contest, participants were required to write an original, three-minute speech in Japanese, practice it and record it on tape. A manuscript written in Japanese also was required with each submission.
Only high school and college students studying Japanese, who have not lived in Japan for more than six months and do not come from homes where Japanese is spoken, were eligible for the competition. University and high school finalists competed separately.
According to Hiroaki Kawamura, Ph.D., chair of the department of language and culture and associate professor of Japanese, all students of the Japanese program who have studied Japanese for more than one year are strongly encouraged to participate in the speech contest because the process is more important than the result. The experience of writing the speech in Japanese and practicing reading it out loud is beneficial in the learning process. UF students have been represented in the final competition in each of the last six years.
“It is very important for our students to challenge themselves outside of our campus,” said Kawamura. “Once they graduate, they need to compete with everyone else in the world. These students spent hours and hours writing, revising and practicing speeches. Young college students grow through these challenges.”
During the March 1 competition, finalists were required to deliver their memorized speeches in Japanese on a stage in front of an audience. That was followed by a non-rehearsed question-and-answer session with the judges.