We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2015 JSANZ Tertiary Japanese Language Speech Contest.
First place: Brennan Galpin (University of Canterbury)
Second place: Simon Hsieh (University of Auckland)
Third place: Jay Tweddle (Victoria University of Wellington)
We would like to congratulate all of the participants and in particular, Brennan Galpin, Simon Hsieh and Jay Tweddle. Brennan will receive a return air ticket to Japan, and Simon and Jay will receive Prezzy cards ($100 and $50 respectively), sponsored by the Sasakawa Fellowship Fund for Japanese Language Education and the Japan Foundation.
We hope the participants continue their Japanese learning journey with renewed motivation and enthusiasm, and wish them all the best for the future.
Comments from the Chief Judge
The contest has attracted more participants than the previous year and the overall quality of the speeches was very high. The contestants made commendable speeches with passion and enthusiasm, and we enjoyed the opportunity to judge speeches on interesting themes with originality and strong messages.
Speeches have a power to move and inspire the audience when they are based on what speakers have gained and learnt through own experiences, and when ideas, arguments and messages are elaborated in their own words with concrete examples. These were exactly the elements of the winning speeches in this contest.
The majority of contestants successfully demonstrated Japanese language command with correct grammar, a variety of vocabulary and expressions. Some speakers, however, talked a little too fast, which made it difficult for the audience to comprehend. Some speakers can improve their speeches by paying more attention to the understanding of the audience. There were some participants whose speech missed marks due to a rather monotonous tone, although they gained high marks for its content, development and expressions. There is room for some contestants to improve speech delivery and to develop presentation skills.
We wish the contestants all the best for their Japanese studies. Also, we would like to thank all the teachers and the members of the JSANZ Speech Contest Committee who have been involved in organizing the event.
2015 JSANZ Tertiary Japanese Language Speech Contest
| Name & Institution | Speech Title |
| Robyn Hwang Massey University | The Benefits of Learning a Second Language |
| Nada El Hosseny Massey University | My Favourite Japanese Crafts |
| Jordan Tuinman University of Otago | The Misunderstandings of Wasei-eigo |
| Aidan Watkin University of Otago | The Future of Humanity |
| Toby Birkbeck-Jones University of Canterbury | A Takumi Story |
| Brennan Galpin University of Canterbury | My Life and Karate |
| Simon Hsieh University of Auckland | My Wabi-Sabi |
| Roxanne Yu University of Auckland | My Secret Gadget “Kaiwagomu” |
| Yeyoung You Auckland University of Technology | Cyber Bullying |
| Wai Chi Ng Auckland University of Technology | Same Sex Marriage in Japan |
| Hao Ming Lee CPIT | Don’t Bully! |
| Jolene Skeen University of Waikato | Expression of Masculinity and Femininity through Langauge |
| Jazmen Apiti University of Waikato | The Similarities between Japanese and Maori |
| Jay Tweddle Victoria University of Wellington | Fujimura Shinichi and the Relaltionship between Archaeological Fraud and Science Fiction |
| Calvina Deng Victoria University of Wellington | 3 Reasons Why You Should Travel |