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

A special prize-giving to congratulate the first prize winner of the 2015 JSANZ Japanese Language Speech Contest was held at the University of Canterbury on 10th of Sept.  

Dr Penny Shino, President of JSANZ presented Brennan Galpin (University of Canterbury) with the JSANZ trophy.  Brennan also received a return air ticket to Japan as his prize. 

It was an extremely competitive nationwide contest, with 15 finalists rigorously selected from each of New Zealand’s tertiary institutions. We hope that this triumph will encourage Brennan to continue his Japanese studies with renewed motivation and enthusiasm.

We would like to thank Professor Jonathan Le Cocq (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, College of Arts) and Dr Rachel Payne (Co-Head of the Department of Global, Cultural and Language Studies) at the University of Canterbury for hosting this special ceremony.

The 42nd Japan New Zealand Business Council Conference was held in Tomakomai, Japan this year. Tomakomai is a city and port in Iburi Subprefecture in Hokkaido, Japan. It is the largest city in the Iburi Subprefecture and the fifth largest city in Hokkaido.

Dallas Nesbitt was able to attend the conference while she was in Japan. She took the opportunity to thank, in person, our generous sponsors, and to meet and talk with key people from both Japan and New Zealand.

We encourage JSANZ members to submit a chapter proposal for our first edited book.   

Working title of the edited volume:

New Synergies for the Post-Methods Era: Approaches of Tertiary Japanese Programmes in New Zealand

Abstract Submission: the deadline for proposals is 31 March 2015.