The 28th Japanese Language Speech Contest in Ottawa

On Saturday, February 18, 2017, the Embassy of Japan and the Organizing Committee of the Japanese Language Speech Contest in Ottawa held the 28th Japanese Language Speech Contest in Ottawa at the Embassy of Japan’s auditorium. This contest was held with support from The Japan Foundation and Mitsui Canada whose cooperation was an important contribution to the success of the event.

A total of 24 contestants presented competitive speeches. The contest provided a platform for Japanese language learners to display their achievements in Japanese and share their experience and ideas with the audience. Approximately 90 people, including participants currently studying Japanese as well as family and friends, were there to listen to the speeches.

After an opening remarks by Ambassador Monji students learning Japanese at Universities and language schools presented their speeches in three categories: Beginners’, Intermediate, and Advanced. The 1st prize winners of each category will go on to represent the Ottawa region in the final competition on Saturday, March 18, 2017 at the National Japanese Speech Contest at the University of British Columbia.

The results of the speech contest are as follows: 

Beginners’ Level: 
The 1st Prize： Raphael Riviere (Ottawa Japanese Language School) “Hope, Strength, Joy”
The 2nd Prize： Meghan Gover (Ottawa Japanese Language School) “There’s no time”
The 3rd Prize: Omar Akhtar (Ottawa Japanese Language School) “Japanese Romans”

Intermediate Level:
The 1st Prize： Ziyan Ning (Carleton University) “Don’t you feel cold?” 
The 2nd Prize： Brandan Ranjith (Queen’s University) “The heroes that don’t wear capes”
The 3rd Prize： X. Jun Wang (University of Ottawa) “If I step forward”

Advanced Level:
The 1st Prize： Xiaolin Ding (Carleton University) “What is the colour of your dream?”
The 2nd Prize： Zayd Bille (Carleton University) “Improv story”
The 3rd Prize： Dabeluchi Ndubisi (Carleton University) “Happiness is…”

Chair of the Organizing Committee, judges and contestants
Raphael Riviere, 1st prize winner of the Beginner Category	Ziyan Ning, 1st prize winner of the Intermediate Category	Xiaolin Ding, 1st prize winner of the Advanced Category