On March 2, the Asian Centre Auditorium was filled with audience members who came to support this year’s finalists in both the High School Division and University Division.
The finalists from UBC Vancouver were Kelly Deng, Luning Kang, and Danat Poon Krairiksh in the Beginner Category; Corey Chan, Lara Hilder, Charlene Kwan, Seohee Lee, Ran Mo, Ben Pothier, Brady Reeleder, and Yuki Zhou in the Intermediate Category; and Hikaru Ozduman and Zhiwen Zhong in the Open Category.
The event was organized with the assistance of 14 UBC student volunteers who demonstrated excellence in speech and in their tasks at hand. All were also remarkable representatives from the Japanese Language Program in UBC Vancouver.
This year, Dr. Bruce Rusk, Acting Department Head, delivered the opening remarks for the contest and presented awards to the winners of the High School Division.
Dr. Stefania Burk, Associate Dean, Academic of the Faculty of Arts delivered opening remarks for the award ceremony. The Consul General of Japan, Mr. Kohei Maruyama, also delivered opening remarks for the award ceremony and presented awards to the winners of the University Division. Dr. Nick Hall, Lecturer in Japanese Language, served as a judge for the University Division.
The first place winners in their categories were Kelly Deng, Charlene Kwan, and Zhiwen Zhong. They will present their speeches at the Canadian National Japanese Language Speech Contest that will be held at the Embassy of Japan in Ottawa on March 24.
The contest was again generously supported by the Department of Asian Studies and the Consulate General of Japan in Vancouver. Other sponsors included sister cities, local business associations, Japan-related companies, and local Japanese language educators.
The Japanese Language Program is very proud of the outstanding performances and the achievements of all UBC students at the contest!
