Japanese Speech and Writing Contest
Nihongo Benron Taikai - the 42. year of the Japanese speech performance contest– took place on 14 April, 2018 in Prague. The winners of Japanese writing performance were announced as well.
The participants compete in three categories – the Beginners, Intermediates and Advanced. The competitors try to attract the audience by talking about various topics connected with the Japanese language, Japanese culture and other hobbies or dreams. They also try to persuade the professional committee about their skills.
About the rules:
1. Speech Performance Contest
The competitors talk in Japanese about their experience and opinions within the scope of a particular topic, which is chosen by themselves. The performance´s length depends on the category, 2 minutes for Beginners, 4 minutes for the rest. Several questions connected with the particular speech performance follow and are asked by the native speaker of Japanese. Correct usage of the language and originality of the speech and answers are evaluated by the professional committee. The requirement for Beginners is that the length of study of Japanese language has not exceeded 300 hours to assure that they do not have prior experience with studying Japanese in Japan and simultaneously that they have not spent more than 3 weeks in Japan since the commencement of the studies. When it comes to the Intermediate category, the study of basic Pragmatics of Japanese language must be finished with a length of possible maximum stay in Japan for 6 months. The requirement for the maximum length of prior stay in Japan is not determined when the Advanced category is taken into consideration.
2. Writing Performance Contest
The conditions for participating in the Beginners, Intermediates and Advanced categories are the same as conditions within the scope of the speech performance contest. In opposition to the speech performance contest, the length of prior stay in Japan plays no role in the written performance contest.
Topics of the 42. Year of the Contest:
Beginners: What is important, money or time? The winning works´ titles were „Life is important“ (1. place) and „The most important thing is a human“ (2. place).
Intermediates and Advanced: What is more important, education or experience? The winning works´ titles were „Knowledge, that cannot be found in books“ and „About life experience“. More info here
