Students compete in Japanese language

Students from two Richmond high schools excelled at an annual provincial Japanese speech contest last weekend

McMath secondary’s Kippei Shoji won first place in the intermediate category, while Richmond secondary’s Shawn Wu, Hailan (Helen) Tan and Katelyn Makihara came third in the beginner, intermediate and open categories, respectively, in the 35th annual British Columbia Japanese Speech Contest

A commendation for outstanding effort was also awarded to McMath’s Lexi Lawson who competed in the intermediate category

This year ’ s event saw 19 finalists speaking at UBC’s Asian Centre, which was also live-streamed online Wu, who explored the issues of being overly modest in his speech “Modesty and its Lies,” said he enjoyed the challenge despite it being a class requirement

“This was my first time entering the contest and while it was a little scary, it was also exhilarating and exciting!”

Grace Ho, one of several judges for the contest and a teacher at McMath, said the turnout for Richmond students in the high school category was especially impressive as only three high schools across the province had participated in last year ’ s contest

“I think it’s amazing To be able to give a speech in your first language is difficult enough Imagine doing it in a second, third or fourth language ”

Speeches that impressed the judges the most, according to Ho, were those that connected personal experiences with cultural and historical topics, as well as those that discussed current social issues and challenges

Abby Young, a McMath student, chose to speak about understanding her grandparents’ experience with Alzheimer’s

“I had a lot of trouble coming up with a topic I was willing to write about, and one which would resonate with others,” she said

However, she describes the contest as “ a precious experience ”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in a room with so many others who share a similar love of learning Japanese ”