The 34th Annual British Columbia Japanese Speech Contest was held in person on March 5, 2022 at the Asian Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Campus. There were 19 UBC students competing as finalists. The finalists were: Kristy Han, Karli Messer, Jack Peters, Chenghao Wang, Michelle Anne Cheng, Tomoki Jia, Serena Chen, Vandhana Kammampati, Rui Li, Ingrid Abigail Mas, Luna Qi, Astoria Tai, Richard Wu, Xinyue Wu, Yinan Zhu, Johnny Chen, Yuval Kehila, Ryan Sum, and Tielia Young.
Student Moderators of the Contest
All contestants as well as student volunteers did an outstanding job.
Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh delivered remarks at the Opening Ceremony.
Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh, Asian Studies Department Head and Professor, delivered remarks at the Opening Ceremony and presented awards to the winners of the High School Division, University Beginners, and Open categories at the Award Ceremony. Consul General of Japan Takashi Hatori also attended the contest, delivered a speech before the Award Ceremony, and presented awards to the winners of the University Intermediate and Advanced categories.
Dr. Ayaka Yoshimizu presented the judges’ comments at the Award Ceremony.
Dr. Ayaka Yoshimizu, Assistant Professor of Teaching at the Department of Asian Studies, served as a judge for the University Intermediate and Advanced categories, and presented the judges’ comments at the Award Ceremony.
Consul General of Japan Takashi Hatori presented award to Ingrid Abigail Mas, the first-place winner of the University Immediate category.
Karli Messer, Ingrid Abigail Mas, Tieling Young, and Michelle Anne Cheng won first prize in the Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Open categories respectively, and will present their speeches at the Canadian National Japanese Language Speech Contest in Edmonton on March 27.
The contest was live-streamed thanks to the department’s communications and events team, Connie Yuchun Wu and Anh Luu, and it is available to watch on the departmental YouTube channel here.
This year’s in-person speech contest was again supported by the Consulate General of Japan in Vancouver, local sponsors, and local Japanese language educators. The Japanese Language Program at the University of British Columbia is very proud of the high-quality performance and the achievements of all UBC students at the contest!
