TUFS Students Win Cambodian Speech Contest

November 21, 2017

On Saturday the 14 ^th October, the 2017 Cambodian Speech Contest (organized by the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Japan, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ANA, and Overseas Network) was held, at which TUFS students Aya Saito (School of Language and Culture Studies, third year Cambodian major) and Chihiro Oka (School of International and Area Studies, fourth year Southeast Asian Studies major) won first and second place respectively.

In this year's contest, ten university students and three adults made it to the finals, including those from TUFS, and there were a total of four judges, two from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and two representatives of Cambodians residing in Japan.

Saito gave a speech titled 'Knowing Culture and Society,' through which she discussed the importance of knowing culture, and included her own experiences to sum up her ideas in an easily understandable manner. Despite having only stayed in Cambodia for two weeks on the TUFS Short Visit Program, Saito received high marks from the judges for the knowledge she showed on Cambodian dialects during the question-and-answer session.

Oka gave a speech titled 'Why We Should Learn Cambodian,' and aside from the fluency of her speech, Oda was also praised on her usage of proverbs, idioms, and lyrics, showing her deep knowledge of Cambodian culture.

As an extra prize, Saito and Oka also received round trip tickets to Cambodia, and traditional Cambodian silverware. In addition, all participants were given a t-shirt by the Cambodian Ambassador to keep as a memento of the contest. At the award ceremony, TUFS Vice President Kayoko Hayashi gave an address, and last year's third place recipient, Yusuke Imamura, acted as interpreter.

Saito and Oka's speeches can be watched on the YouTube: TUFS Channel .

2017 Cambodian Speech Contest Winner, Aya Saito's Speech
https://youtu.be/HFQPwsVorOw

2017 Cambodian Speech Contest Runner Up, Chihiro Oka's Speech
https://youtu.be/B9s_u2CzkKs