International Student Speech Contest Held

Posted on August 31, 2010

On August 12th, Saga University International Students joined a speech contest held by the Faculty of Economics. Fifteen students presented speeches in front of 100 citizen-judges on themes such as the culture and customs of their country and unique experiences while living in Japan. Dressed in their traditional clothes, students described their everyday life experiences in fluent Japanese and animated gestures.

Mr. Aram from Bangladesh made a speech about his surprise at Japanese toilets, and Ms. Ju from Korea made a speech titled “About Snoring”, giving examples of unique experiences or accidents in daily life, which brought a lot of laughs from the audience. Professor Ratanayaak, the host of the contest, said that the goal of the contest is to raise international awareness among local people, which will in turn help to strengthen Saga University’s international activities. Saga University presently hosts more than 300 international students. These students come to Japan to study specialized knowledge or learn Japanese; however, they are faced with various customs or cultural differences between Japan and their own country that they must deal with. This Speech Contest underscored the importance of the bond between students and local people who support students well.

The event was a huge success and anticipation is high for next year’s Contest.