オーロラ日本語奨学金基金

Japanese Language Scholarship Foundation, in conjunction with Consulate General of Japan in LA and the American Association of Teachers of Japanese will host its 16th annual All-USA High School Japanese Speech Contest. 

The contest will provide opportunities for young learners of Japanese to make presentations in Japanese and to inspire more students to improve their proficiency in Japanese. It is also hoped that the contest will encourage students to further their understanding of Japan,its people, and its culture.

Japanese Language Scholarship Foundation

(DBA Aurora Foundation)

American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ)

Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles

University of California, Irvine,Department of East Asian Studies

The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles 

Judging
Each speech must be five minutes or less in length.
Choice of topic is open.
Judges will base their decisions on content and presentation of speech,
and interviews in Japanese with the Judges after each speech presentation.

Procedure
The contestants will take part in the16th annual contest, to be held on May 25, 2019. 

Contestants will be chosen from a pool consisting of the top three winners of various sub national/regional/state/multi-school Japanese language speech contests held throughout the USA between April 1, 2018 and April 1, 2019.  

The participants will be selected based on evaluations of tape recordings of the applicants' speeches in Japanese.

Eligibility & Application Requirements

Applicants must;

• Be one of the top three winners of a sub-national/region/state/multi-school Japanese language speech contest held in the USA and its territories
  between April 1, 2018 and April 1, 2019.
  
  
• Provide a recommendation form completed on the applicant’s behalf by an official representative of that contest. 
  
  
• Be high school students at the time of the Aurora speech contest
  (senior year applicants graduating in May or June).
  
  
• Not be native speakers of Japanese of have a Japanese parent (Issei).  
  
  
• Be a citizen of the USA or a Permanent Resident of the USA.
  Aurora welcomes all students learning Japanese language in USA to enter the Aurora Speech Contest.
  However, in order to enter the World Speech Contest in Japan the student must be a citizen of the USA or a permanent resident of the USA.
  If the winner is not a citizen of the USA or permanent resident of the USA, we cannot send the contest winner as a USA representative.
  In that case the next place winner would be eligible.
  
  
• Have not had more than six months of schooling in Japan after age six. 
  
  
• Not have entered an International Speech Contest (Japanese Speech Award-organized by E.G.G., JSA Planning Committee) in the past.
  
  

Required Application Documents

1. the completed  application form and Eligibility Questions 
   
   
2. An audio recording of the speech in Japanese  * MP3 or M4A
   
   
3. Submit a copy of their speech (script)in applicants' own handwriting or Direct input
   
   
4. Print out this document Form_Sign.pdf  Sign and Mail
   
   
5. the completed  Recommendation Form
   by Representative of the local / regional speech contest
   
   

Prizes

• The Grand Prize winner will receive a $1000 scholarship and a trip to the overseas students' Japanese Speech Award (JSA) contest to be held in Japan in the summer of 2019. 
• The 2nd place winner will receive a $500 scholarship. 
• The 3rd place winner will receive a $300 scholarship.
• All participants will receive a commendation.
  
  

Deadline

All applications must be mailed

on or before April 8, 2019 

by Email

send all required materials as attachments
to
speech@jlsf-aurora.org 

Subject Line: Aurora Speech Contest 

or

by mail

Aurora Speech Contest

Aurora Foundation

3127 Nichols Canyon Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90046

Contest Schedule & Venue

The contestants will be invited to Los Angeles the weekend of May 24-26, 2019.

The sponsoring organization or the student will be responsible for transportation between the student's home and Los Angeles.

The Aurora Foundation will cover all the contestants' appropriate expenses while in Los Angeles. Contestants will home-stay with Japanese host families in the Los Angeles area for two nights, unless a student wishes to make his or her own housing arrangements at his/her own expense. 

April 8, 2019

All applications must be maild on or before

Announcement of the participants

Participants arrive in Los Angeles Attend Orientation, Welcome Party,

and Host Family Introductions

Speech Contest

Humanities Gateway (HG) Room 1030
University of California, Irvine 

Free time. Participants depart from LA

All inquiries and requests for applications from representatives interested in entering the winners of their own speech contests should contact the Aurora Foundation by e-mail at aurorafoundation@usa.net for further information.