Speech Contest Information 2018

Objectives

Japanese Language Scholarship Foundation,
in conjunction with Consulate General of Japan in LA
and the American Association of Teachers of Japanese
will host its 15th annual  Japanese Language Scholarship Foundation
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.

 

Presented by

Japanese Language Scholarship Foundation

(DBA Aurora Foundation)

 

Co-Presenter

American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ)

 

Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles

 

Hosted by

University of California, Irvine, Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures

 

Josei

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 the15th annual contest, to be held on May 26, 2018.  

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, 2017 and April 14, 2018.  

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, 2017 and April 14, 2018.
  • 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 Tokyo, Japan, in the summer of 2018. 
  • 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 16, 2018

 

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

Subject Line: Aurora Speech Contest Aurora

or

by mail
Aurora Speech Contest
Aurora Foundation
3127 Nichols Canyon Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90046

 

Contest Schedule& Venue:

The 15 contestants will be invited to Los Angeles the weekend of May 25-27, 2018.

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 16, 2018

All applications must be maild on or before

 

May, 2018 (TBD)

Announcement of the participants

 

May 25, 2018

Participants arrive in Los Angeles Attend Orientation, Welcome Party,

and Host Family Introductions

 

May 26, 2018

Speech Contest
Humanities Instructional Building
University of California, Irvine 

 

May 27, 2018

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.

 

 

News for 2017

 

Starting 2017, the Japanese teacher of the first-place winner of the annual All-U.S.A. High School Japanese Language Speech Contest will receive a $2,000 award

for attending the International Speech Contest held in Japan during the summer.

 

This award can be used for a roundtrip ticket to Japan and related expenses such as hotel and food.

 

If, for any reason, the particular teacher cannot attend the international contest, another teacher or administrator significantly involved in the education of the Japanese language in that school (e.g. the principal, another Japanese teacher, department chair) may be designated to go to Japan and attend the International Speech Contest instead.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Application Form.pdf

scriptform.pdf