Spring Break
UTM student places 2nd in Tenn. Area Japanese speech competition
James Buchanan Jr.
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: Campus News
A UTM student recently placed second in the first Tennessee Area Japanese Speech Contest held at Vanderbilt University.
Jena Stilwell of Linden, Tenn., entered the speech contest along with four other students to display their skills in front of an audience. Stilwell entered the second-level speech competition and won second place. Although this accomplishment was the first of its kind for the Department of Modern Foreign Languages, Stilwell said it was hard fought.
"First going in, I was nervous, but very excited," Stilwell said. "We did not have a prompt. We just had to talk for 4-5 minutes. The experience makes me want to do more."
Stilwell plans to apply for the JET (Japanese Exchange and Teaching) program this fall. When the invitation to participate in the competition was offered to Japanese students at UTM, many declined to participate. Stilwell, however, decided to step up and try.
"The involvement gave value," said Kyoko Hammond, a lecturer of Japanese at UTM. "Hearing from other schools showed the wide variety of levels. It was interesting to see the student reach goals and gain experience."
Hammond said the competition may possibly be held at UTM in the future. Various events concerning Japanese culture have always been an enjoyable and educational experience for UTM students, she said.
"The Japanese club will be official soon," Hammond said. "Although the president and vice president will be leaving for Hirosaki University next fall, we are still planning to do more activities. The competition will lead to future opportunities."
Ten universities entered the competition. Sponsors of the event included American Airlines and Brother International. The grand prizes for the competition were one round-trip ticket to Tokyo, a five-day rail pass, and $500. The second-place prizes were a Japanese electronic dictionary and $100.
Jena Stilwell of Linden, Tenn., entered the speech contest along with four other students to display their skills in front of an audience. Stilwell entered the second-level speech competition and won second place. Although this accomplishment was the first of its kind for the Department of Modern Foreign Languages, Stilwell said it was hard fought.
"First going in, I was nervous, but very excited," Stilwell said. "We did not have a prompt. We just had to talk for 4-5 minutes. The experience makes me want to do more."
Stilwell plans to apply for the JET (Japanese Exchange and Teaching) program this fall. When the invitation to participate in the competition was offered to Japanese students at UTM, many declined to participate. Stilwell, however, decided to step up and try.
"The involvement gave value," said Kyoko Hammond, a lecturer of Japanese at UTM. "Hearing from other schools showed the wide variety of levels. It was interesting to see the student reach goals and gain experience."
Hammond said the competition may possibly be held at UTM in the future. Various events concerning Japanese culture have always been an enjoyable and educational experience for UTM students, she said.
"The Japanese club will be official soon," Hammond said. "Although the president and vice president will be leaving for Hirosaki University next fall, we are still planning to do more activities. The competition will lead to future opportunities."
Ten universities entered the competition. Sponsors of the event included American Airlines and Brother International. The grand prizes for the competition were one round-trip ticket to Tokyo, a five-day rail pass, and $500. The second-place prizes were a Japanese electronic dictionary and $100.
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posted 4/23/08 @ 10:01 PM CST
GREAT ARTICLE !!!!! IT'S GOOD TO HEAR THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN SPANISH. I HOPE THIS WIN WILL SPARK MORE EVENTS AT UTM. (Continued…)
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