24th Foreign Students' Japanese Speech Contest

I participated in the 24th annual Japanese language foreigners speech contest, held in Ibaraki Prefecture. I obtained second place out of 38 applicants :D Can you spot me in the photo?

There were a total of 38 applicants this year. 15 were selected to give their speeches on the day. All of the speeches were very interesting. 

My self introduction.

The theme for the speech contest this year was, "deepening global understanding", and my speech title was "what you need in order to become a glocal human resource".

Behind this success are many supporters who generously lent me their time and feedback to help me refine and improve my speech. Thank you for all your contributions. I learned much during the process leading up to the speech contest, from intonation to speed to figures of speech to gestures to persuasiveness and more. For example, I learned the correct intonation for "bunrui (category)" and "kaishaku (interpretation)". It was also pointed out to me how foreigners were prone to not stressing the emphasis on the small "っ" sound, especially when speaking quickly. 

But the greatest improvement I made, is where no one can see. It's in my way of approaching life.

My main point in my speech, was that in order to become a glocal citizen you need to work on yourself. This point is made in direct response to people who want to change the world. I'm not saying that I oppose people who want to change the world; so do I. However, too many of those people don't realise the need for themselves to change too. During the making of this speech, I changed in so many ways. Let me share just the tip of the iceberg.

The first big change was the very decision to apply for the speech contest. The me of the past would not have given the poster informing us of the speech contest a second thought. Indeed, the first time I saw the poster, I thought it was for people who like to do speeches, or are good at speeches. Naturally, I didn't view myself as falling under either category.

However, over time, it slowly dawned on me. Those who are good at speeches, were not necessarily good at speeches from birth. And as for those who like speeches, how are they different from those who don't like speeches (i.e. myself)? In the process of thinking and reflecting, I realised that what was keeping me from taking interest in the speech contest, was myself. It was my way of thinking. I thought that it did not have any relevance to me, and that was the end of that. However, when I gave it second thought, the speech contest is targeting foreigners living in Japan who have a global outlook to share their thoughts. What part of that description doesn't apply to me? It was my preconception that speeches were not my thing, and nothing on the outside. By coming to terms and becoming aware of my own thinking, I was able to overcome it and challenge myself in an area where I would have previously walked away before I even began.

The second big change was the change in my view of globalisation. Globalisation refers to crossing the borders of your country, and entering a world different to the one you came from. What I have come to realise, is that it is an outward change, but it is not necessarily accompanied by an inward change. Glocalisation, however, refers to the simultaneous progression of both globalisation and localisation. Without limiting your scope of growth to the place you are comfortable with as depicted by localisation, you don't lose your sense of self as you move into the outside world. It's to recognise that in order to engage with those from a different background to you, it is important to know how the you is different from the different background. In order to do so, you have to know what that 'yourself' is. An additional point that I would add, is that this so called 'yourself' is constantly changing over time, or at least you hope that you are growing more and more each year. That means that you need to constantly learn about who the you of the present is, and how it is different from the you of the past and of the future. I'm still very new to this myself, and as I come to understand better myself, I hope to be able to express my thoughts more clearly.

For the time being, whatever I was trying to say evidently struck a chord with the adjudicators, so it can't be that bad.

Here is a video recording of my speech. Apologies, no English subtitles as of yet. I will consider adding them in later down the track. And yes, I constructed this speech from the ground up in Japanese. No English manuscript translation.

My certificate, courtesy of the Chairman of the Ibaraki Prefecture Diet.

This speech contest holds a special place in my heart, not so much for the result I obtained as for the story behind that success. To me, the result is a confirmation that the change I underwent over the past half a year, has been nothing short of positive. I look forward to changing even more in future, as I keep learning, and taking action on what I learn in my life!