TUFS Students Take Top Three Places in Polish Speech Contest

May 23, 2022

On Saturday, May 21, 2022, the Polish Speech Contest 2022 (organized by the Polish Cultural Institute in Tokyo) was held at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Tokyo.

Ms. Seto Asaka won the first prize, Mr. Kumasaka Kazuki won the second prize, and Ms. Yamaguchi Sawa won the third prize (all are 3rd-year students majoring in Polish/Central European Studies in the School of Language and Culture Studies). The competition was also attended by contestants from other universities and the general public, but the top three prizes all went to TUFS students.

Ursula Osmitka, Director of the Polish Center for Public Information and Culture, was impressed by the TUFS students’ high level of Polish language skills, despite the difficulties of learning and studying abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Comments from the award-winning students

Ms. Seto Asaka
I spoke on the topic, “My Favorite Dog Breed,” about a certain dog of Polish origin that I like. I am very happy to have been awarded the first prize for the second time after last year. I will continue to study Polish more and more. I would like to take this opportunity to thank lecturer Karolina Leśniewska for her support, my Polish teachers, classmates, and family members, my friends from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies who participated in the contest, everyone who came to the venue to cheer me on, and the organizers of the contest for organizing this event. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all. Thank you very much.

Mr. Kumasaka Kazuki
I spoke about English education and language learning in Japan. The fact that I was able to achieve this result even though I still speak Polish poorly, is one proof of my speech’s assertion about the importance of motivation in language learning. I would like to thank lecturer Karolina Leśniewska and my teachers and classmates in the Polish language department for their careful guidance, as well as the contest organizers for organizing this contest.

Ms. Yamaguchi Sawa
I spoke on the Chopin Competition and the music of Frédéric Chopin, which sparked my own interest in Poland, and about my favorite pianist. In preparing for this competition, I was carefully guided by lecturer Karolina Leśniewska, from the preparation of the text of my speech to the practice of the Q&A session. Without the support of those around me, I would not have been able to achieve this result on my own. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Polish professors, classmates, and family members, as well as to the organizers for giving me this opportunity to present my paper. Thank you very much.