TUFS Students Win Top Prizes at Czech Language Speech Contest
July 5, 2022
On Saturday, June 25, 2022, the 28th Czech Language Oratory Contest was held at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tokyo (hosted by the Embassy of the Czech Republic and co-hosted by Czech Center Tokyo). Tsuzumi Kanazawa (3rd year, School of International and Area Studies) won the Grand Prize, and Mitsuki Hakozaki (2nd year, School of Language and Culture Studies) won the third prize.
Comments from the award-winning students
Tsuzumi Kanazawa
I spoke on the “Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2022,” noting that the Czech Republic is not in Eastern Europe but in Central Europe. I am very happy to have participated in this event because I was able to deliver my thoughts to many people in the form of a speech, making use of what I have learned at university so far. I am very happy that I was able to win the Grand Prize as a result. I had a lot of difficulties in the preparation stage, but with the support of everyone around me, I was able to make it through to the actual event. I would like to thank my friends and family for their enthusiastic support, my teachers in the Czech language department for their warm support, and the organizers for providing me with the opportunity to present my speech.
Mitsutake Hakozaki
I spoke about “My favorite character in Czech fairy tales,” comparing my own third brother to the “brave third brother” typical in Czech fairy tales. I would like to express my utmost gratitude to the international students and my Czech friends who were very patient with me during the elaboration and Q&A practice. I will forever treasure the time we spent in conversation, trying to find the terms in the Czech language that best conveyed what I wanted to say, and enjoying our mutual amazement over the differences between Japanese and Czech. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the language teachers and classmates who were involved in the event, as well as to all the organizers. Thank you very much.
