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USU to host Japanese speech contest
The USU department of languages and philosophy of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences will host the 21rst All-Utah Japanese Speech Contest on Saturday. The event is slated to take place at 1 p.m. in Old Main Room 225. Most of the state's institutions of higher education, including USU, University of Utah, BYU, Weber State, Utah Valley State College, Salt Lake Community College and Snow College, offer Japanese language courses. Each year, students from each of these institutions gather to compete at two levels. Advanced-level contestants in the annual event must deliver an original five-minute speech in Japanese on one of two topics. This year's topics are " Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games" and "What does it mean to be bilingual?" Atsuko Neely, lecturer in Japanese language and organizer of this year's event, points out that this is one of the longest-running contests of this kind in the nation. "Twenty-one years ago, Utah was a pioneer in recognizing the importance of providing an enriching environment for Japanese language education," Neely said. "First hosted by Dr. Masakazu Watabe of BYU in 1980, Japanese educators in the state have continued to host this unique annual event on a rotating basis. It serves as a competitive showcase for students in all of the Japanese language programs in the state." Support for this year's event comes from the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation, the Checketts Family Foundation, JP Trading, Inc. and Seiko Instruments, Inc. "In a climate of plummeting state funds for education, this kind of event would be impossible without the support of these organizations," commented Neely, "We are most grateful."
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