「レッツゴー キャム！」Cam, Ikuzo! Come follow Camden’s journey! September 2023

For the 42nd Annual Matsudo English Speech Contest for High School Students carried out by MIEA (Matsudo International Exchange Association), I was given the opportunity to be one of the judges of the speeches.

The speeches were not just judged by the words that were used and how they were used, but also by how intriguing the contents of the speech were, as well as whether or not the contestants used effective gestures, among other categories.

The contestants understood very well the importance of English being the world’s lingua franca, and the theme of what they would like to contribute to the world using their English ability came up often in their speeches. Desires such as “Connecting the world through people’s passion for anime” and “Helping foreign visitors in Japan” were brought to the forefront of the speeches, and with this each of the contestants added their own perspective as a Japanese person in a skillful fashion, which resulted in speeches that I believe encapsulated the purpose of the contest very well.

Among the contestants were those with hopes to eventually study abroad, so for those who are interested in studying in America, I think that America’s universities and colleges that are of a large-scale would be a perfect choice if one has the opportunity to enter one. At these schools there are a ton of students as well as professors that come from different backgrounds than yourself, which makes it a great chance to expand your worldview. For example at my alma mater, the University of Kansas, over 110 nationalities are represented in the student body, and in my case I was lucky enough to become friends with people from all around the world who I still keep in touch with, and I was even able to reunite with a couple of them here in Japan.

Only good can come from practicing your English abilities, so I hope those interested in next year’s speech contest try their best!

MIEA（松戸市国際交流協会）の主催で開催された第42回松戸市高校生英語スピーチコンテストで審査委員として参加させていただきました。

演説を評価する点は話す言葉や話し方だけではなく、内容の面白さや構成、効果的なジェスチャーを使用したかどうか等のカテゴリーも含めて審査が行われました。

出場者の皆さんは英語が世界の共通言語であることをよく理解し、演説に「英語力でこれから世界に貢献できること」というテーマがよく見受けられました。「アニメで世界を繋げたい」や「日本に訪れている外国人の方を手伝いたい」等の気持ちを前面に出した演説が繰り広げられ、このような日本人としての観点を出場者の皆さんが上手く加え、一人一人の演説の内容がとても充実していました。

出場者の中にはいつか海外に留学することを考えている方もいたので、今後もしアメリカの大学への留学に興味があれば、規模が大きい大学であると自分と異なるルーツを持っている学生や教授が沢山いて、世界観をもっと幅広くできるチャンスがあります。例えば、私の母校のカンザス大学は110ヶ国以上の学生が在籍していたおかげで、色々な国の人と仲良くなり、今でも交流が続いていまして、日本でその親友と再会もできました。海外で国際的な経験を得て成長したい方にとってこのような大学はとても適切な環境だと思います。

練習して損することはないので、来年松戸市高校生スピーチコンテストに出場したい方は頑張ってください！