The Department of East Asian Studies is celebrating undergraduate student Michelle Lai’s success at the 34th annual Canadian National Japanese Speech Contest.
Lai, a member of Woodsworth College, previously competed at the Regional Ontario Japanese Speech Contest on March 4 and received a first prize in the open category, securing her place at the national finals.
At the national event — held at the Japan Foundation in Toronto on March 26 — Lai presented an extended version of her original speech, titled My Nutrition Facts, winning her a special prize award in the open category.
She spoke about her experiences being exposed to different cultures, and how Canada is the place where she can truly be herself without choosing only one cultural identity.
"I decided to participate in the Japanese Speech Contest to prove that even if I am not Japanese, or whether we are Japanese heritage speakers, or we are still learning Japanese as a second language, it is still possible for us to stand on the stage to provide a whole speech to the audience, says Lai. "
She added: "Also, since I'm doing linguistics, I am a linguaphile, and especially interested in East Asian languages, so I think learning languages is not only the language itself but also history, culture, people et cetera. That's why I went to the contest, and it was a great opportunity to meet with people from other universities who have the same background as me.”