The Japanese Language Scholarship Foundation (JLSF), in conjunction with the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles and the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ), will host its 17th annual All-USA High School Japanese Speech Contest on Saturday, June 26, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the contest will be held online via Zoom.

This annual contest provides opportunities for high school students studying the Japanese language in the United States (whose native language is not Japanese) to make presentations in Japanese and to inspire others to improve their proficiency in Japanese. It is also hoped that the contest will encourage students to further their understanding of Japan, its people, and its culture.

Participants in the contest are selected from among recommendations submitted by organizers of regional contests held across the country, and the winner of the contest will represent the United States in the “Overseas Students’ Japanese Speech Award (JSA) Contest.”

Texas will be represented by the 2021 Texas State Japanese Language Speech Contest 1st place winner Elianna Moore from Johnson High School in San Antonio.

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2021 Contestants

Student: Tianshuo Cui / ティエンショオ・ツイ
School: 10th Grade, Miami Palmetto Senior High School, Pinecrest, FL
Speech Title: "The World I See from Learning Japanese"「日本語の勉強から見る世界」

Student: Zev Nathanael Katz / ゼブ ・ナタナエル・キャｯツ
School: 10th Glade, Dimond High School, Anchorage, AK
Speech Title: "Screen Time"「スクリーン タイム」

Student: Amy S. Kim / エイミー・キム
School: 10th Glade, Rancho Bernardo High School , San Diego, CA
Speech Title: "Becoming Someone's Hero"「誰かのヒーローになる事 」

Student: Jaylen Sydney Lockhart / ジェイレン・シドニー・ラッカト
School: 12th Grade, Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Chicago, IL
Speech Title: "Yes, And?"「イエス、アンド？」

Student: Elianna Joy Moore / エリアナ・ジョイ・モーア
School: 11th Grade, Claudia Taylor Johnson High School , San Antonio, TX
Speech Title: “My Own Path"「自分の道」

Student: Syeira Dorothea Murray / シエラ・ドロテア・マリー
School: 10th Glade, South Mecklenburg High School , Charlotte, NC
Speech Title: "Study Abroad Experience"「留学の体験」

Student: Leonardo Rosales / ロサレス・レオナルド
School: 11th Grade, Ingraham High School , Seattle, WA
Speech Title: "My Favorite Escape During Quarantine ”Higurashi When They Cry”"「自粛期間に夢中になった作品 『ひぐらしのなく頃に』」

Student: Ayman Taleb/ エイメン・ターレブ
School: 11th Grade, Clarkstown High School South , West Nyack, NY
Speech Title: "Cultural Identity"「文化的アイデンティティ」

Student: Mikhail Roshan Tupaz / ミケイル・ロシャン・テュパズ
School: 12th Glade, Notre Dame High School, Sherman Oaks, CA
Speech Title: ”Lessons in Embroidery”「刺繍の教訓」