RIYADH — The Embassy of Japan, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Information, organized the fifth Japanese speech contest at King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh Thursday. In all, 13 people from all over Saudi Arabia participated and spoke about either of the contest topics: “Japan and I” and “My family”. The participants talked about why they became interested in Japan and their experience during their study in Japan, as well as of fond memories of time they spent with grandparents in their childhood. The contest consisted of Standard and Advanced levels. The first prize winner in the Standard Level was Meshal Alhajri and the second prize went to Yazeed Albaloush. In the Advanced Level, Tariq Hakami won the first prize and Noor Aljijakli, the second prize. Hakami said he learned Japanese at King Saud University (KSU). Japanese Ambassador Shigeru Endo said, “This has been the 5th edition of the speech contest in Saudi Arabia and I believe this edition will be one of the most memorable one, since it is first time we have female participants. Everyday we receive at the embassy inquiries from Saudis asking where they can study the Japanese language. I appreciate that so many young people in Saudi Arabia are interested in our language.” Osamu Sato, who arrived in the Kingdom only few weeks ago to teach Japanese language at KSU, participated in the contest as an observer. “People think Japanese is an extremely difficult language. But there are easy aspects such as pronunciation. I guess Saudi people will enjoy learning it,” he said, and expressed his hope that many Saudis will enroll for the Japanese course at KSU. The Japanese embassy is cooperating with Princess Nora University to open a Japanese language section. "Also, we had successful results with Prince Sultan University where we offered a short-term intensive course this year. The embassy is determined to make utmost effort to sustain education institutions in Saudi Arabia to launch Japanese language courses," said Ambassador Endo. — SG
