Fukugawa English Contest



Downtown Fukugawa

  Last Saturday, August 27th, Tracy was given the opportunity to judge an English speaking contest in nearby Fukugawa. Fukugawa is approximately 75km south of Iwakuni, and of course, the quickest way to get there is via train.
The trip took about 90 minutes each way, and cost Y2580 (approx $32).
This years contest was the 20th anniversary. The contest is open to elementary, junior high and high school students throughout the area. The contest is used to judge the students on how well they speak English. There were 2 other people from the base that went, both of them are English tutors to Japanese elders. One of the Japanese students went with us as well, as our translator.

Fukugawa station

When we arrived in Fukugawa, we had a short 5 minute walk across a bridge (over the train tracks) to the community center where we would be having the contest. Prior to the contest, the head of the English Committee took the 4 of us judges to an all-you-can-eat Japanese Buffet.
This buffet was interesting and confusing at the same time. Since I am still not sure what anything is, I took a little bit of everything. Some of it was good, like the chicken balls (panko crusted chicken pieces that are fried). Some of the food is a little scary, like what I thought was beef with broccoli, but it wasn't. I have no idea what it really was. It was some kind of meat, and it did have broccoli, but it was in a sauce that was gelatinous...kinda reminded me of canned dog food. At that time, I was done eating. Thank goodness for white rice!


Map of Fukugawa



After lunch, we headed back to the community center, and the contest began. First up was the elementary students, of which there was one that participated. The young girl was in the 6th grade, and told a story about a little flower bud. Her English was better than I had expected.


Can you figure out which train to where, and how much?

 Next up was the junior high students. This time there were 10 students, and so the competition was going to be tough. We were to grade them on not only their English, but there facial/hand expressions, how they interact with the audience, the flow/rate of speech and their general appearance. Each student was allowed to pick their own topic, and they were supposed to memorize the words in English (most of the
teachers are English speaking). The students were only allowed 5 minutes to give their speeches. After the Junior high students, it was on to the high school students, and there was only 6 of them. Most of the high school students talked about their travels as an exchange student, and the places they saw. I have to admit, the junior high students did much better than the high school students. At the end of the competition, the top students in each category was awarded, as well as the best overall.
After the competition, the head of the committee handed each of the four judges two envelopes. We were told the first envelope was to reimburse our travel fare, and the other envelope was our gift. None of us opened our envelopes until we were home. The first envelope contained Y2000 (~$25). The other envelope had Y10,000 (~$133.33). Not bad for a day off base, and a couple hours of judging English.