REGISTRATION 

Registration Fee: $10 per entrant 

• Schools not registered with JATNET will incur an additional non-member fee of $60. If the teacher entering students is a JATNET member, no additional fee is charged. 

• Any adjustments to registrations prior to the closing date are to be made by emailing the JATNET secretary directly.  

• Invoices will be emailed after the registration closing date. 

• If you teach at more than one school, please fill in a separate form for each school that you will be entering.

• Participants outside Hobart may register and will need to complete their speech live via Teams during the same time period as the in-person competition.

Registration of numbers for the competition must be received by Friday 10 July. 

Registration link: COMING SOON

OBJECTIVES

The Speech Competition aims to:

1. Motivate students in their study of Japanese;

2. Give students the opportunity to demonstrate their language skills before a panel;

3. Encourage students to strive beyond the normal classroom requirements in the learning of Japanese;

4. Generate publicity about the study of Japanese language in Tasmanian schools.

DIVISIONS

The Senior Japanese Speech Competition has eight divisions. 

Grade 9, 10A, 10B, Grade 9/10 Tokubetsu sanka

Grade 11/12 TASC Level 2, Grade 11/12 TASC Level 3, Grade 12 UTAS High Achiever Program, Grade 11/12 Tokubetsu sanka

NUMBER OF ENTRANTS AND ELIGIBILITY

Grade 9:              2 students per class or 1:5 (whichever is greater)

Grade 10A:         2 students per class or 1:5 (whichever is greater)
Grade 10B:         4 students per school

Grade 11/12 TASC Level 2:               4 students per school
Grade 11/12 TASC Level 3:               4 students per school
Grade 12 UTAS HAP:                         No limitations on student numbers

• Contestant’s background language is not Japanese.

• Contestant must be studying Japanese.

• All participants are to be registered through the school or organisation at which they are undertaking studies in Japanese (except for HAP students, who should be registered by the college they are enrolled at). It is the responsibility of the school or organisation to nominate and subsequently register the representative/s following an internal selection process of their choosing.

• Contestant has not travelled to Japan for more than 3 months (after the age of 13).

• Contestant has not completed more than 6 months of Japan’s compulsory education, either in Japan or at any Japanese school overseas.

• The competition is not open to members of the families of the judging panel.

Grade 9/10 Tokubetsu sanka:      No limitations on student numbers

Grade 11/12 Tokubetsu sanka:       No limitations on student numbers

• Contestant’s mother and/or father’s first language is Japanese.

• Contestant must be studying Japanese as a Language other than English (LOTE).

• All participants are to be registered through the school or organisation at which they are undertaking studies in Japanese (except for HAP students, who should be registered by the college they are enrolled at). It is the responsibility of the school or organisation to nominate and subsequently register the representative/s following an internal selection process of their choosing.

• Contestant has not spent more than 24 months in Japan after reaching the Japanese compulsory education starting age.

• Contestant has not completed more than 2 academic years of Japan’s compulsory education either in Japan or at any Japanese school overseas

• The competition is not open to members of the families of the judging panel.

CONTENT AND TIME/LENGTH

Questions and Answers (Grade 9, 10A, 10B, Grade 11/12 TASC Level 3)

Grade 9:         10 questions (of a list of 14 assigned questions) - 3 mins max. time

Grade 10A:     12 questions (of a list of 22 assigned questions) - 4 mins max. time
Grade 10B:     14 questions (of a list of 22 assigned questions) - 5 mins max. time          

Grade 11/12 TASC Level 3:     18 questions (of a list of 43 assigned questions) - 6 mins max. time

Each contestant will have a specified amount of time to answer a number of questions, raised by the judging panel.
Contestants are required to engage in a conversation structured on planned responses to questions not necessarily in order.

• • Name, age and birthday

  • Where they live and what type of place it is

  • Daily routine

  • Friends and families

  • Hobbies and spare time activities, including sports and shopping

  • School and future plans

Question lists for each grade level can be accessed from links at the bottom of this page. 

Further details...

• Students should begin by greeting the judging panel and introducing themselves.

• The answers will be the original work of the student, with the degree of assistance given by teachers to be limited to correcting grammatical errors or making minor alterations. 

• Students are encouraged to request 「もう一度言ってください。」if they need to have the question repeated.

• Other natural phrases are also encouraged, eg. 「すみません、ちょっとわかりません。」「もうちょっとゆっくり言ってください。」

• Practice videos can be found here: TBA

Grade 9 and Grade 10A

• Answers should be one sentence long and address the question directly.

• It is expected that students will deliver answers using structures appropriate for the year of learning. Teachers are advised to monitor the students carefully during the preparation stages in order to ensure student work meets the appropriate standard.

• Example
  Q: ペットをかっていますか。どんなペットですか。
  A. はい、犬を かっています。
  
  

Grade 10B and Grade 11/12 TASC Level 3

• Answers should be one sentence long and address the question directly. An additional sentence can be added where appropriate (but not necessary for all questions). This additional sentence should also directly relate to the question and should not be overly complex or long-winded.

• This division is for students who wish to display an awareness of grammar and structures beyond the expectations of the Australian Curriculum: Japanese or at the standard of the TASC Level 3 curriculum.

• Example
  Q: ペットをかっていますか。どんなペットですか。
  A. はい、犬を1ぴきかっています。白くて小さい犬です。 

Self introduction (Grade 11/12 TASC Level 2)     

Level 2:     Self introduction (max. 2.5 mins in length)

Contestants are asked to complete a Self-Introduction of up to 2.5 minutes including the following:

• • Name, age and birthday

  • Suburb/town

  • Own likes and dislikes

  • Hobbies and spare time activities

  • Family members, their ages, likes and dislikes and hobbies/spare time activities

After delivering their speech, contestants will be asked up to two questions based on the content of their speech.

Speech (Grade 9/10 Tokubetsu sanka, Grade 11/12 Tokubestu sanka and Grade 12 UTAS HAP)

Background speaker: Speech (max. 3 mins in length)

The subject, content and form of the speeches are left open to each contestant. These students will write a speech about a topic of their choice. Speeches must be the original work of the student, with basic editing assistance ONLY provided by their teacher of Japanese or parent. 

Entrants who have competed in previous competitions may not use the same speech (this includes title and content) presented in previous years.

After delivering their speech, contestants will be asked up to four questions based on the content of their speech.

JUDGING CRITERIA

 The marking system is as follows:

• Judges will be looking for a high competency in the following: pronunciation, intonation, fluency, body language 

• Props (e.g. puppets, objects etc.) must not be used.

• Contestants must not read any scripts or prompt cards.

• Any student using content derived from resources above their allocated division may be ineligible for a prize.

• Uniform is not compulsory, but should be worn when available. Neat presentation is encouraged

JUDGES

There will be a panel of up to three judges. The judges will be from the field of Japanese language education and members of the Japanese community, and will decide the winners. Aggregates of marks from all judges will determine the place allocated to each contestant in the order of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. In the case of a draw, the judges will determine the outcome through discussion. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The content of the judges’ discussion is not open to the public at any time.

PRIZES

Prizes and certificates will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in each division where applicable (dependent on entrant numbers and quality of speeches). Prizes will be awarded in the category of Best Delivery. Honourable Mention Certificates will also be awarded in each division.

Prizes may take the form of books, vouchers or Japanese realia but will not be monetary.

First, second and third place winners in each division (with one parent/carer as their guest) will be invited to a reception at Government House on Thursday 27th November, 2025, 6-7pm to receive their certificates from the Governor, Her Excellency the Honourable Barbara Baker AC.

Participation certificates will be available to be printed by teachers of Japanese for students that made a reasonable effort to participate. This is left to the discretion of teachers, but we ask that you require students to at least know some of their speech to earn this recognition.

PAYMENT

An invoice will be sent to your school(s) based on the information on the registration form. Please fill it in carefully.
Refunds are not possible after invoices have been sent. The invoice will be sent to the main contact person's email address. 

Please be sure to forward it to the appropriate person at your school to arrange payment via direct debit to the JATNET bank account. Account details will be included on the invoice. Receipts will be issued for all payments received. 

*JATNET does not have an ABN but does have ‘Statement of Supplier’ details (which may be required by your finance division). This can be accessed below.