Speaking Korean contest: ‘Actually, I don't dare to do this at all’
In a well-filled Telders Auditorium, university learners of Korean competed with each other to see who speaks Korean the best.
Speaking in front of a group of people in a foreign language is no mean feat. University lecturer Elmer Veldkamp reiterated this in his closing words. In this case, there was also a three-member jury present to judge the twenty-four participants on their language level.
Showing results
‘Actually, I really didn’t dare to sign up at all,’ confessed Charlotte Rehorst after her presentation in the beginners’ category, for students with CEFR A2 level in Korean. 'I did it anyway because I really wanted to win that tablet and because I wanted to show others what Korea Studies is all about. What I do often remains somewhat abstract to the outside world, but today, for once, I was able to bring my parents along and show a result.'
In the process, she got laughs with her motivation to become rich, which she linked to one of the themes of the competition: ‘My dreams and goals’. 'I hoped I would feel a little less nervous if the audience was laughing. So I told them I would like to travel around the world on a motorbike, although I don't actually have a driving licence or a motorbike. Fortunately, the tension I felt in my face soon cleared. I am now proud that I did it.'
Special experience
Sofie de Jonge chose ‘From struggle to strength: my personal growth’ as her theme and talked about how Korea had helped her leave less good periods behind. ‘At first I thought: there's no way I'm going to do that,’ she said in the break. 'It seemed way too scary. I was also very nervous before I started, but now that it's over, I'm glad I did it anyway. It’s been a very special experience.'
Prize winners
As icing on the cake, she was one of the prize winners. Both the first prize in the beginners' category and the special Life's Good award from sponsor LG went to her. Other winners in the beginners’ category were Bénédicte Colin (fourth prize, MA Asian Studies), Hano Takizawa (third prize, BA Business, Tilburg University) and Camilla Seelig (second prize, BA International Studies). The other Life's Good award went to Lodewijk Pet (Medicine, Leiden University). Carmelita Fong-Pien-Joe (BA Korean Studies) and Kunetta van den Berg (BA Korean Studies) both received LG's Brave Optimism awards. Non-beginners awards went to Anna Serova (first prize, BA PPLE-Law, University of Amsterdam) and Lara van Zevenbergen (second prize, BA Korean Studies).