An Indonesian Youth Inspiration Student of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia Won 2nd Place in the National K-Speech Competition

Shavira Amelia Johan, a student of Korean Language Education, Faculty of Language and Literature Education at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, won second place in The 25th Korean Speech World Contest. The 25th Korean Speech World Contest was held by the Indonesian Korean Eloquence Association to express the talents and hone skills of Indonesian youths who are interested in the Korean language. It was also acknowledged by Shavira when asked about her reasons for participating in the K-Speech World Contest.

“I was interested in this competition because I wanted to find a lot of experience in the field of Korean language as well as hone my skills, considering that I am a student majoring in Korean.” The Korean Speech World Contest was held on September 11, 2021, and ended with the winner’s announcement on September 21, 2021. Students who successfully become the first champion are rewarded with a holiday to Korea for four days and become the representatives for Indonesia to compete with other countries at the international level. At the same time, students who succeed in becoming the second and third winners are entitled to entertainment prizes in the form of products from Korea.

Shavira revealed this is not the first time she has participated in a competition related to the Korean language. She admitted that she had participated in various competitions related to the Korean language since the 1st semester.

“In the first semester, I tried to participate in an essay writing competition held by Sungkyunkwan University but lost. Then, in 2021 I also participated in a translation competition for Korean literature held by the Korean Cultural Center Indonesia, Alhamdulillah I got the 2nd runner up. In addition, I also participated in a speech competition organized by Kyung Hee University and the speech competition by Gyeongsangbuk Do, respectively, but lost until the last time I entered this competition and finally won.”

However, despite having participated in many competitions, Shavira admitted to being nervous and did not expect that she would be able to get a second place in the speech competition this time.

“When the committee announced the winner, I actually gave up. If I lose again, that’s fine. But while hoping that at least I can get 3rd place. When the announcement was made, it turned out that I actually won 2nd place, and I was really surprised when I heard it and didn’t believe that I got 2nd place.” However, the award is indeed worthy of her achievements. It is because, in addition to often participating in the competition, she is also willing to spend time between college activities and her organization to be able to prepare the competition script.

The 25th K-Speech World Contest provides a choice of four themes that each participant can choose by themselves. The first theme is the steps to spread the Korean language to the global village and the development of Korean culture. The second theme is measured for the prevention and eradication of human infectious diseases globally. Then, the third theme is steps for the peaceful unification of the Korean peninsula and world peace. And the last theme is measured to promote friendship with the Republic of Korea using Hangul and Hallyu culture as subject matter.

For this competition, Shavira chose to discuss the first theme because she was interested and had an idea of how to spread the Korean language to the world. She wrote two ideas on the theme. The first idea was to increase the number of competitions about Korean, even online. Then, the second idea is to increase the number of Korean language majors on the Indonesian campus, considering that currently, there are only four universities with Korean language majors, which is relatively small compared to other Asian countries.

In the future, after graduating from Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, she hopes to become a teacher of the Korean language and a good translator. Shavira’s success is a clear example of a great fighting spirit, continuously improving her skills and never giving up. This enthusiasm and effort must be used as inspiration and motivation for the younger generation in Indonesia. (Laila Mukaromah, Mahasiswa Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris, FPBS UPI)