2015 SU Update: Successful 2nd Gwangju Junior Interpreters Contest

GWANGJU – Co-hosted by the Gwangju Foreign Language Network (GFN) and Chonnam National University’s Language Education Center on September 17th, the second national interpreters contest was a great success. The winners of the contest have been selected as junior interpreters for the 2015 Summer Universiade.  

The contest was held in order to improve the English speaking skills of young students who will be in high school or college by 2015, and give them an opportunity to work as volunteer interpreters during the 2015 Summer Universiade. This year’s contest drew national attention and was very competitive, just as it was last year.

The participants in the contest came from all provinces of Korea, includingSeoul. A total of 492 students (337 elementary school students and 155 middle school students) competed in the contest. The honor of winning the first prize went to Ji-hyo Yim (a 6th grader atJeong-amElementary Schoolin Gwangju) and Yeong-tae Ahn (a 2nd grader at Dongshin Middle School in Gwangju).

A source for this event said, “We held the first contest last year to raise global-minded elites and to secure human resources for the 2015 Summer Universiade. The Junior Interpreter contest has never been held anywhere else, so it has sparked the interest of this nation.”

Another contest, the 2nd Gwangju Youth English Debate Championship, will be held on November 26th and 27th for preliminaries and on December 3rd for the final. The winners will also work as interpreters during the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade.

(Source: Gwangju 2015 OC)