New Zealand schools Japanese trivia championships
Friday 16 June 2017 saw four high schools take part in the Waikato regional competition of the New Zealand Schools Japanese Trivia Championships, hosted at the University of Waikato by the University’s Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences’ Japanese programme.
The competition, organised jointly by the New Zealand Association of Japanese Language Teachers (NZAJLT) and Japanese Studies Aotearoa New Zealand (JSANZ), brought together students in Years 7-10 in a pub-style quiz about Japanese culture and general knowledge.
The competition is in its third year of running, and invited students to participate in teams of three or four across eight regions in New Zealand. Each region had its own event, so teams battled it out for both the regional title and the overall national title. At the University of Waikato, where the Waikato regional event took place, the participating schools were Hamilton Girls’ High School; Hillcrest High School; St. Peter’s School, Cambridge; and Tauranga Girls’ High School. The winning team from this region was Hamilton Girls’ High School, while Verdon College from Invercargill took out the national title.
The event aimed to encourage students to put their cultural knowledge to the test in a friendly setting where they could socialise with other Japanese language students from their local area. The organisers hoped the sense of community and the thrill of the competition would foster students’ love of the language and motivate them to continue studying and learning Japanese.
The University’s Japanese programme convenor Fumiko Nishimura was happy with how well the event went. “We were very pleased to see that all the kids had a great time. Hopefully this will encourage them to continue their Japanese studies.”
For more information about the 2017 championships visit the New Zealand Association of Japanese Language Teachers website.