Nihongo Cup success for Gresham's Lower Sixth student

Published on isbi School News dated Wednesday 3rd of July 2013

On 29th June Lower Sixth student Bozena Odobasic took part in the final for the Key Stage Five section of the Nihongo Cup, held at the Embassy of Japan. The Nihongo Cup is the Japanese speech contest for secondary schools, organised by the Japanese Language Committee of the Association for Language Learning, and supported by the Japan Foundation and Embassy of Japan.

Bozena was one of five students competing in this section and she overcame fierce competition to be placed second, as well as being told that she was the person with the best Japanese accent! She was awarded a camera and a silver medal but that wasn't all: due to the first prize winner being unable to accept his prize of a trip to Japan for the finals, where fourteen countries are represented, Bozena was invited to attend instead! She will be travelling to Japan on 18th July, where she will represent the UK and Croatia, and will make two speeches. The aim of the trip is to encourage cultural exchange and for the participants to improve their Japanese.

The School would like to congratulate Bozena on this fantastic achievement and wish her the best of luck during her time in Japan.