2023 Toronto Korean Speech Contest (English Guidelines Updated)

The 17^th Annual Toronto Korean Speech Contest will be held on Saturday, March 18 at the University of Toronto. This year’s event will be held in in-person format for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants should submit their application along with the speech by Tuesday Feb. 28.  A message about the qualification will be sent to each participant. Qualified participants should attend the main round meeting held at 11am on Saturday March 18 (Eastern Time). A panel of three judges will ask each participant instant questions after each speech presentation.

 

TIME & LOCATION

11:00AM-5:00PM Saturday March 18, 2023 (Eastern Time)
@Earth Science Centre (ES1050), University of Toronto (5 Bancroft Ave., Toronto, ON M5S 3J1)

SCHEDULE

10:30 am -   : Registration for Speech Contest & Quiz Contest
11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Study Abroad in Korea Fair
12:00 pm - 12:20 pm: Opening Ceremony
12:20 pm - 1:00 pm: High School & Novice Category
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Beginner Category
2:00 pm - 2:20 pm: Break and Snack (Galleria Supermarket)
2:20 pm - 3:15 pm: Intermediate Category
3:15 pm - 4:00 pm: Advanced Category
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Quiz Contest on Korea
5:00 pm - 5:30 pm: Award Ceremony

 

DEADLINE FOR ONLINE APPLICATION & SPEECH SUBMISSION:

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Online application & detailed guidelines are available at http://catk.ca

Online Application Link

QUALIFICATIONS:

Applicants must satisfy all of the following criteria:

• 15 years of age or older (for High School & Novice Category)  l  18 years of age or older (for Beginner to Advanced Categories)
• Not a native speaker of Korean
• Qualify for one of the 4 contest categories

 Note: Applicants need to be attending an educational institution (secondary, post-secondary, or continuing education) at the time of the contest and should discuss participation in the contest with their instructors. If any questions arise regarding applicants’ qualifications, the Organizing Committee’s decision will be final. Past contestants are not allowed to participate in the same category.

 

CATEGORIES:

(1) HIGH SCHOOL & NOVICE

• 15 years of age or older
• Not have a parent/guardian who is a native speaker of Korean
• Studied the Korean language for less than 50 hours (except high school students)
• Not stayed in Korea for more than a total of six months after the age of six

Note: It is presumed that the “parent(s)” lived with the applicant until the applicant finished secondary school. “Hours of study” means the number of instruction hours of Korean language study. Hours of study should include all hours of Korean language study, including private lessons, by the time of the contest.

(2) BEGINNER

• 18 years of age or older
• Not have a parent/guardian who is a native speaker of Korean
• Studied the Korean language for less than 120 hours
• Not stayed in Korea for more than a total of six months after the age of six

(3) INTERMEDIATE

• 18 years of age or older
• Not have a parent/guardian who is a native speaker of Korean
• Studied the Korean language for less than 240 hours
• Not stayed in Korea for more than a total of six months after the age of six

(4) ADVANCED

• 18 years of age or older
• Studied the Korean language over 240 hours (No limit on hours of study)
• No limit on duration of stay in Korea, but should specify the duration of time on online application
• Can have either or both parents/guardian who are native speakers of Korean as long as the applicant is studying Korean as a foreign/heritage language
• If born in Korea, can have stayed in Korea for up to 4 years of age from birth

SPEECH TITLE AND CONTENT:

• Submit speech to the Committee at time of application (Use the online application form)
• No limitation in topic.  Choose own title and subject of their speech in Korean
• Write own speech
• Memorize the speech

SPEECH LENGTH LIMIT:

• High School & Novice : 2min. 30sec.
• Beginner: 3min.
• Intermediate: 3min. 30 sec.
• Advanced: 3min. 30sec.

Note: Reading or using cue cards will be subject to demerit points. Small disparities between the written speech and the oral presentation will not be subject to penalty as long as the content is the same. A contestant who exceeds the time limit will receive demerit points every 10 seconds and have to stop after 30 seconds.

JUDGES AND EVALUATION CRITERIA:

• Panel of three judges comprised of individuals involved in Korean Language Education in Canada
• Speeches assessed according to manner of presentation, content, organization, grammar and pronunciation.
• All main round participants are subject to answer an instant question from a judge after the presentation for a bonus point.

CERTIFICATES AND PRIZES:

• All contestants will be awarded a participation certificate & souvenir
• One grand prize winner across all category and top 3 winners in each category will be awarded prizes and certificate of award
• Grand Prize: award certificate and a round-trip airline ticket to Korea[1] + scholarship for a summer language program in Korea[2]  + LG product[3]
• 1st place in each category: award certificate + scholarship for a summer language program in Korea + LG product
• 2^nd place in each category: award certificate and a gift ($300 equivalent)
• 3^rd place in each category: award certificate and a gift ($200 equivalent)
• Korea Tourism Organization Special Award: award certificate and a gift (TBA)

[1] Restrictions set by Korean Air in terms of usage period are applied.

[2] Among the summer language programs of Korea University, Sogang University, Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Hanyang University, it will be decided according to the program's nature and the winners' conditions.

[3] In previous years, LG smartphones were awarded to the first-place winner. The gift for this year has not been decided.

TRAVEL SUPPORT:

For participants from outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), ask your teacher about travel support.

CONTACT: 
contact.tksc@gmail.com