Sources: Kumiko Nakamura, 785-532-1921, kunakamu@k-state.edu;
and Xavier Gavin, xgavin09@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-6415, bbohn@k-state.edu

Friday, March 26, 2010

K-STATE STUDENT USES VIDEO GAME AS INSPIRATION FOR SPEECH IN JAPANESE LANGUAGE CONTEST

MANHATTAN -- A video game has helped a Kansas State University student place highly in a prestigious Japanese language speech contest.

Xavier Gavin, freshman in arts and sciences-open option, Wichita, placed second in the category for students with less than a year of college Japanese instruction at the 24th annual Japanese Language Speech Contest, March 6, at the Consulate General of Japan, Chicago, Ill.

Gavin's speech was &1xbet online casino ;Bring in Guitar Hero!&1xbet online casino ; In his presentation, Gavin discussed the use of high technology in the classroom and shared his idea to introduce video games like &1xbet online casino ;Guitar Hero&1xbet online casino ; and &1xbet online casino ;Rock Band&1xbet online casino ; to promote music education.

&1xbet online casino ;I am very proud of Xavier's accomplishment and glad that his hard work was rewarded well,&1xbet online casino ; said Kumiko Nakamura, director of K-State's Japanese language program. &1xbet online casino ;Xavier started his study of the Japanese language at K-State in August 2009 with no previous learning experience in the language.&1xbet online casino ;

Japanese is considered one of the hardest languages for English speakers to learn and takes considerably longer to master, Nakamura 1xbet online casino .

&1xbet online casino ;Xavier's success and recognition as the second-place winner sent us all an encouraging message that starting to learn a foreign language at college is not too late,&1xbet online casino ; she said.

&1xbet online casino ;It was my pleasure to represent Kansas State University in the Japanese speech contest,&1xbet online casino ; Gavin said. &1xbet online casino ;In order for me to be invited to Chicago, both professor Nakamura and I had to put in much time and energy into the creation of this speech.&1xbet online casino ;

Gavin 1xbet online casino one moment he will remember from the competition is what the chair of the judges 1xbet online casino about why she thought it was important for students to learn foreign languages.

&1xbet online casino ;She said how it opens doors to both career paths and relationships, and also understanding,&1xbet online casino ; he said. &1xbet online casino ;She said it was unfortunate that universities everywhere were closing their language programs because of financial stress. I would like to express my most eternal thanks to the K-State College of Arts and Sciences and the department of modern languages for making education and experience a standard for their students.&1xbet online casino ;

It's the fourth year in a row that a K-State student has placed at the competition, including a first-place finish in 2009.