Wang Zhixuan, a student from the Japanese Department of School of Foreign Languages (SFL) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) won the first place in the East China Division Preliminary of the 14th National Japanese Speech Contest, which was held at Zhejiang Gongshang University on May. 18,  2019. Associate Professors Chen Lu and JinWenfeng from the Japanese Department were awarded Excellent Adviser Prizes.

The 14th National Japanese Speech Contest was jointly organized by China Education Association for International Exchange, Nikkei Shimbun, the Society of Chinese Professors in Japan, Japanese Education Subcommittee of MOE College Foreign Languages and Literatures Education Committee and China Japanese Education Association, and received strong support from the Chinese Embassy in Japan, China-Japan Friendship Association and other institutions. The contest aims to enhance the friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people, deepen mutual understanding, and promote the interest of Japanese language learning among Chinese college students.

Since its inception in 2006, the National Japanese Speech Contest has been successfully held for 13 consecutive years. Each year, the National Japanese Speech Contest would hold preliminaries in 8 divisions. The top two contestants of each division win the opportunity to enter the finals in Tokyo.
In the East China Division Preliminary, 31 contestants from 31 universities in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi delivered inspiring speeches under the given themes of “Olympic Spirit and Me: Tokyo 2020•Beijing 2022” and “Sino-Japan Youth Exchange: My Suggestions” in the forms of propositional and impromptu speeches.

With high-quality pre-contest training from Associate Professor Chen Lu, Associate Professor JinWenfeng and Foreign Expert Yamada Koshiro, Wang Zhixuan garnered the top prize, gaining approval and praise from both judges and other contestants and advisers with her excellent performance.

Wang Zhixuan passed JLPT N1 and won the National Scholarship in her freshman year, and received the JASSO Scholarship during her half-year exchange in the University of Tokyo. Wang is also a student of wide interests. As the president of the SJTU 525 Street Dance Association, she led a team to win the first prize in the Shanghai Division of Asia University Dance Championship. In August 2018, she stood out from 3,000 Southeast Asian college students and entered the Nikkei Asia Recruitment Forum organized by Nikkei Shimbun, in which she led a team to win the first prize in keynote speech and was selected as one of the only two recommended students by Orix Group.

The Japanese Department aims to cultivate interdisciplinary talents equipped with Japanese and English proficiency as well as nature and social science knowledge, and has cultivated a number of outstanding graduates.