On November 13, the first national micro-video contest of Telling China's Story in Japanese for Japanese language majors in colleges and universities was successfully held. The team consisting of Chen Jiayi, Chen Shiheng, and Liu Ying from the Japanese Department 192 of the College of Foreign Languages won the third prize. Ms. Xu Xiuzi from the Department of Japanese won the Outstanding Instructor Award.
The contest was guided by the Japanese Sub-Committee of the Steering Committee for Teaching Foreign Languages and Literatures in Higher Education Institutions of the Ministry of Education, co-sponsored by the China Association for the Study of Japanese Language Teaching, the Shanghai Branch of the China Association for the Study of Japanese Language Teaching and Donghua University, and co-sponsored by Shanghai TV Channel and East China University of Science and Technology Press. The team aimed to implement the requirement of telling Chinese stories and spreading Chinese voices, enhance the cultural confidence of college students, and promote Chinese culture.
The three students of the team, under the guidance of their instructors, started the preparation of the preliminary video from summer vacation, discussing and revising the shooting script and copy again and again. During the video shooting process after the school year started, the team faced many difficulties such as tight preparation time, unavailability of equipment, changing outdoor shooting environment, as well as technical problems such as transitions and special effects, video radio, and noise reduction. The video depicts the rapid development and changes in the new area of Lin-gang from the perspective of Ms. Fumie Kamiike, a foreign teacher, and her expectations for its bright future. The video work was well-received for its relevant topic, rich content, excellent filming, and natural expression in Japanese. It was selected among more than 70 entries nationwide and successfully advanced to the final round.
The format of the final round was to narrate the designated video in Japanese. During the preparation for the final, the three students also maintained a good spirit. They searched for a suitable practice video from a wide range of online materials, adjusted the time allocation and cooperation between them, and carefully conducted simulation exercises.
During the filming process, they interviewed the foreign teachers and the staff of the testing base, and communicated and cooperated with each other about the filming plan selection, which helped them to practice their Japanese oral expression and communication skills. The Department of Japanese will also take this competition as an opportunity to better promote teaching and research, train students with care, and improve their ability to tell Chinese stories in Japanese.
(Reported by the College of Foreign Languages office; Translated by Li Huixian)
