A sunny Saturday morning set the scene for the 22nd annual Cosmos Cup for Junior High students. Held at Sagano High School early on September 9th, this contest saw eight finalists representing various different Kyoto Junior High Schools come to show their English skills.

9月9日(土)、第22回こすもす杯中学生英語朗読コンテストを開催しました。予選を勝ち抜いた中学生8名が参加し、日頃の英語学習の成果を披露してくれました。

Cosmos Cup is an English story-telling contest. Students are given a story they have never seen before, and, with only twenty minutes of preparation, are asked to read it out loud in four minutes or less. The students' accuracy and pronunciation are not the only things taken into account! As well as English mechanics, the judges also look for the rhythm of the speech and the passion and emotion put into the words. Not only does English fluency matter, the ability to appropriately perform in English is equally important.

こすもす杯は英語朗読コンテストです。参加者は当日渡された課題文を見て、20分間の練習の後、4分間で朗読します。発音や正確性だけでなく、本文の内容を理解したうえでの抑揚や感情表現なども重要な審査項目です。流暢さに加えて、場面・文脈に応じたパフォーマンスが求められます。

Members of the Sagano High School English Speaking Society also assisted. Four students volunteered their time to share their love of learning English with the Junior High students and help the judges and teachers in running the contest. Duties of these students included reading each contestant's introduction, helping guide contestants between their different rooms, and chatting with the contestants to calm their nerves. With the assistance of these Sagano students, the contest ran smoothly.

また、本校ESS部の生徒達が運営に協力してくれました。4人の部員が、司会進行・参加者誘導だけでなく、参加者の気持ちをほぐす役割も担うなど、様々な場面で活躍し、交流を通じて英語学習の楽しさも伝えてくれました。部員たちのサポートのおかげでスムーズな大会運営ができました。

Judges were members of the Sagano English staff, as well as Vice Principal Shibata Mika. Every student did a fantastic job, and the judges were all very impressed at the English abilities of the students. When it was all over, however, there were only four contestants who left with a prize.

審査員は、本校英語科教員及び柴田副校長が務めました。どの参加者の発表も素晴らしく、審査員一同みなさんの実力に感銘を受けました。審査結果は以下の通りです。

Best Performance Prize:              Miss Sakurai, Saikyo High School Affiliated Junior High

Outstanding Performance Prize: Miss Takahashi, Shijo Junior High

Good Performance Prize:            Miss Takeuchi, Shijo Junior High

Honorable Mention:                    Miss Misaki, Seika Nishi Junior High

最優秀賞：櫻井さん【京都市立西京高等学校附属中学校】

（京都府教育委員会教育長賞）

優秀賞：　高橋さん【京都市立四条中学校】

（学校長賞）

奨励賞：　竹内さん【京都市立四条中学校】

努力賞：　三崎さん【精華町立精華西中学校】

Congratulations to our winners, and congratulations to all our contestants!

受賞者の皆さんおめでとうございます！

あらためて決勝参加者8名全員の健闘に敬意を表したいと思います。

みなさん、ありがとうございました！