「私を変えたJポップグループ」/ "The J-Pop Group That Changed My Life"
Click to viewOn May 28, 2011, I got to participate in the 8th Annual Japanese Language Scholarship Foundation All-USA High School Japanese Speech Contest in Los Angeles. I wrote my speech about NEWS, what I love about them, how much they mean to me, how they helped me learned more Japanese, and how they impact me on pursuing my future dream of becoming an interpreter for entertainers.
In the end, I won the VIP Award. Although it's not like a winner or runner-up-like prize, just the fact that I got this wonderful award makes me very happy. Being able to participate in this speech contest and receiving the VIP Award feels like another step towards my future dream.
I’m extremely thankful for being a fan of NEWS and for their awesomeness for getting me this far. If I wasn’t a fan of them, I don’t think I would have been able to experience such a great event or even win this great award!
Hope you enjoy listening to my speech!! ;D
For those who know little Japanese or are non-Japanese speakers, here’s an English translation of the speech and interview. I translated it myself so there might be some mistakes but I did my best. Some of the Japanese can’t be directly translated into English so this is sort of a “rough” translation. It’s pretty accurate but not 100% correct. Here you go:
SPEECH:
Do you know the idol group NEWS?
As a lover of music and Japan, I love Japanese music. I listen to various songs, but out of all of them, my favorite Japanese artist is an idol group called NEWS. Since I’ve begun listening to NEWS, I’ve fell in love with their many charms.
Although I like many things about NEWS, I will now state my three favorite things about NEWS.
First, their appearance and personalities. All the members’ personalities are super cute, and since there are six members, each and every one of them has an interesting personality. There are mischievous members and even mature and cool members as well.
Second, their singing and dancing. Their harmonies are awesome and when NEWS dances together, they’re in perfect sync and look cool. Their backflips in the middle of their dances are really wonderful, too.
And finally, NEWS’s songs. NEWS’s music genre is J-Pop so their melodies are easy to remember and have a cute sound. I love their love songs in particular and whenever I’m down and want to lift up my mood, I listen to many songs by NEWS and become energetic quickly.
Recently, I’ve been too busy with studying for SATs and exams to get into college so I get stressed. During those times I listen to NEWS. For example, the moment I listen to the opening lyrics of NEWS’s song, “Smile Maker”, “Smile! Even if things are hard, the more painful things are, the more you should smile~”, I think, “Exactly!”. NEWS’s lyrics have a positive power and when I listen to them I always think, “I gotta do my best!”. Each time I listen to NEWS my heart is healed, and I receive energy from them.
In addition, NEWS helped my Japanese abilities. When I began listening to NEWS, I only knew a little Japanese. But, I really wanted to know what the lyrics meant so I studied Japanese desperately. Currently, it has been six years since my interest in Japanese begun, and thanks to that I finally can understand what NEWS’s lyrics mean while they’re singing.
My future dream is to become an interpreter for entertainers. I want to help my beloved J-Pop be heard by people of America and the world. Plus I want everyone to know the charm of J-Pop. My dream is to help J-Pop singers release CDs and do concerts as well in America. In order to make that dream come true, I will continue to listen and enjoy J-Pop while improving my Japanese from now on.
INTERVIEW (“J” indicates “Judge” and “H” indicates “Haley” [myself]):
J1: Alright, Haley-san, thank you very much! Here’s a question: When did you first listen to NEWS?
H: I was 14 years old.
J1: Oh, I see. How did you find them?
H: At that time, my preference of Japanese singers was little and I wanted to expand it so I asked my friend, “Which Japanese singer do you recommend the most?” And she said, “Listen to NEWS! They’re the best!” , so I was influenced and I started to listen to them and then I fell in love with them immediately.
J1: Out of all of the NEWS members, who do you like the most?
H: Oh, let’s see…well, I really love everyone, but if you had say number one, it would be the oldest member, Koyama Keiichiro-san.
J1: Why?
H: His personality is a bit like mine, plus our blood types are both O, and his birthday is May 1st and mine is April 29th so…that’s why.
J1: So you must listen to NEWS often with your friends, don’t you?
H: Unfortunately, no matter how much I say “NEWS is awesome!” they won’t listen to them so it makes me feel a bit lonely.
J2: You said your future dream is to become an interpreter for entertainers so what do you think you’ll study in college order to become one?
H: Let’s see…I wanted to major in Asian Studies so I’ll definitely study Japanese and I think I will study Japanese History and many other studies related to Japan.
J2: The title of your speech is “The J-Pop Group That Changed My Life” so after learning about NEWS, how did your life change?
H: I became to like J-Pop more, became to know more about Japanese singers, and even the Japanese entertainment world.
J2: Thank you very much.
H: Thank you very much.