JLfest 2024 | The 17th Annual Japanese Language Festival
KANJI Map Poster Competition
JLfest 2024
Objective
The competition aims at encouraging learners to develop an interest in KANJI and discover a way to learn and remember them easily by using mind-map and story-telling techniques. In the process, contestants would learn how to search for and organize information as well as to work with others within a given time.
The KANJI
This year contestants were given a choice of either 「口」or「目」to make a digital KANJI Map Poster.
RESULT ANNOUNCEMENT
12 finalist teams presented their posters to the judges on Saturday, Jun 14, 2024.
1st Prize Winner:
TEAM 8
Kayly Loo Wei Yii
Zainab Binti Huzaifah
SMK (P) Methodist Klang
ポスターのデザインはよく目を引き、色々なイラストも使用し、バランスもいいです。そして、漢字の説明や例文も具体的に説明できるので、初めての読む人でもすぐ理解できるようになりました。それに、選んだ漢字の単語についてどうやって使用するか面白い漫画を考えて作ってきました。それはこのチームの強みです。良く出来ました。おめでとうございます。
RATCHAPONG PILAKUN
2nd Prize Winner:
TEAM 7
Ester Tan Chin Fei
Lee Yu Cheng
SMK Tinggi Bukit Mertajam
この作品の一番の良さは、ミュージアムの入り口から入って、口に関する知識を身に着けて出口から出る、というアイディアだと思います。まるで自分自身がミュージアムにいて、このポスター（つまりミュージアム）からわくわくしながらいろいろ学んでいるような気がします。それとショートストーリーも、出口、入り口、窓口、南口など身近な熟語を使って、実際にありそうな場面、実際にすぐ使えそうな文で作られているのも、とてもいいと思いました。「こうけん」ではなく「チケット」または「きっぷ」、それから、「多い人は」ではなく「多くの人が」「たくさんの人が」とすればよかったですね。その点が残念な点でした。でも、ストーリー作りにチャレンジしてくれたことを高く評価したいと思います。
SEKI MAYUMI
3rd Prize Winner:
TEAM 5
Umar Wafi Zulfakri
Iman Hasya Zulfakri
SMK Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah
"I like how the kanji 口 immediately catches my eye at first glance The pastel background colour also makes it easier to see the wordings which were nicely arranged. However, the example words for onyomi and kunyumi were not balanced. Perhaps give another example for こう like 火口（かこう）as students have also learned the kanji 火. It's good that the example sentences are from the example words given, but it would be better to put furigana above the kanji and meanings of the sentences for better understanding. All in all, it's a very educational poster. よくできました！"
Azah Afnizan binti Mohamad Ayop
Merit Prize Winner:
TEAM 8
Lee Wei He
Siddharrthen Rajakumar
SMK Ghaffar Baba, Melaka
"Sometimes LESS is MORE. This poster looks very simple and contains very little information. However, what struck me was the design concept. At one look, it is clear what this poster is about. Secondly, the ingenuity of the team in capitalising the pictogram of 口 by stretching the little girl's mouth wide open across the whole poster, is commendable. It helps us recognise, remember and understand the meaning of this kanji. The illustration of a (pink) bacteria in the centre of the mouth also added a moment of playfulness.
However, had the team included in the poster, where the idea of the little girl with her mouth wide open came from, and the short stories (sentence examples) for each vocabulary that the team presented to the judges during the presentation, it would have been a great poster.
(Note: there are some typo errors in the poster and the vocabulary placed under KUNYOMI should be under ONYOMI and vice versa)
Edward Lee
COMMENTS FROM THE JUDGES
"Congratulations to all the 12 finalist teams. You all have done well both in the poster and in the presentation.
I was rather surprised that there were only 2 teams that selected「目」instead of「口」and unfortunately none ot them was selected by the judges. Most teams avoided「目」was because they find that references on the Internet were too few and its vocabularies were difficult. I believe that the teams were referring to the Kango such as 注目、目的. However, I was pleased to note that one of the teams quoted simple phrases like 目がいい. On the other hand, I wonder what constrainted these 2 teams from selecting everyday words like 目玉焼き (fried eggs) 目上・目下 (superior/subordinate), ordinal numbers like 一日目(first day)、2回目(second time)、3番目(third) or 目黒 (Meguro, a place in Tokyo) . There are also many interesting proverbs related with 目, such as 目で目は見えぬ、鬼の目にも涙 、傍目八目、一目惚れ、魚の目に水見えず. Imagine a poster of a goldfish with huge popping eyes swimming in the water! It would certainly attract attention and add fun to learning.
While I enjoyed reading the posters and listening to the presentations by each team, I could not help but notice 2 common flaws or misunderstandings.
1. The choice of vocabulary and sentence examples
While it is understandable that teams tried to get as many vocabulary and sentence examples as possible into their poster hoping to score extra points, but these should be selected with the target learners (ie beginners as mentioned in the competition rules ) in mind. Otherwise the learners might switch off and thus defeat the purpose of making this poster.
2. The Poster and the Presentation
This is a POSTER Competition, NOT a Poster Presentation Competition. Therefore, the poster ought to be self-explanatory. All important points MUST be in the poster and should not leave it to oral presentation. At the presentation, the team should focus on drawing the judges' attention to the poster's concept and how different components of the poster contribute to the whole story.
Once again congratulation to all. To the teams, whose poster was not featured here, please consider accepting our invitation to exhibit your poster at the JLfest「MY漢字ワード」Online Exhibition."
EDWARD LEE
「どの作品も、それぞれよく考えて工夫が見られました。初級レベルの人が理解できるように、例文にふりがなをつけたり、文字を際立たせるなどの配慮がされていたり、口をイメージした色づかいやデザイン、ストーリーの感じられるデザインがされていたり、すばらしい作品がたくさんありました。口／目からどんな連想をしたのか、参加者のみなさんの頭の中をのぞくことができて、楽しかったです。」
SEKI MAYUMI
「みなさんのポスターのアイディアはとても素晴らしかったです。デザインはよく目を引き、色々なイラストもよく使用しました。ポスターだけでなく、発表の仕方も大変よくできました。チームワークの力で一緒に計画し、一緒にポスターを作成し、いい作品だと思います。先生はとても感動でした。これからも頑張ってください。」
RATCHAPONG PILAKUN
"Generally, all posters were well executed. The contrast of the background colour or image should be considered wisely so that what needs to be informed can be visualised. Simple or learned sentence pattern is the best choice so students could easily relate with what they have learned."
AZAH AFNIZAN MOHD AYOP