Korea makes my heart flutter

The speaking contest held in the Korean language was held by the two universities to celebrate Hangul Day, which commemorates the invention and proclamation of the Korean alphabet (Hangul). At the competition, young people studying at the ELTE Department of Korean Studies and the Sejong Institute gave presentations in Korean in line with the slogan “Korea makes my heart flutter” comparing their language and oratory skills in this way.

The event was also attended by Park Chul Min, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Budapest, and Kim Soo Bok, Rector of Dankook University. The contestants were greeted by Beatrix Mecsi, Head of the ELTE Department of Korean Studies, and then the fourteen finalists took the stage one after the other to deliver their speech, complemented by images and video interludes.

The members of the jury were Professor Mah Sangyoung, Head of the Doctoral School of Dankook University, Kim Yong-Duk, the CEO of KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency), Beatrix Mecsi, Head of the Department of Korean Studies at ELTE, Mária Takáts, a retired language teacher at the ELTE Department of Korean Studies, and Krisztina Nguyen, a current language teacher at the ELTE Department of Korean Studies. According to their evaluation, all productions were of uniformly high quality. The criteria of assessment were the accuracy of the language and the terms used, the fluency of the performer’s speech, the topic, content, and structure of the presentation, the correctness of pronunciation, as well as how natural their accent sounded. During the scoring, the jury also evaluated to what extent the speaker tried to communicate with the audience.

The jury evaluated the presentations based on five criteria

Based on the jury’s decision, Evelin Juhász (a third-year student majoring in Korean Studies at ELTE) won first place (King Sejong Prize) with her speech, and her prize was a return flight ticket to South Korea and the opportunity to take part in a summer training session at Dankook University. The runner-up (Hunminjeong’eum Prize) was Fanni Horváth (a third-year student majoring in Korean Studies at ELTE), who won a one-year language course at Dankook University. The third place (Chongjin Prize) was taken by Dominika Fodor (a third-year student majoring in Korean Studies at ELTE), and she received a six-month language course at Dankook University.

Additionally, the Ju Sigyeong Award went to Lili Csapó (a first-year master’s student at the ELTE Department of Korean Studies), and the Hangul Award was won by Alexandra Zsebi (a third-year student majoring in Korean Studies at ELTE). Furthermore, all contestants received a novel by Professor Jang Choongsik, Honorary President of Dankook University, and a volume of poetry in Korean written by Professor Kim Soobok, Rector of Dankook University, who was present in person.

The event ended with a speech delivered by Imre Hamar, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies and the Sejong Institute. Afterwards, the delegation representing Dankook University visited the Department of Korean Studies, where they learnt about the teaching and research work at the department during an informal conversation with the staff members, and confirmed their intention to further expand their existing collaboration with ELTE.