21-Year Old Filipino Student Wins the National Multi-Lingual Speech Competition in Austria

Transcription

1 Ms. Xynthea Gajo, 21 year old Filipino student from the Vorarlberg, Austria, delivering her winning piece at the Rathaus (Vienna City Hall) during the Awarding Ceremony of Sag s Multi on 23 February / 5

2 Ms. Xynthea Gajo, a 21-year old Filipino student from Vorarlberg, Austria, bested / 5

3 contestants from all over Austria to garner the highest score at the 2012 National Multi-lingual Speech Competition called Sag's Multi (Say it Multi-lingual) held at the Vienna City Hall (Wien Rathaus) on 23 February Ms. Gajo migrated to Austria four years ago. She was born in Iloilo City and grew up in the care of her grandmother in Quezon City. She is currently in her junior year as a college scholar at HAK Bludenz, Vorarlberg, taking up Accountancy. The other short-listed winners were immigrant students from Turkey, Serbia, China, India, Bangladesh, Czech Republic, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Oman, etc. In her winning piece, Ms. Gajo showed her fluency in both the German (Vorarlbegerisch Deutsch) and Filipino (Tagalog) languages. The following is an excerpt of her speech: "Als meine Mutter meinem Stiefvater geheiratet hat, dachte ich mir: Okay, das war ja ihre Entscheidung.Ich habe aber nich auch eine groβe Entscheidung treffen musste. Meine Mutter wollte nach Österreich auswandern, aber ich konnte nicht gleich mitkommen" (Translation: When my mother married my stepfather, I thought to myself: Okay, that was her decision." But I did not realize then that I, too. must make a big decision. My mother wanted to migrate to 3 / 5

4 Austria, but I could not come along with her.) "Und ich stellte mir dann die Frage: Soll ich jetzt meine Oma, die auf mich aufgepasst hat, als ich noch klein war, meine Cousinen, die wie Geshwister für mich sind und meine Freunde, die mich immer zum Lachen bringen, verlassen?" (Translation: And then I asked myself a question: "Should I now leave my grandmother who have watched over me ever since I was small; my cousins who have been like siblings to me and my friends who have always brought joy in my life?") "Dahil ito ang aking naging desisyon, kailangan kong tanggapin ang kinalalabasan. Ayaw kong sayangin ang oras at lakas sa pag-isip ng mga bagay na sana nangyari." 4 / 5

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