Pinay in Austria wins multilingual speech tilt
02/27/2012
Xynthia Gajo was one of the 15 winners of the "SAG'S MULTI!"(Multilingual rhetoric competition), who were honored at the Vienna City Hall last February 23. She was one of 3 winners in the speech competition Category 3.
In her winning speech, Gajo talked about her journey from the Philippines to Austria. She shed some tears, as she related how hard it was to survive 4 years without her mother.
After 4 years, Gajo had to decide if she would join her in Austria or stay with her "lola" in the Philippines. She chose to go to Austria, not knowing the difficulties she would face.
The young lass said it was challenging to deal with a new culture and language but with her mother's support, she overcame these adversities.
Integration State Secretary Sebastian Kurz said young people like Gajo, who come from different backgrounds, make Austrian society more colorful.
"In the area of integration, there are some challenges and problems in recent years but we have lost some sight of how much potential lies here in Austria. We have a lot of young people who speak two or more languages fluently. This is an incredible opportunity for all the people who are multilingual. This is above all a tremendous potential for Austria,” Kurz said.
"Such program of the government and the private sector is really a big help for the youths who grow up multilingual due to their migration. For us Filipinos, we are very much aware of this necessity to integrate.
And we are very proud that one Pinoy has shown this to the general public, as she won this rhetoric competition," Volet SB Gerstl told ABS-CBN News.
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| Xynthia Gajo, a Filipina student, is seen here with Philippine Ambassador Lourdes Yparraguirre and Austrian Integration Minister, Hon. Sebastian Kurz. |
"Well deserved, and an honor again for the country. It makes me feel very proud that Filipinos are really excellent in every aspect. Xynthia Gajo has shown this to our Austrian friends,” Philippine Ambassador to Austria Lourdes Yparraguirre said.
Georg Kraft-Kinz and Ali Rahimi, heads of the Association for Economic Integration in Austria who organized the competition, were impressed by the winning performances.
"Our main objective of putting such a competition is primarily to harness the linguistic potentials of our youths.
We want to develop their skills and linguistic diversity. Our speech competition shows that multilingualism is a big win for us all," they said.
For her part, Gajo said she is very happy to have won the competition.
“I never expected to win this competition inspite of the great number of participants all over Austria. It is also a great chance to show to our Austrian friends that we have a very beautiful language, which is Tagalog.
Having given this award shows that they recognize, not only the message of my speech but also the loveliness and beauty of the Tagalog language,” Gajo told ABS-CBN News.
The multilingual competition was first held in 2009. About 300 students, who migrated to Austria, mixed ther first language and German. Report from Hector Pascua, ABS-CBN European News Bureau
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