Katarzyna Kuckiewicz and Katarzyna Wołejko have won the oratorical contest

On Saturday, December 13th, the oratorical contest entitled ‘Pięknie opowiedzieć Ojczyznę’ (‘Telling beautifully about our homeland’) was held at the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences (LEU) in Vilnius for the third time. Ten enthusiasts of the rhetorical art took part in this competition.

To compete in the preliminary phase, which was performed in two age categories, the candidates must have been at least 16 years old.

In the elder category (participants over 25 years old), Katarzyna Kuckiewicz occurred to be the victorious one. She recounted a story about the dwellers of Literacka street in Vilnius.

In the younger category, three winners were chosen. The first place was taken by Katarzyna Wołejko, the student of Jan Ignacy Kraszewski High School in Vilnius, who shared her reflections on the little homeland – Naujoji Vilnia (polish: Nowa Wilejka). Łukasz Czukniewicz, who attends the same school as his winning mate, got the second place and also the special prize, telling the story about the Rasos Cemetery. The third place went to Izabela Maksymowicz, the student of John Paul II High School in Vilnius, who gave a speech on the Vilnius Hospice.

The special prize was funded by Ignacy Chrzanowski, the chairman of the Energobud company.

The jury members admitted that participants of the contest prepared this year much more refined speeches than those in previous editions.

‘Assessing the participants’ presentations, we paid attention mainly to the linguistic correctness, the coherence of content, the sophistication of vocabulary, the vividness of description, the general impression and contact with audience’, said doctor Masojć, the docent of LEU and the head of LEU Polish Language, Culture Study and Didactics Centre.

The docent of LEU, doctor Barbara Dwilewicz, emphasized that personal digressions, connected with the particular place, are also the vital part of speech. Such reflections prove a participant’s fascination with the little homeland and also enhance the vividness of description. These important details made the winners’ speeches very distinctive.

The contest was held with the financial support of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.