{"id":6466,"date":"2018-11-13T17:04:01","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T17:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.utalk.com\/news\/?p=6466"},"modified":"2020-03-04T11:09:09","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T11:09:09","slug":"heres-why-we-enjoy-running-the-utalk-challenge-see-what-some-our-finalists-said-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/heres-why-we-enjoy-running-the-utalk-challenge-see-what-some-our-finalists-said-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s why we enjoy running the uTalk Challenge, see what some our finalists said this year."},"content":{"rendered":"

Niharika Nudurumati\u2019s mum says her daughter put in extra hours of practice \u2013 when she was asleep!<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when she is asleep, she sleep talks in the new language she just learnt and I would be searching upon google translate to know what she is saying,\u201d says mum Vindhya Kothuri from Linton, Cambridge.<\/p>\n

Niharika, we\u2019re so proud of you!\u00a0\"IMG_7091\"<\/em><\/p>\n

While our second prize-winner Riya Sangampalayam had to fight off stiff competition from her mum as well as the other finalists.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur whole family has embraced the learning challenge, so much so that at some points in the journey, Riya\u2019s mother was ahead of Riya at understanding and remembering the language,\u201d says Riya\u2019s dad of Kirthi of Redhill.<\/p>\n

Very well done Riya\u2019s mum!\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Adam Neal\u2019s Dad says that the competition brought joy to a family member\u2019s last days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would particularly like to thank JLC for letting me use my phone to stream Adam\u2019s semi-final for his terminally-ill Grandad to watch from his bed in his nursing home. Unfortunately, Grandad passed away on 19th<\/sup>October but I know that Adam\u2019s performance was one of the last things that gave him real pleasure during his final days. I will treasure that forever,\u201d says Dad Barry Neal of Ramsbottom, Lancashire.<\/p>\n

Thank you so much for sharing this special memory with us.<\/em><\/p>\n

For Amber Fullarton-Turner, this year\u2019s Challenge was her third competition and second time at the final \u2013 all this for a girl who \u2018felt she couldn\u2019t achieve many things\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking it to the final twice now has proven to her that she can achieve anything she puts her mind to,\u201d says her Dad Alan Turner of Kimpton, Hertfordshire.<\/p>\n

Amber \u2013 children like you are one of the reasons we started the competition.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"IMG_6749\"<\/p>\n

Charlotte Holmes of Bramhall, Stockport has \u2018loved JLC\u00a0since watching her elder brother take part\u2019 and studying for it gets a big thumbs up from her mum.<\/p>\n

\u201cMassively beneficial – the most constructive form of iPad time!!! Has really help Charlotte with languages in general, not just the ones she has learnt via JLC!\u201d says Mum Michelle Holmes.<\/p>\n

We are so with you Michelle.\u00a0 Seeing children learn on their devices makes us happy too! <\/em><\/p>\n

Finalist Eddie Hughes of Tattenhoe, Milton Keynes was egged along by his brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cEddie\u2019s older brother got very involved encouraging him during the summer, he thought the whole concept was fabulous and was a bit disappointed that there was no Challenge for 14 year olds,\u201d says relative Elia Hughes.<\/p>\n

Eddie, please tell your brother thanks from us and we\u2019ll consider doing a competition for older children in the future!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"IMG_6948\"<\/p>\n

Mum and Modern Foreign Language teacher, Rachel Heer, says the competition has given her son Joshua more confidence in his abilities – and has made them both laugh!<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had a laugh trying to find ways of remembering words!\u00a0 For example, when remembering the word for \u2018hand\u2019 in Rwandan, he thinks of \u2018itchy guns\u2019 in his hand as that\u2019s what it sounds like!\u201d says Mrs Heer of Wynyard Woods.<\/p>\n

A great learning strategy Joshua, thanks for sharing it!<\/em><\/p>\n

Katy Ren of Scarborough overcame her nerves to make it to the London final says her mum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe night before going to Leeds to take the semi-final she was very stressful and told me she will not go to London.\u00a0 I laughed and said \u2018Darling, there is no-one asks you to go to London, how do you know you will win the semi-final?\u201d And the first time I met her after she won the semi-final, I said with a smile, \u2018Well done Katy, but we will not go to London as you wished\u2019.\u00a0 She was very excited and said \u2018No, I will and I must go to London!\u2019,\u201d says Katy\u2019s mum.<\/p>\n

Katy, you are capable of so much more than you ever believed!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

Shenul Widanapathirana of Lower Earley, Reading was proud and surprised to get to the finals says his mum Binali.<\/p>\n

\u201cShenul says it is a surprise to be in the JLC finals because he thinks he has a terrible memory.\u201d says his mum Binali of Reading who added two smileys to her note. JJ<\/p>\n

Shenul, you have made your mum and us both smile and your memory is clearly better than you think! <\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks again to everyone who shared their stories with us and apologies we couldn\u2019t include them all.\u00a0 Hearing about how the competition has benefitted you gives the uTalk Team a lot of joy.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7299\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Niharika Nudurumati\u2019s mum says her daughter put in extra hours of practice \u2013 when she was asleep! \u201cSometimes when she is asleep, she sleep talks in the new language she just learnt and I would be searching upon google translate to know what she is saying,\u201d says mum Vindhya Kothuri from Linton, Cambridge. Niharika, we\u2019re … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1056],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6466"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6466\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}