WHERE DO I START????? VITAL INFORMATION FOR PARENTS ABOUT JAPANESE STUDY

Generally, where we have most trouble with students, is with learning the script. Learning Japanese script is like learning the alphabet all over again for our children but 10 times harder!!! There are 3 basic scripts in Japanese- Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. I teach Hiragana first because it is the first script that Japanese children learn and virtually anything Japanese can be written in it. Katakana is used for loan words or foreign words such as most of our names or introduced words such as the German word ' Arbeit' which is pronounced 'Arubaito' in Japanese and means part-time job. My name, Charles, is written in Katakana because it is a foreign word and is pronounced 'Cha-ruzu'. Kanji is the script introduced from China and is more of a pictogram type of writing and while each character can contain many strokes ( try 18 for some) it has been incorporated into Japanese quite seamlessly but still stumps the Japanese themselves. You need to know a ridiculous amount to even read the newspaper!!! So....Hiragana is our primary alphabet and I would love the children to be as familiar with it as possible so that they can progress at a more rapid rate. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of teaching them more than about 50 minutes per week at the most so there has to be a home study elelment.
Students need that exposure to the characters that they take for granted with the English alphabet. Words and letters are all around us in English but obviously this is not the case with Japanese. So... I have spent endless hours looking for free programmes to help with the learning of Hiragana and I have a few very, very good ones to alert you to :


My favourite at the moment is at the 'iKnow' site and it takes you through the Hiragana step by step and assesses your progress. I really advise adults to sign up for this site to enjoy members benefits but it can be used without membership. It is the link entitled 'PARENTS. THIS IS THE ONE' on the right-hand side of the page in the Useful Links section.
There is of course, the WORD CHAMP (see links) homework programme which is in a TRIAL stage for this term and some Years 4-6 are already plodding away.


Then there is the HIRAGANA MASTER DRILL (See links) for more revision and consolidation.
For those of you who are new to the site, welcome and for those of you who are regulars, thanks for your support. Please leave me your feedback (down the bottom) because I need to know a parent's perspective about things. Positive feedback is always welcome.




Kind regards, Charles