'HOW TO USE THIS WEBSITE EFFECTIVELY' Short Instructional Video

song of the month. music from okinawa, shima uta (island song) by the boom (click 4 arrows for full screen)

Year 3 Test Dates

Year 3 will be having their speaking test on Wednesday the 12 th of May and their Hiragana test on Tuesday the 18th of May. Students should already have all of their preparation materials and support materials can be accessed on this website under Year 3 materials.

YEAR 2 TEST DATES

Year 2s will have their speaking tests and Hiragana tests soon. Students will be doing their speaking with me as their partner and will do a multiple choice Hiragana Test to try and recognise the different Hiragana. Preparation materials can be found in the links under 'Year 2' and in my blog posting under 'Year 2 Speaking'.

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

YEAR 4 ANSWERS FOR SPEAKING TEST. LISTEN AS THE ROBOT SAYS THE ANSWER NUMBER THEN THE ANSWER.

Get a Voki now!

Year 6 Speech Due 17-21 May. Listen to the student asking the teacher questions. Press the play button

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Learn Japanese Counters for People: 10 Little Samurai!

10 SAMURAI SONG FOR YEAR 3

NEW SONG FOR YEAR THREE. COUNTING PEOPLE- 10 SAMURAI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqxyFULA5iM

YEAR 6 EXTENSION- KATAKANA

FOR THOSE OF YOU IN YEAR 6 WHO WANT TO TRY EXTENSION, WE ARE LEARNING THE SCRIPT KATAKANA AT THE MOMENT. THERE IS A LINK TO A PRINTABLE KATAKANA CHART FOR THOSE DARING ENOUGH TO TRY AND LEARN!!!!!! CLICK ON  ' YEAR 6 EXTENSION KATAKANA '  ON THE LINKS ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF THE PAGE

YEAR 2 TERM2 SPEAKING PRACTICE : PERSON 1 (BOY) AND PERSON 2 (GIRL)

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Get a Voki now!




LISTEN TO THE PERSON SPEAKING TO HELP YOUR PRONUCIATION FOR YOUR TEST.

YEAR 3 SPEAKING ASSESSMENT

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LISTEN TO THE CHARACTER ASKING THE QUESTIONS AND THEN PRACTISE THEM YOURSELF.
"Konnichi wa. Ogenki desu ka. Nan nin Kazoku desu ka. Oniisan ga imasu ka. Oneesan ga imasu ka. Inu ga imasu ka. Arigatou gozaimasu."
"Hello. How are you? How many do you have in your family? Do you have a big brother? Do you have a big sister? Do you have a dog? Thank you ."

YEAR 3 TERM 2 OVERVIEW

In Year 3 we are continuing to study the Japanese alphabet, Hiragana. Hiragana will be tested from 'A' up to 'NO' (see hiragana chart). Children will be tested on their recognition of the alphabet. I show them the pictograms of the alphabet and then they tell me what they are. Links to the Hiragana for Year 3 are on the right-hand side in the 'Useful Links' section. In Year 3, we are also learning about family members and saying family members' ages and talking about their favourite colours.

YEAR 2 TERM 2 OVERVIEW

We are working hard on the Japanese alphabet (Hiragana) and the kids have to know how to read A I U E O , KA KI KU KE KO, SA SHI SU SE SO, TA CHI TSU TE TO. You can find these under useful links in the Year 2 Hiragana link. We are also learning to tell the time and there is a great game under the links called Year 2 Telling the Time Game. We have also been talking about things we eat with the verb 'tabemasu' and how we say 'itadakimasu' before we eat something.

YEAR 1 TERM 2 OVERVIEW

Year 1 is continuing on with Japanese money and shopping. We are learning to order things at a shop and ask for big or little items. There are some links on the right hand side to help with learning. Please try them. The kids are also studying 'Hiragana' the Japanese script so please let them practice the hiragana in the links.

PREP TERM 2 OVERVIEW

In Prep this term they are learning colours, how to ask someone their name and how to say their name. They will be tested on their use of Greetings and Counting.
There are links on the right specific to Prep learning under 'Prep' heading

IF YOU ARE IN YEARS 4-6 AND YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE LOGGING INTO 'WORD CHAMP' FOR THE FIRST TIME, MAKE SURE YOU GO TO THE 'JOIN NOW' PART FIRST. THEN IT WILL ASK YOU 'ARE YOU 13 YEARS OR OLDER?' TICK 'NO' - PUT IN YOUR USER NAME AS YOUR 'NICKNAME' AND YOUR 'PASSWORD' FOR PASSWORD. AFTER THAT, PUT IN YOUR CLASS ID NUMBER THAT I HAVE GIVEN TO YOU ALL. AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND THEN 'SIGN UP'.

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE, MR Mackenzie-Smith :)

Learn Japanese: Stand Up, Sit Down Genki Japan Disco Warm Up

Sora mo Toberu Hazu: Song of the Month by Spitz

TESTS - YEAR 2,TERM 2, 2010

Hiragana tests are coming up in Week 3 of term 2. Your kids should have their test preparation sheets with them (well, they have been handed out). If they don't have them, do not fear. You can just click on the link on the left-hand side of the WEBPAGE entitled "TEST PREPARATION-YEAR 2 TERM 2 HIRAGANA" and practise the flashcards A I U E O , KA KI KU KE KO, SA SHI SU SE SO and TA CHI TSU TE TO.

For variety, you can either click on 'FLASHCARDS', 'MATCHING' or 'CONCENTRATION'

Second Language Learning

Why Learn a Second Language?

Learning a foreign language increases cognitive development.


“Cognitive” refers to the mental ability necessary to carry out any given task. If it’s not used, cognitive ability can decrease, but when it is used, cognitive ability increases. Learning a foreign language increases a student’s skills in creativity, memory, reading development, attention control and problem solving.