Japanese

Welcome to Week 5 Japanese!

Senior students have been learning about Japanese food. They have been well-engaged in class and some positive comments such as “I know this food!” and “It looks nice! You are making me hungry!” are heard. This unit is always popular, and it is a great way to learn not only about Japanese culture but also the key areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. 

Junior students have been learning about animals, focusing on popular pets in Japan. They are practicing the names of some animals such as dogs, cats, goldfish, little birds, rabbits, hamsters, hedgehog and turtles. Students are learning through variety of activities such as listening, speaking, reading, writing and ELLA (Early Learning Languages Australia) online games.

Listening and speaking

Students practice listening and speaking in many ways. For example, we sing some Japanese songs, repeat some sentences and have question and answer time in Japanese. 

Year 5 and 6 students had speaking assessment saying "I eat..." "I like..." and "Yum!" in Japanese. 

Reading 

Students practice reading Hiragana (Japanese alphabet) in various ways -using songs, flash cards, handwriting on the board and on the screen.

Writing

After students focus on topics for the lesson, they practice writing the words and sentences to reinforce their vocabulary. 

Year 2 students

Culture

Students learnt about Kodomonohi (Children’s Day).  We made Origami KABUTO  (samurai helmet) and fish to celebrate Children’s Day.

Foundation

Foundation students are settling into their learning routines very well. We start our class with a greeting as the whole class and then individually in Japanese. We always bow politely when we greet each other to show our respect. 

We sing some songs in Japanese.

We learn some words and practice speaking, such as indicating likes and dislikes. After speaking practice, they usually write the words and draw pictures to reinforce their meaning. 

In Week 3, we made pictures of sheep in green paddock.

We finish our lesson with Origami (paper folding). 

We made KABUTO (samurai helmets) to celebrate Children's Day.

ELLA Program

ELLA (Early Learning Languages Australia) is a valuable program to learn Japanese language and culture, using interactive games on iPads. Year1/ 2 students have been practicing some body parts and pets. Foundation students have been practicing how to introduce themselves, indicating likes and dislikes and body parts.

Thank you (arigato).

Ayako Mizushima (Mizu Sensei)