STAGE 2 JAPANESE

On 11 May, as part of our studies in Stage 2 Japanese, Isobel, Kelly and I accompanied our teachers Mino-sensei and Lonergan-sensei on a trip to a playgroup especially for Japanese children from babies to three-year-olds to practise our language skills, and to engage in some traditional activities. 

Firstly, we made some colourful origami koi fish. The parents we sat with were very friendly, and their kids were really sweet!  Isobel definitely enjoyed practising her language skills with the children’s parents the most. We were taught how to make the fish and then helped teach the little ones how to make them, and it was fun to play with them afterwards. Kelly even held a cute baby! While she enjoyed speaking in Japanese along with Isobel, she definitely liked hanging out with the little children the most.

We then went outside to skip with skipping ropes, and the children played on some equipment while we prepared for the next activity—reading story books! Each of us had chosen a Japanese picture book to read aloud to the children, and it went down really well! Since my story involved looking for a fish hidden in the illustrations, the children would come up and excitedly point out the answer. It was really sweet, and definitely my favourite part. At the end, we sang some fun songs, but soon enough it was time to go. We left with some great experience and big smiles on our faces as the children waved us goodbye.