Japanese 

Konnichi wa!

こんにちは

2024 marks a very special time in the history books of Oatlands Primary School as the first Grade 6 cohort to have completed Japanese since they started in Prep will graduate!

This week we hear from two Grade 6 students who have been learning Japanese with me since they started at Oatlands in Prep.

Larisa M (6NH)

This year the Grade 6’s have learnt different types of food, the days of the week, how to use counters and how to order food in Japanese class. Every Thursday I always looked forward to learning Japanese in the morning. The school allows us to learn a new language while having fun. I have learnt a lot of things in the past few years in Japanese class like how to speak and write Japanese. One year I remember doing Taiko drumming, it was an interesting new experience for a lot of people. In Japanese we also learn Hiragana. Hiragana is one of the things used to form words. There is also Katakana and Kanji but they are more advanced forms of the Japanese alphabet so we haven’t learnt them as much.

Hayden J (6NH)

Japanese started in 2018, when the grade 6’s were little preppy’s, so it was very lucky and special for us to be the first ones to learn Japanese. Learning Japanese is a whole new world of joyful language and I’m sure everyone who is in Japanese classes can understand and agree. Friends and classmates in Japanese always enjoy learning new things since Japanese is a simple but a little difficult language to learn about. Sometimes we get hard tasks but it’s good because we learn and get to challenge ourselves and our skills. We are very happy to learn Japanese and we feel lucky to be in this class that opens up more of the languages people speak.

Conclusion

Overall, learning Japanese is a joy to do at school and we do all different kinds of stuff, for example, special events, games, cooking, art and partner work. Japanese not only teaches you a language but also improves your social skills, creativity, your impression towards culture and it improves your memory. We hope you choose Japanese for your language and enjoy the time you have in your language class.

By Larisa M & Hayden J (6NH)

It has been amazing to witness the courage, resilience and confidence grow in each of the Grade 6 students as they have tackled learning an additional language in the Japanese classroom each week over the last 7 years of their primary schooling. I’m a very proud Sensei (teacher) who wishes each and every one of them success in their future education, particularly hoping that they have developed a sense of love for the learning of different languages and cultures. 

Brown Sensei

Until next year! 

Sayounara

さようなら