Minori's report 

Below is a report from Minori, our Japanese Intern.

Japan is in summer!!

It is winter in Australia right now, but what season do you think it is in Japan? Actually, Japan is in the middle of summer! Summer in Japan is very hot. It sometimes gets close to 40 degrees Celsius. And summer in Japan is not only hot, it is also very humid! This is different from Melbourne, isn’t it?

Now, Japanese schools are on summer vacation. Most schools are on holiday for about a month from the end of July to the end of August. Do you know how Japanese children spend their time during summer vacation? For example, they go to a pool, travel with their families, and have fun playing with their friends. But not only them, many schools give children homework during summer vacation! And a lot of it! There are study worksheets for math, Japanese, and Kanji, reading, practicing musical instruments, and homework for helping out at home, among many other things. There is also homework called "free research," in which students choose a topic of their choice and research it to make a poster or a book about it. It is very interesting. Some people finish all of the homework at the beginning of the summer vacation, some do them systematically, a little bit each day, and some do them on the last day of the summer vacation, saying, "I can't finish! What am I going to do!” and cry on the last day of the summer vacation. By the way, when I was a child, I used to finish my homework in tears on the last day of summer vacation. It has become a good memory now. How do you spend your summer vacation in Australia?

In Foundation Class…

In Foundation Class, this term, students learn simple greetings, numbers from 1 to 10, as well as animal sounds in Japanese. Can you say "Good morning", "Hello", "See you", "See you later", "Thank you", “I’m sorry", and "It’s OK" in Japanese? The foundation students learn these greetings in a song at the beginning of each class, and many of them have now begun to memorize them! It is very wonderful!

Good morning … Ohayou

Hello … Kon nichiwa

See you … Sayounara

See you later … Matane

Thank you … Arigatou

I’m sorry … Gomen nasai / Sumimasen

It’s OK … Daijoubu

Also, many of them can now say the numbers 1 to 10 in Japanese. Can you say them? Actually, there is an easy way to remember. Let me introduce a few! 

1 … Ichi (like itchy!)

2 … Ni (like knee!)

3 … San (like sun!) 

Please try to remember it! I am sure that there are many people in Grade 1 through 6 who can say 1 to 10 in Japanese. Please try to show them at home!