Ways to improve Japanese on your own!

I hope everyone has been doing well and healthy during this difficult time and we hope that things go back to normal and be able to see our lovely folks who comes to participate in our events and Japanese courses! We also miss having face-to-face interactions on a daily basis but with technologies being implemented through Zoom and other digital learning tools for students and educators alike, we are still somewhat connected face-to-face! That is the greatest thing about technology, we are connected and reminded that we are all in this together and that is the same as language learning!

Being at home has been a challenge but a great time to reflect on strengths, ability, catch up on reading material, and focus on skills/languages more than ever before!

Some of the ways we could improve Japanese is:

-Read news articles through 優しい日本語ニュース：https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/
Once you feel like you're up for the challenge, you could switch to trying to learn from regular NHK articles.

What's important is to read articles daily and familiarize yourself with subjects. It's a great way to see cultural differences and what Japanese people value in terms of information!

-Practice writing through worksheets and apps! Worksheets from websites such as プリントキッズ: https://print-kids.net/ and apps that Japan Foundation created called Hiragana/Katakana Memory Hint: https://kansai.jpf.go.jp/en/resource/e-learning/memoryhint.html are also a great way to brush up your writing skills in Japanese!

We have more resources on our website: http://www.jflalc.org/jle-learners-resources

There are many ways to learn Japanese but we all have the same goal to understand the language and become more culturally aware. So we hope these resources will continue to help and keep practicing! Feel free to let us know of your progress by tagging us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Japan Foundation E-Learning Website: Minato

These past few weeks have been very challenging for educators and students alike with the rapid changing situation all around the world. As our daily lives have been altered to staying at home and learning/working through remote methods, we want to help by sharing JF resources that everyone can use for free!

We have an Japanese e-learning website called Minato (https://minato-jf.jp/) . You can register for free, take different courses and brush up on your Japanese skills! We hope that we are able to help students improve on their Japanese and expand their knowledge as much as possible!

There so many other resources and helpful resources on our website: https://www.jflalc.org/ so please feel free to take a look!

Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) Season!

It's quickly already the beginning of March! I hope everyone has been having a wonderful school year and in Japan, the school year ends in March and begins in April. Generally, this is the timing where cherry blossoms bloom and many Japanese people have festivities and activities to enjoy the cherry blossom season! According to Japan Guide (https://www.japan-guide.com/sakura/), cherry blossoms are going to bloom around end of March (3/22-3/30) for Tokyo. Hokkaido generally blooms later in April as it's much colder and up north. As sakura trees blossom and fall out so quickly, it's beautified in various forms of entertainment and in food. There are so many songs, even children songs about sakura trees blossoming and shedding their pedals. It's shows how beauty is ever so temporary and we continue to long for it every year. Here is the video for a traditional Japanese children's song. It's called Sakura Sakura.

A lot of Japanese songs are closely related to seasons and a great way to introduce Japanese learners to understand how all four seasons are a big part of Japanese culture.

Happy New Year!

新年あけましておめでとうございます。Happy New Year! 

I hope everyone had a nice time off to enjoy with their family and friends. New Years in Japan has many traditions that are different from traditions here in the states. New Years is longer and more of a family event in Japan. There's traditional New Years food such as おせち料理 (osechi ryori) and traditional Japanese games that family and friends play! Some games that get played are like karuta. Karuta is a card game where one reads the card and others have to grab the matching proverb/picture. There is another older form of karuta called 百人一首 (hyakunin isshu, one hundred poets, one poem each). It is a more challenging kind of card game and Japanese people grow up learning how to play. It's a great way to learn how to read Japanese and know how it sounds like.

If you'd like to read about 百人一首, click Here !

Let's have another wonderful 2020!

2019 Kanji of the Year!

I hope everyone is having a great wrap up for this year! 2019 is hastily coming to an end and before we know it, it'll be 2020 and start of a new decade! It's exciting to be in a time where technology and accessibility is readily available to study and be exposed to Japan and the Japanese language anytime and anywhere! I hope The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles continues to connect teachers and students to Japan and we hope to continue to do so for 2020.

Yesterday, there was news that mentioned the kanji 'Rei' from Reiwa, was chosen as 2019 kanji of the year! We were able to witness the change in era this year and see the excitement towards the new era. The video and more details of previous kanji of the year is listed on the link below!


https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/12/12/national/rei-reiwa-era-name-japan-kanji-year/#.XfKHLehKiM8

Thinking of a kanji for yourself to sum up your year is a fun and great activity to look back at what you accomplished for the year and see what kanji you have learned so far!

I hope everyone has a great holiday season and a great remainder of 2019 :).

Flood Recovery Manual After Typhoon Hagibis

Recently in mid-October, Kanto-area was hit with one of the most devastating typhoon since 60 years ago in the 1950s. As Japan is becoming more and more globalized, articles such as Japan Times have pointed out how there is a necessity in having a free guide in providing recommended steps for recovery. The article is posted below but we will also provide the link to the free manual below. I think these resources are great for teachers to discuss among students and to understand how these disasters are really close to us more than ever.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/10/24/national/flood-recovery-manual-typhoon-hagibis/

http://blog.canpan.info/shintsuna/img/RECOVERING_FROM_A_FLOOD_DISASTER.pdf

Hinoki Cup Roadshow!

There is a great roadshow starting from October until February of next year in Michigan that connects students with bilingual business professionals within the classroom! It's a great opportunity for students to gain knowledge of ways they could further develop/expand on their bilingual skills! further information is listed below.

Marugoto Helpful Tips!

Japan Foundation has an official textbook called Marugoto and fortunately, some of the material is able to be checked out through the website!

One of the links we will be introducing here today is being able to look at Japanese and then translate in seven different languages (English, Spanish, Indonesian, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, and French): https://words.marugotoweb.jp/top.php?lang=en

It also has a collection section, which lists dates and days of the week, as well as time and other useful information! It can be converted to PDF form and printed so it is accessible for everyone. Hopefully this information helps teachers and provide more resources to Japanese language learners!

Classroom Ideas: Change the World with Onigiri

How would you like to introduce Japanese onigiri into your classroom AND affect positive change for the world?  Table for Two is a non-profit organization that through its “Change the world with onigiri” campaign gets participants to make onigiri to fight world hunger and obesity.  Other Japanese classrooms have joined in the fight against hunger and obesity, and so can yours!  In fact, it’s very easy to participate in this campaign; simply post a picture eating onigiri on their campaign site, starting October 5.  Table for Two will then donate five school meals to who need it.

Check out this example of “onigiri action” from Blair High School in Maryland!

https://silverchips.mbhs.edu/story/13413

Related links:

Table for Two website:

http://www.tablefor2.org/home

Table for Two campaign site:

http://jp.tablefor2.org/campaign/onigiri/en/

Video on how to make onigiri, from Nami Chen’s Just One Cookbook!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCqeO9m7mbw&t=

Article on Newswire:

https://www.newswire.com/news/table-for-two-celebrates-world-food-day-2017-change-the-world-with-19973756

Recipient of the Asia Marketing 3.0 Award!

https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000102.000008886.html