Beginners on 10/16

Yesterday we had 4 students, and mainly practiced numbers from 100 to 10000 and asking the name and the price of things.

What we did in yesterday's class are:

(1) I explained why we use "は” not "わ" for a topic marker when we write. (This was an answer to Kyle's question.)

(2) We practiced pronunciation of numbers from 100-10000.

(3) We did exercises I-A. B. and C. on pp. 40-42 of the textbook.

(4) Instead of the exercise II-A on pp.42-43, we did a similar exercise using real items the students and I happened to have on hand, and this way we learned a lot of new words such as "けしゴム" (eraser) , "みず" (water), "ふでばこ"（pencase), "ビザカード"(visa card), "さいふ"(wallet), and "でんわ"(phone).

(5) Instead of the exercise II-B on p. 43, we did a similar exercise using real items in the room, and we learned a lot of new words such as "テレビ"(TV), "DVD（ディーブイディー）プレーヤー"(DVD player), "まど"(window), "ドア"(door), "いす"(chair), "ごみばこ"(rubbish bin), "ポスター"(poster), and so on.

Homework
(1) Continue to learn new vocabulary in Chapter 2 (textbook pp. 32-33). If you can, try to learn the words on p. 49 and p. 53 as well.

(2) Review what we did in the class, especially the numbers 100-10000. You can do that perhaps by making it a habit for a while to translate in your head from English into Japanese whenever you see some numbers in your daily life.

(3) Continue to learn hiraganas and katakanas. If you need a help, please contact me and we can perhaps arrange meeting a bit earlier before the class to practice hiragana and katakana together.

(4) Listen to the recording (of my model reading and your own speech), and practice hearing and speaking as many times as you can.

That's it for today. See you next week! (またらいしゅう！）

Beginners on 10/9

Sorry for a bit belated update. We had 5 students yesterday, and spent most of the class on reviewing Chapter 1.

What we did yesterday are:
(1) Each student made a copy on their USB memory of the data of the students' self-introduction (recorded on 10/2 class) and my model reading of self-introduction as well as the dialogues of Chapte 1 and 2.

I hope all the students who got this recording will make the most of it and practice your own reading and speech in Japanese as many times as possible!!

(2) Chapter 1 Review Test (Words, expressions and sentences of Chapter 1)
The test was composed of three sections: I - translate from Japanese words (written in hiragana) into English words, II - translate English words (including one sentence) into Japanese, III - Listening comprehension (dictate the words or sentences in Japanese and translate them into English).

*For section II and III, students wrote their answers on a whiteboard and I (teacher) made some corrections on their hiragana writing (shape, stroke order, missed letters etc.) when necessary. To let students write on a board was Zoran's idea - it was an excellent idea. Thanks, Zoran!

*My observation*
*It seems that many students find hearing and identifying the following difficult:
- double consonants (seen in expressions such as "いっさい" [1さい=one year old] or "いってきます" [Ittekimasu])
　　×　いさい　○　いっさい　　　×　いてきます　○　いってきます
- contracted sounds (seen in words such as "にじゅう”, "ちゅうごくじん", and "りゅうがくせい")
　　×　にじう　○　にじゅう　　　×　ちういごくじん　○　ちゅうごくじん
- long vowels (seen in words such as "こうこう", "おとうさん", "がくせい" and "せんせい")
×　ここ 　×　こおこお　○　こうこう　　　×　おとさん　　×　おとおさん　○　おとうさん
×　がくせえ　○　がくせい　　　×　せんせえ　○　せんせい　
　 (*For this particular rule of long vowels, I think the quickest way is to memorize words which contains the combinations such as "せい” and "こうこう" as they are. It is important to make sure that you can spell them correctly in hiraganas when you memorize this kind of words.)

- nasal sound "ん" (seen in words such as "せんもん"）
　　×　せもん　○　せんもん　

(3) Introduction to Chapter 2 - "こそあど" words
How to use words like これ、それ、あれ、どれ
We did some exercise using these words, expressions such as:

　これはわたしのかさです。
　 それはわたしのさいふです。
　 あれはわたしのかばんです。
　
　 あれはいくらですか。
　 どれですか。


Homework
(1) Review of Words of Chapter 1 (based on your own reflection of the word test we had ;-)
(2) Continue learning and brushing up your skills of hiraganas
(3) Start learning katakanas on your own pace (aiming to use them smoothly by the end of October)
(4) Start learning vocabulary of Chapter 2 You need to do this on a daily basis, as it is not very realistic to memorize all the words in one night!!
(5) Review numbers from 0-99, as a preparation for the next class. We are going to learn from 100-10000.
* To learn numbers, you may probably find this site very useful: Learning Supplements (numbers, time, money expressions etc.)

That's it for today. See you next week!!

Notice for Beginners class

I recorded a model reading of self-introduction of each student and the dialogues of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
So everyone, please bring your USB memory stick to the next class. I think we can transfer the files quite quickly on the spot at ACC.

beginners on 10/2

Today we had 5 students. Two students were absent due to sickness. Maybe this is related to a seasonal change... everyone please take care. And I hope that both Aim and Kyle will get well soon.

Today's Lesson

(1) We finished Chapter 1 today.

(2) Self-introduction presentation
Each person gave a self-introduction in Japanese, with information such as their name, school, school year, age, major, hobby, etc.

(3) Questions and Answers exercise
After each person's self-introduction, we had a Q&A time in which students asked the meaning of unknown words in Japanese, or missed words/sentences.
New expressions
*「・・・」のいみはなんですか。(What is the meaning of 「・・・」?）＊いみ(imi) = the meaning (of a word etc.)
* もういちど、おねがいします。(Once again, please.)

(4) Pair work (interview game)
Students made some pairs and ask each partner about their family member (their name, age, occupation etc.), and then gave a presentation to the class about what they learned afterwards.

My afterthoughts: After we tried this game, I realized that I hastened too much to do this exercise at that stage. I noticed that most students still need more repetitive exercises to blush up their pronunciation, speed, and smooth speech. So from the next class, I'll try to spend more time on pronunciation exercises.

(5) Dialogue of the textbook pp. 10 - 11 (Reading & Pronunciation, A role play exercise)

(6) Numbers 10-100 (textbook p.20) (Pronunciation exercise)

(7) Time (Hours and Minutes) & Age (textbook p.29) (Pronunciation exercise)

Important Notice
I recorded each student's self-introduction presentation today. If you want to listen to a recorded voice of yourself, please bring a USB memory stick to the class next time.

Additional lesson
(This is to answer Kyle's question he asked last week.)
Types of special sound/pronunciation in Japanese
(1) 促音（そくおん）= a double [long] consonant (ex) いってきます
(2) 長音（ちょうおん）= a long vowel (ex) おはよう
(3) 鼻音（びおん）= a nasal sound (ex) こんにちは
(4) 拗音（ようおん）=a contracted sound (ex) じゃあ、またね。　(ex2) きゃ、きゅ、きょ、しゃ、しゅ、しょ、・・・　all of them are called 「ようおん」。

＊As for a "long vowel", there are 7 kinds:
a+a 　(ex) おかあさん
i+i 　(ex) おにいさん
u+u (ex) くうき
e+e　(ex) おねえさん
o+o (ex) おおきい
o+u (→oo) (ex) おはよう (ohayoo)
e+i (→ee) (ex) せんせい (sensee)

Homework
(1) Review of the Chapter 1
(2) Learn all the vocabulary of Chapter 1 (on pp. 12-13) * I'll give you a word quiz in the next class. Try to write them in hiragana if you can.
(3) Read the textbook pp.34-38 (Chapter 2 Grammar Explanation)
(4) Start learning the vocabulary in chapter 2 (pp.32-33)

* You cannot memorize all the vocabulary in one night, so I advise you to write/read/memorize words little by little, desirably spending 10-20 minutes every day.

That's all for today --- see you next week!

Beginners on 9/25

きょうのあめはほんとにすごかったね！！（Today's rain was really horrific, wasn't it!?)
But in spite of such a heavy rain and thunderstorm, as many as 6 students made it for today's class, so I was really surprised and proud of both my students and my class (^_^).


Today we did:

(1) Review of the use of "の”
ex) a. メアリーさんのでんわばんごう (Mary's phone number)
b. たけしさんは　とうざいだいがくの　がくせいです。（Takeshi-san wa Tozai daigaku no gakusei desu.) =Takeshi is a student of Tozai University.
c. わたしのせんもんは　れきしです。(Watashi no senmon wa rekishi desu.) = My major is history.

(2) Textbook's Exercises p.23 IV, pp.23-24 V

(3) メアリーさんはなにじんですか。(Mary san wa nanijin desuka.) = What is Mary's nationality?

(4) たけしさんはなんねんせいですか。(Takeshi san wa nan-nensei desuka.)=What year in school is Takeshi in?

(5) キムさんはなんさいですか。(Kim san wa nansai desuka.) = How old is Kim?

(6) ロバートさんはなにだいがくのがくせいですか。(Robert san wa nani daigaku no gakusei desuka.) = What university is Robert going to?

(7) やましたせんせいのせんもんはなんですか。

(8)「なん」vs.「なに」
　「なん」= when it is used independently, without any other word following ex. )「なん ですか」
「なん」= when it is used to ask a number ex.)「なんさいですか」「なんじですか」「なんねんせいですか」
　「なに」= when it is used to ask a type or a kind of something ex.) 「なにじんですか」「なにだいがくのがくせいですか」

(9) Difficult カタカナ(katakanas) 　「ナ」&「メ」　「ソ」&「ン」&「リ」　「シ」&「ツ」

(10) Pronunciation of a small 「つ」 ex.「いってきます」 You need to differentiate between 「いって」and 「いて」.
「いって」is 3 syllables, whereas 「いて」is 2 syllables.


Homework
(1) Write down your own self introduction using the example on p.27 VII-B. exercise as a model.
In next class, I would like you to introduce yourself in Japanese to the class. If possible, try to memorize what you have written.

(2) Review what we did today.

(3) Continue to learn Hiraganas.

(4) Continue to learn new vocabulary, using textbook's pp. 12-13.

OK --- That's all for today. See you next week!

Beginners on 9/18

Today we had 6 students - 1 newcomer, and 5 same students (yeah!).

What we did today are:

(1) わたしはみちこです。(Watashi wa Michiko desu.) = I am Michiko.
ゲイブ（げいぶ）はがくせいです。（Geibu[=Gabe] wa gakusei desu.) = Gabe is a student.

＊は（wa)=topic marker です(desu)=be verb (i.e. am, is, are)
　＊「は」is normally pronounced "ha", but when it is used as a topic marker, it is pronounced "wa" (this is an exceptional use.)

(2) ゲイブはがくせいですか。（Geibu [=Gabe] wa gakusei desuka.) = Is Gabe a student?
　
　＊To make a question sentence, you just need to add "か” at the end of the sentence.

(3) いま、７じ（しちじ）です。(Ima, shichi ji desu.) = It's 7 o'clock now.

(4) いま、なんじですか。（Ima, nanji desuka.) = What time is it now?

(5) カイル（かいる）のでんわばんごう　（Kairu[=Kyle] no denwa bangoo) = Kyle's telephone number

＊「の」＝'s (*「の」is quite versatile and there are other uses as well, but for today's lesson, just get used to the use of 「の」as "...'s". We shall learn other uses later on, little by little.)

(6) カイルのでんわばんごうはなんですか。(Kairu no denwa bangoo wa nandesuka.) = What is Kyle's phone number?

(7) Numbers 0-12 (pronunciation)


Homework
(1) Review what we did in the class today.
Read the textbook pp.14-19, and do the exercises on pp. 20-22 again by yourself.

(2) Memorize the pronunciation of numbers 0-20.
If you find it too much to remember all the different versions for 4, 7, 8, 9, you can choose the one you like and remember just that one for the moment.

(3) Memorize how to say time from 0 o'clock to 12 o'clock, and if you can, the expression「～じはんです」(ex. 「いちじはんです」=It's 1:30.) as well.

(4) Continue to learn Hiragana little by little.

(5) Continue to learn new words in Lesson 1 (textbook pp. 12-13) little by little.

All right.... that's it for today. See you next week!!

Beginners class on 9/11

In our second Beginners class, we had 5 students. 2 students are total beginners, and other 3 are more or less at the same level. Only one student was the old face (=who came to the last class too). ... this is a bit sad. But anyway, it was good that we had a lot of newcomers on the second class, and we had a fun class. I hope many of them will stay as a regular students...

In this class, we learned all the hiraganas, and numbers from 0-12, and some greeting expressions such as "Ja mata"（＝じゃあ、また！）, "Konnichiwa"（＝こんにちわ）, "Sayoonara" （さようなら）, and "Arigatoo gozaimashita"（＝ありがとうございました）.

We mainly learned how to write hiraganas, and how to pronounce each sound, with a special attention to some difficult pronunciation such as "ら　り　る　れ　ろ".

Homework for the next class
- Study Hiraganas little by little, with your own pace. But it would be best if you could master them (=can read and write them smoothly) before we finish the textbook's chapter 1 and 2, which will by, say, the end of October.

- Try to memorize the numbers 0-20.

- Obtain the textbook and start learning vocabulary little by little on your own.

- Read the "Gammatical Explanation" section in Chapter 1 before the next class.


***Important Note***
When you cannot make it for the class for some reason, please let me know as soon as you can, so that I can organize my class accordingly. Thank you.

Beginners class on 9/4

In our very first class, we had 6 students. 1 person was a total beginner, and 1 person was actually in an intermediate level, and other 4 are more or less at the same beginner level.

We did self introduction both in English and in Japanese (though there were only 2 students who tried in Japanese), and then we learned and practiced the following sentence patterns:

1) [Noun1] wa [Noun2] desu. (ex. Watashi wa Nihonjin desu. = I am Japanese.)
〔Noun1〕は〔Noun2〕です。（わたしはにほんじんです。）

2) [Noun1] wa [Noun2] desuka. (ex. Anata wa Amerika jin desuka. = Are you American?)
〔Noun1〕は〔Noun2〕ですか。（あなたはアメリカじんですか。）

3) [Noun1] wa [Noun2] ja arimasen. (ex. Watashi wa Amerika jin ja arimasen. = I am not American.)
〔Noun1〕は〔Noun2〕じゃありません。（わたしはアメリカじんじゃありません。）