Mrs. Madsen & Mrs. Okamura

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VIEW: Home \| Instructors \| Welcome to Japan \| Want to take Japanese? Read This!! (FAQs) \| We're in the Paper! \| AP Japanese NEW!! \| Students Comments \| Japanese 1 \| Japanese 2 \| Japanese 3 \| Handouts \| Useful Links \| Class Anime

Visit the TeacherWeb® videos to learn about the features, modifications, and customizations available on your website. Click here to learn more. Want to take Japanese? Read This!! (FAQs) <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3><STRONG>F.A.Q</STRONG> </FONT></DIV> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3><STRONG>1. Why even take ‘foreign language’?</STRONG> </FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 40px"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>The more languages you speak, the more adaptable you become in this world society. Try to become trilingual or more! I am used to teaching at a college level, and I have found that high school students acquire a natural fluency much quicker & easier. </FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3><STRONG>2. So what’s so cool about taking Japanese? </STRONG> <IMG style="WIDTH: 68px; HEIGHT: 57px" height=57 src="http://teacherweb.com/CA/MissionSanJoseHighSchool/Japanese/hsakurarabbit8.gif" width=68 border=0></FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 40px"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>What do people normally say, when they hear of students taking Japanese? . . . “That’s so cool!” Because they know that the Japanese culture is so very cool & special. I believe University Administrators feel the same way – because generally these language students are very smart. </FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0px"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3><STRONG>3. Why is it fun to take Japanese at MSJH? </STRONG></FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 40px"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>Because the MSJ Japanese classes are well known for having lots of fun, quarterly activities – while learning the Japanese language and basic characters. </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3><STRONG>4. What kinds of activities are there? </STRONG></FONT> <IMG style="FONT-SIZE: 3px; WIDTH: 212px; COLOR: #990099; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; HEIGHT: 77px" height=77 src="http://teacherweb.com/CA/MissionSanJoseHighSchool/Japanese/icon_undoukairabittsports12.gif" width=212 border=0 size="3" face="Arial"></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>1st quarter – Japanese Field Day Competitions (Undoukai): Each class competes with lots of fun, traditional Japanese games such as Balloon Crushing, the Donut Eating Event, and the Ball Throwing Event. </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>2nd quarter – The Japanese Food Festival: Students make Japanese foods and sell them to other students, practicing their speaking of daily buying & selling. </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>4th quarter – Karaoke Festival: Student groups perform live their own favorite Japanese music video. They sing the Japanese song, & dance while wearing cool costumes and things. </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT><FONT color=#990099> </FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>Please see the class website for more about other fun class activities<STRONG>.</STRONG></FONT> </P> <STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> <DIV><BR> 5. Why there are there so many activities?</FONT></STRONG><FONT color=#000000> </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></DIV> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>In Japanese schools, these activities are student organized, and student led. They therefore seems to enjoy the quarterly activities much more. </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>In Japan, the whole class is considered a family; therefore, they are more compelled to assist each other. This is very much unlike the individualistic attitude prevalent in modern American culture. Through the various activities, the students have a chance to develop leadership skills, and establish cooperative relationships with one another. This becomes more pronounced in the higher levels (Years 3 & 4) of the program. </FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0px 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"> <DIV> </DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman" align=left><STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3><IMG style="WIDTH: 32px; HEIGHT: 88px" height=88 src="http://teacherweb.com/CA/MissionSanJoseHighSchool/Japanese/fuurin.gif" width=32 border=0>6. How do these activities help with learning the language?</FONT></STRONG> </P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>Every year, as students develop more confidence about him/herself, their study skills dramatically improve. Also, because the class atmosphere changes after each activity – the students grow to feel more supportive and helpful towards each other. The whole class atmosphere becomes warm and encouraging; which assists with learning of any subject matter! </FONT> <DIV> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT> <DIV> </DIV> </DIV> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>7. Is the Japanese language difficult? <IMG src="http://teacherweb.com/CA/MissionSanJoseHighSchool/Japanese/hgirlreading.gif" border=0></FONT></STRONG></P> <P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>No. Most students say that it is easier than expected. Once you learn the Japanese ABC’s, you can write <EM>any</EM> sentence. 95% of the students learn the phonetic letters in the first 3 weeks. I heard that grammar is simpler than Spanish language. Japanese has only three tenses. Homework-wise, if students do 15 or 30 minutes of assignments & study every day, they will get an A (or B). Generally, at least half the class gets A’s! </FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in"><STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3></FONT></STRONG></P> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0px"><STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3><BR> 8. When applying to universities, will you have the opportunity to demonstrate your foreign language skills?</FONT></STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></DIV> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> <DIV align=center> </DIV> </FONT> <P> </P> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <P><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>Of course; note both the CSU & UC applications ask how many, and which languages you can speak. In addition, you can demonstrate your consistent, long-term efforts towards Japanese during college entrance essays. </FONT></P> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"></P> <P><STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>9. Are there any native Japanese speakers in class?</FONT></STRONG> <IMG src="http://teacherweb.com/CA/MissionSanJoseHighSchool/Japanese/hkappa.gif" border=0></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>Not a lot; we found only about 5% students speak Japanese at home. </FONT></P> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <P><STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>10. What was the result of the 2007 AP Japanese Test?</FONT></STRONG> </P> <P><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3> </FONT></P> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face=Arial color=#990099 size=3>Every student who took the test passed. About 1/3 of the students got the AP score 5. All the students were non-native Japanese! The students were able to understand manga & anime!! Many students entered the program with these goals in mind. They also understood the natural setting of Japanese conversation, and have a deeper understanding of the culture. They also be able to carry on typical daily conversations with native speakers.<BR> . <DIV align=center><IMG style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 50px" height=50 src="http://teacherweb.com/CA/MissionSanJoseHighSchool/Japanese/animame2[1].gif" width=120 border=0></DIV> </FONT></DIV> Or, would you like to view and optionally restore one of these previous versions? Password: Forgot your password?

Mrs. Madsen & Mrs. Okamura

Want to take Japanese? Read This!! (FAQs)

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