Japanese is taught throughout the school by a Language specialist and classroom teachers.

The focus of Language (Japanese) is to develop the children’s cultural awareness through learning about Japanese festivals, customs and lifestyle. Each year the children will have opportunities of participating in girls’ and boys’ day festivals and a biannual whole school Japanese Day.

The children will do some language learning and by level four should be able to:

• Listen to stories, participate in songs, games, questions and answer exchanges
• Recognise and write numbers to 100
• Introduce themselves, greet and farewell the teacher, and express thanks and apologies
• Write simple sentences based on modelled examples
• Use a dictionary in guided situations to find the meaning of simple words and to expand their vocabulary resources.
• Recognise some culturally-specific gestures and body language and integrate them into their own oral communications
• Recognise and write a selected range of hiragana

• Participate in cultural activities.

Some Japanese apps that can be used on the ipad or pod

Some good web sites for learning Japanese

Kids Web Japan:    http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/index.html

Genki Japan:  http://www.genkienglish.net/genkijapan/menu.htm

Nihongo: http://www.yynihongo.jp/index.php?easiestml_lang=xlang%3Aen

Hiragana matching game: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/sheaa/projects/genki/hiragana-timer.html

Hiragana invaders : http://www.easyjapanese.org/invaders.html

Hiragana challenge:  http://www.studyjapanese.org/games/kanachallenge/

Kana quiz :   http://www.easyjapanese.org/kanaquiz.html

Japanese greetings:   http://www.digitaldialects.com/Japanese/Phrases.htm

Japanese colours: http://www.digitaldialects.com/Japanese/Colour.htm

Numbers 1-12: http://www.digitaldialects.com/Japanese/numbers.htm

Numbers 13-20  http://www.digitaldialects.com/Japanese/numbers_2.htm

Animals  http://www.digitaldialects.com/Japanese/Animals_simp.htm