November Newsletter for Japanese language program

日本語　Payton’s Japanese Language Program　日本語
Newsletter for November 2009

　大阪　Exchange: Osaka comes to Chicago　大阪
In November, Kimmel Sensei and the Japanese language program hosted 20 Japanese guests: 18 students, plus English teacher Akiko Maruoka Sensei and Vice Principal Ohnishi. They came to us from Payton’s sister school, Osaka City (Ichiritsu) Senior High School. They braved Chicago fall weather from Sunday, November 1st through Saturday the 7th, 2009. The Japanese students wore their very proper and distinctive blue and green school uniforms while attending our classes. Payton students practiced their Japanese every day, and our guests gave Japanese cultural presentations all day Thursday. They enjoyed teaching us about origami, calligraphy, cooking, and traditional dance.
In addition to visiting Chicago’s Hancock Tower, Millennium Park, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the University of Chicago, the Osaka and Payton students and their teachers attended a party hosted by sophomore Ray Thieling’s parents. On Friday, Osaka students also attended a presentation on foreign policy at the Japanese Consulate, followed by a group photo opportunity with Consul General Hisa-eda. Subsequently they were guests of honor at Chicago Sister Cities, with a guided tour of the Cultural Center, one of Chicago’s cultural treasures.
It was clear that our Payton students were enthusiastic hosts and that the visit of the Japanese students was of benefit to the entire school. Once again, we say a profound "arigato" to Payton’s gracious and generous host families and students.
Payton Japanese students will be looking forward to visiting their friends in Japan this coming June, when they will spend more than a week in Osaka as well as visiting Tokyo and Yokohama, chaperoned by Kimmel Sensei and Mr. Todd Leventhal.
For further information about the exchange, please consult the blog at
　　　　　　　http://paytonchicagoosakaichiritsu.blogspot.com/

Curriculum:
Japanese 1: Level 1 Kimono Text
Students have just finished learning the first phonetic system, hiragana, and can now, with the occasional help of their charts, decode anything in our textbook, level one of Kimono. As a culminating practice, students are working on transcribing the 11th century poem, the Iroha. It includes each of the hiragana just once.
We have encountered verbs used for polite commands, adjectives, nouns for classroom objects, counters for certain numbers, kanji for numbers up to 99 and for “day/sun,” “source/book,” and “tree.”

Japanese 2: Level 2 Kimono Text
In order to master the continuative/progressive tenses, students learned the 3 conjugational groups for Japanese verbs. Traditional categories are “strong,” “weak,” and “irregular.” Following the practice in most college Japanese texts, we call them Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3, respectively.
Students are also working on the differing conjugations for adjectives, い adjectives (also known as “true” adjectives, and な adjectives (really adjectival nouns).
Functional/notional topic sports terms, summer vacation activities, and Japanese gift-giving.

Japanese 3: Level 3 Kimono Text, plus kanji from level 1 Nakama Text

Job categories have occupied the minds of Japanese 3 students, along with review of the potential and introduction of the “want to do” verb conjugation. We have had to review verb conjugational groups as we prepared to re-learn the verb tense, but this time all in the non-polite/”casual” forms.
Though we will not use so-called “masculine” and “feminine” speech forms in class, we are learning to recognize them and distinguish between them. We are continuing to study and practice relational particle usage, even though the particles are often omitted in informal speech. We will still have to speak and write formally when the occasion requires the more formal style.

Japanese 4: Level 2 Nakama Text, plus reader A Homestay in Japan

We are continuing to learn more verb conjugations, including the plain (but not rude!) imperative with the –nasai ending and the long formation that indicates obligation/duty: --nakereba narimasen/ikemasen. Students have just finished reading the first 3 chapters of Nihon to no Deai (A Homestay in Japan) and are learning the multiple levels of verbs for giving and receiving. In level 2 Nakama we are working with Chapter 2 (actually the third chapter because of the opening review section), whose topic is travel.
Japanese 4 projects include making a noren shop curtain in seasonally appropriate style, with kanji, and creating a model of a traditional Japanese-style room.

AP Japanese: Level 2 Nakama Text, plus reader A Homestay in Japan,
Supplemented by Nelson’s Abridged Kanji Dictionary and
Strive for a Five: AP Japanese Practice Tests

AP students, too, have worked on the chapters 1-3 in Nihon to no Deai and the first 3 chapters of level 2 Nakama. But they are doing more, of course. They are also working with the radical system for categorizing kanji so that they can use Nelson’s and become independent learners when they encounter new texts. They are practicing organizing styles and phrases for compare/contrast speeches and essays in Japanese. They are also listening to auditory prompts and answering questions about reading passages from past AP Japanese exams.


More information about Payton’s Japanese classes can be found at:
http://kimmeljapaneseclasses.blogspot.com/