Japanese
Teacher: Eunkyoung Kim
Understanding Language & Culture
Japanese is a non-alphabetic language taught to all classes by a LOTE (Languages other than English) Teacher. The South Australian Curriculum, Standards and Accountability Framework (SACSA) describes 3 language learning areas:
-
Communication
-
Understanding language
-
Understanding culture
The community at East Para Primary School is a diverse cultural environment. Learning another language provides opportunities for students to:
-
Communicate and interact within another language and culture
-
Further understand their own language and culture
Teaching language is intertwined with culture as the culture shapes the way language is structured and used.
Communication & Language
Just as in Learning English at school, Japanese is taught using Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing skills.
Students participate in whole class, small group and individual activities. They play games, role play, songs, action rhymes, and complete projects, Year 5/6 students learn to type in Japanese on the computer.
Students learn Japanese through various themes throughout the year.
Culture is;
-
What makes one group of people different from another
-
Other ways of life that a group of people share.
-
Feelings of belonging shared by people of a country
and -
Tradition handed down through time.
Alphabet
There are 3 kinds of alphabets for learning Japanese:
-
HIRAGANA phonetic syllables
ひらがな -
KATAKANA phonetic syllables for words of foreign origin
カタカナ -
KANJI Chinese characters, each conveying an idea
漢字