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:

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  • Communication

  • Understanding language

  • Understanding culture

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The community at East Para Primary School is a diverse cultural environment. Learning another language provides opportunities for students to:

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  • Communicate and interact within another language and culture

  • Further understand their own language and culture

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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.

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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.

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Students learn Japanese through various themes throughout the year.

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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:

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  • 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