Why (some of you) SHOULD buy a denshi jisho

Electronic dictionaries are a great tool whether they be the free one on your iPod or a standalone 電子辞書. A couple months ago I finally took the plunge and bought a new electronic dictionary.  Compared to the one I bought more than seven years ago, I can say the quality of Japanese electronic dictionaries has gone up exponentially. And while free and readily available translation options will suit most foreign residents’ needs, there are many who can benefit from investing in a full-service electronic dictionary.

Kanazawa Walking Tour Needs Volunteers

 

Web browser add-ons you really need (and a couple you probably don’t)

Any computer geek will tell you: Add-ons just make the internet more fun. But aside from giving you colored tabs or a new lease on life, these add-ons can help you learn Japanese!

Rikaichan and Rikaikun

 

Rikaichan translates kanji and other Japanese words to make navigating Japanese Web sites a little easier.

 

While Rikaichan has already been written about on the blog, it’s always worth mentioning as an invaluable add-on for Firefox users. When Rikaichan is turned on, simply hover your mouse over any Japanese word and a translation will appear. The add-on supports English, German, French and Russian, simply choose the dictionary you want during the download process. Google Chrome users can also meet their translation needs because the Chrome (and apparently more masculine) version, Rikaikun, is also available for download.

Download Rikaichan for Firefox and Rikaikun for Google Chrome

Furigana Injector
Trying to order something off of Rakuten? Booking a night bus to Tokyo? Everywhere you go you’re bombarded by kanji. Furigana injector changes all that. You must also download HTML Ruby to get the full effect, but the end result is furigana displayed there on the Web page. This is a handy tool for reading comprehension and fitting some good kanji practice into your schedule.

Download Furigana Injector for Firefox or Google Chrome

Forecastfox

 

Forecastfox brings accurate weather forecasts for most of rural Japan to your browser.

 

In Ishikawa, our lives are ruled by the weather. Forecastfox has one of the best formats I’ve seen, and has weather patterns for all over Ishikawa, not just Kanazawa, Wajima and Komatsu. The forecast images display in either your bookmarks or bottom toolbar, making the weather easy to access before you get ready to set out for the day.

Download Forecast for for Firefox and Google Chrome

Characterizer

 

Characterizer working its magic on an earlier Ishikawa JET Blog post

 

I tried this Firefox add-on as a joke and it’s actually really fun. While Rikaichan help you understand Japanese Web sites, Characterizer helps you learn kanji while you’re working on English Web sites. Characterizer replaces the first word of most of the text on a Web page with the corresponding kanji for that word. Pick up some kanji while you work online.

Download Characterizer for Firefox

High School Graduation in Japan

Photo: Steph & Adam

March 3rd was graduation at my high school here in Japan, so I thought I’d give the run-down of what it’s like, as well as a few tips to prepare for yours if it hasn’t happened yet.  If you notice any difference from your own, write in the comments.  I’ve only seen graduation at one school, after all.

Graduation came the day after exams ended, in the middle of the week, with classes for the 1st and 2nd year students continuing the very next day.  At my school, it takes place in the gym, and fortunately it was sunny outside, so I only needed to wear 4 layers to stay reasonably warm.

The entire ceremony went just over an hour, from 9:50am – 11:00am, although I was recommended to head down around 9:20 to get a seat in the teachers’ section.  The front row of the teacher’s section is reserved for the homeroom teachers of the graduating 3rd year classes.  As it happened, I was the first teacher to actually sit down, so I went with my supervisor’s suggestion and grabbed the seat closest to the heater, and other teachers quickly sat down near me.  The 2nd year students were already seated (1st year students don’t attend), and most of the parents had already found their seats.

At 9:50 the school band started to play and the 3rd year students began filing into the gym, two by two, led by their homeroom teacher, standing before their seats, and sitting as a class when told.  They spent the day prior to graduation practicing the whole ceremony.  They wear their school uniform that they wear everyday.

Photo: bazylek100

At 10:00 the ceremony began with everyone standing to sing the Japanese national anthem.  Then, we sat down and were immediately asked to stand to sing the school song, which was displayed in hiragana so I could follow along.

With the singing finished (for now), we sat down, and each 3rd year student was called by name by their homeroom teacher.  As each name is called, the student stands up and says “hai!”.  Interestingly, the less-motivated students said nothing at all, and the more motivated students spoke loudly.  Amazing what you can glean about a student just from how they say the word “hai”.

When all students’ names had been called, one student from the graduating class approached the principal at the podium and formally received a diploma on behalf of all of the students, by raising it above his head, bowing, and retreating backwards off of the stage.  There is a lot of formal footwork by anyone who approaches the ceremony, as they have to pay respect to the flag on the stage, the teachers to the left of the stage, and the city officials to the right of the stage.  It’s very interesting to watch, considering the in U.S. all I had to worry about was making sure I didn’t trip and taking the diploma in the correct hand — oh, and switching the tassel on my mortar board!

After the diploma is received, speeches follow.  This takes up the majority of the time, and might be interesting if you can understand Japanese.  If not, consider it a good chance to try to understand Japanese intonation and pick out any katakana words.  The principal and mayor both gave speeches, as did a 2nd year student to his upperclassman, and a 3rd year student to his fellow classmates.  Each person giving a speech has it written on a special, long piece of paper, that is folded in an accordion, so they can read the speech without any page flipping.  Afterwards, it’s put into a special envelope and placed on the podium.

Finally, the ceremony nears completion when everyone sings “Auld Lang Syne” (in Japanese).  The 3rd year homeroom teachers tell their students to stand, and they file out.  In previous years the students used to shout something at their teachers or make some kind of joke, but this year it was decided that it wasn’t formal enough for a ceremony so that (along with party poppers, a previous tradition) has fallen to the wayside.

After graduation, the students go back to their homeroom to receive their yearbooks and enjoy looking at photos of everyone and taking photos with friends and teachers.  The homeroom teachers often receive large bouquets of flowers.  It’s a fun time to wander around the halls with your camera and say your final goodbyes to the 3rd year students.

For the visual types among you, here’s a video summarizing graduation ceremonies in Japan — complete with “Auld Lang Syne” at the end.

Tips

• Ask your teachers what you should wear. At my school, the men all wear black suits and white ties (subtle patterns on the ties are okay).  One teacher wore a nice black dress.  Two others wore formal hakama.  Often women wear formal kimono (added bonus, because they’re warm).  Many female teachers wear suits.   I noticed that many women wore more makeup than usual, and many were wearing pearls.
• Wear clothes to keep warm! Our school gym had 5 small space heaters for the entire gym.  You can wear a few undershirts to keep your core insulated.
• Use kairo.  At drugstores you can find pocket-sized body warmers that work when the chemicals are exposed to air — some even have a sticky side so you can attach them to your shirt under your suit.  Don’t feel silly; my teachers all made a big production of sticking the kairo under each others’ suit jackets last year.  Or, just shove one in your pocket and be thankful during the speeches.
• Don’t watch the homeroom teachers to know when to stand/sit. If you have a row of homeroom teachers in front of you, keep in mind that sometimes they have to stand when the rest of the teachers don’t, so keep an eye on the teacher next to you instead if you can’t understand Japanese.
• Practice the Japanese anthem and school song to be involved in a group you belong to.

Useful Vocab

Even if you can’t count to ten in Japanese, you’ll be in-the-know if you can at least recognize some of these words:

sotsugyou (卒業) – graduation

sotsugyoushiki (卒業式) – graduation ceremony

kiritsu (起立) - stand up

rei (礼) - bow (at least that’s what this means in the context of a graduation ceremony)

chakuseki (着席) – sit down

seito (生徒) – students (as in “students, stand up”)

sotsugyousei (卒業生) – graduate, someone who graduated

shokuin (職員) - staff members (as in “staff, stand up” — this includes teachers)

Kanji Flashcards

Studying kanji is painful.  It is an endless journey full of frustration and torment brought on by repeated failures of one’s memory.  So anything to make kanji’s elusive meanings and readings easier to remember is always welcome in my home.  Over my three years of studying kanji I have tried everything from internet games to manga, but the one tool that I’ve found most effective has been the simple flashcard.  However, for most people – including myself -  the idea of making 2000-plus flashcards to learn the Jouyou kanji is overwhelming and not worth one’s time and effort.  The best solution to this problem is to simply buy the flashcards.

A company called White Rabbit Press makes and sells excellent study materials for students of Japanese.  I have purchased several items from them, but none more valued than their kanji flashcard sets.  There are three sets that are sectioned off based on JLPT test levels.  The kanji that appear in levels 3 and 4 come in the first set; level 2 kanji come in the second set; and level 1 kanji come in the third set.  The cards are sturdy and difficult to stain, as well as numbered to help keep them in order.  The card’s value is undoubtedly in their comprehensiveness, as each card contains the following:

a large picture of the kanji

2 to 6 example words using the kanji along with their corresponding readings and meanings

the kanji’s stroke order

1 to 2 pictures of similar looking kanji

the kanji’s Japanese and Chinese reading(s)

the kanji’s meaning(s)

a line to track your progress through the set

Given their clarity, quality, and thoroughness these cards are better than anything most people could ever produce.

There is one catch in that they are not cheap.  Set one is $25, set two is $48, and set three is $64.  But for serious kanji students, I cannot recommend them highly enough.

For those interested, here’s the link.

Also, here is a link showing what the cards look like.

~Matt

The 35th Grand Minyo Festival

The following post is a guest post regarding an upcoming cultural event, courtesy of dipstar.

Photo Source: Visit Toyama

This is a little known all day event which will take place at Kanazawa Kangekiza next Monday. Performers from 13 different folk song/dance schools from Ishikawa will perform various different local and country-famous Minyo songs and dances in an effort to promote and preserve these beautiful traditions for generations to come.

Tickets are 2000yen (2500) at the door, but dipika has a limited supply of tickets available for 1000yen. Please PM her via the j-talk forum or e-mail her if you would like one.

When: Monday November 23rd
Time: 10:30 onwards (probably till mid-afternoon?)
Where: Kanazawa Kagekiza (Next to 21st C Art museum, opposite Pref. Library/MRO)
http://www.kagekiza.gr.jp/

For more information, JETs can also contact dipstar via this topic in the J-Talk forum (you must log in for it to be visible).

Furoshiki

Embrace Japan’s tradition of wrapping by indulging in a beautiful furoshiki!  More eco-friendly then your normal wrapping paper, furoshiki are squares of cloth that come in various sizes, so you can wrap a book or use it as a backpack.  Vimeo has a great video from RecycleNow that demonstrates some basic folds for furoshiki.

more about “Furoshiki gift wrapping on Vimeo“, posted with vodpod

You can find lots of good books in both English and Japanese on the many ways to use furoshiki practically and as decoration.  There’s a good selection in the bookstore by Ippudo Ramen in Katamachi.

~MS the Younger

PS:  Check out more ways to wrap things up on Furoshiki.com.  InfoJapan also has a nice article about the history of furoshiki.

There’s something in the air…

by Tanaka Juuyoh

What do you know, it’s sakura season again.

The cherry blossoms are sweeping up the the coasts of Honshu, they’ve already bloomed in Osaka and Kyoto, and a few hesitant flowers are starting to open their buds here in Kanazawa. In a week, the banks of the Saigawa river will be awash in petals and people. AJET will be hosting its own hanami – literally ‘flower viewing’ – on April 18th by the river, for those who fondly remember riverside picnics or just feel like getting tipsy under the pretty trees.

Unfortunately all such prettiness has its price. We’re finally, finally nearing the end of hay fever season.

Hay fever, or kafunshou, is the most common springtime ailment in Japan. The main culprit is the cryptomeria cedar.

by Chris 73 (Wiki Commons)

Planted in great swathes during Japan’s post-war boom, cedars kept the construction industry flush with cheap timber. Then in the 1970s, the economy started to recover. Suddenly it was cheaper to import lumber, and all those cedar forests were left to fend for themselves. They not only flourished, they ran rampant. In Greater Tokyo alone, cedar accounts for over 70% of the city’s forests  (that’s about 22,000 hectares). Now every March, as more and more of these trees seed and mature, massive clouds of pollen are released to torment those 20 million-odd unfortunates who suffer from pollen allergies.

Several JETs have reported, and I myself can confirm after a week and a half spent sneezing and sniffling and coughing like a consumptive, that sensitivity to local pollen tends to increase the longer you stay in Japan. So what can you do about it?

During this season of particle plague,  most chemists and drug stores will have a special kafunshou display set up, prominently close to the front doors. Look for the kanji: 花粉症. Here you will find a wealth of pills, sprays, tissues, masks, eye drops, eye baths and anything else you could possibly imagine to treat this rather torturous ailment. Most medicines in Japan are quite good about illustrating the symptoms they treat on the box, however, here are some symptoms to look for if you want to be sure:

kyuusei bien – 急性鼻炎 – acute rhinitis  (aka breathe in and suddenly it feels like your nose is on fire; I love kanji ^_^)

hanamizu – 鼻みず – runny nose  (literarlly ‘nose water’)

hanazumari – 鼻づまり – blocked nose

kushami – くしゃみ – sneeze

namidame – なみだ目 – teary eyes

nodo no itami – のどの痛み – sore throat

arerugii – アレルギー – allergy

zuomo - 頭重 – heavy-headedness  (literally atama ga omoi – 頭が重い)

pusoidoefedorin – プソイドエフェドリン – pseudoephedrine  (for those who want to know when they’ll be falling asleep at their desks ^_~)

Dosage is usually clearly spelled out on the back of the box.

For example, the dosage for this particular med, Pabron  (パブロン, worked very well at drying up my nose to the consistency of sandpaper), reads thus:

On the top line, １回量 (ikkai ryo) means one dose, which equates to two capsules. The second line, 服用回数 (fukuyou kaisuu) means ‘dosage frequency’, which states two doses in one day (１日２回, ichinichi nikai). Essentially, take two capsules twice a day. The little note at the top advises you to wait twelve hours between doses. The big red cross is for people under 15 years, so if you have kids, don’t give them Pabron.

If you’re still unsure, ask your supervisor to read over the information leaflet inside the box.

And if all else fails, there is a simple home remedy that I was told: find some local honey and start spreading it on your toast at breakfast. The idea is that by introducing the smidgens of pollen that remain in the honey into your system, a day at a time, you’ll slowly build up a tolerance. It might do you the world of good, and it certainly won’t do you any harm ^_~

- Lauren

Increasing Motivation in the Classroom

I walk into the classroom and meet the thirty 15 year olds that I would be teaching for the year. A few seem eager to listen to my introduction and learn a few English phrases. Most give indication that they are there because they have to be. And one or two actually go to sleep. I ask those students a question and receive a blank stare and an “eigo wakaran’”. I’m now a third year JET and I’d like to say that this has only happened once or twice. Unfortunately, it happens almost every time.

Increasing motivation in a low academic high school is often a very difficult task. The important thing to remember is that their less than enthusiastic attitude in the classroom is usually due to lack of motivation and not to disrespect.

Participation is extremely important. It keeps students focused and helps to improve oral skills. Many ALTs have heard of and probably have even tried using the “Hanko Point System”. It may work fine for some but, it may be time consuming and ineffective with students who could care less about stickers or bonus points. I use a participation point system.

The “Sanka Point System” will either positively or negatively affect students’ grades. It is pretty easy to keep up with once you get a hang of it and it helps you get to know your students names.

Here is a basic example of what I do:

Write all the students’ names in Romaji in your grade book. Then, get them to fill out a seating chart. The students will receive “Sanka Points” each class and that average grade will be a certain percentage of their final grade (20 or 30 percent).

0- (0%) Talking or sleeping the whole class

1- (25%) Talking or sleeping despite being reprimanded

2- (50%) Told to stop talking, sleeping, etc. Not partipating

3- (75%) Model student behavior minus the participation factor

4- (100%) Model student behavior including participating at least once.

5- (125%) Model student behavior including participating more than once*

*Offering a 125% a day max. for participation seems like a lot. But, my students need this option. Although they rarely receive it, it lets them even out the days that they receive 3’s.

How to keep track of participation during class:

When a student participates, I write a little line in the box next to their name. If they participate again, the line becomes part of a five. If the class ends then the line becomes a four. If a student misbehaves I write a two beside their name that can be changed if they continue (I’ve never actually given a 0 or 1). Then after class the empty boxes get 3’s.

Tell students the rules of the game, including the following:

-Students who don’t participate will be penalized. Good students who don’t participate will as well.

-Learning a language isn’t any good if you don’t use it.

-When a student participates, whether correct or not, they will receive credit.

-On days that are activity only, participation will be determined on their use of English during the game.

-They can receive points for asking questions or answering questions in Japanese, too.

-English is different than other subjects, they don’t have to be perfect. Communication is the objective. So, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Making mistakes is part of learning a language.

Of course, you can and should alter the rules of the point system to better suit your students. You can usually get a good sense of their participation level during your introduction lesson. For students that aren’t motivated by the possibility of lowering their grade, try becoming their friend. Showing that you care and that you won’t give up on them helps motivate them a great deal. I will post more about this in a future blog.

When teaching anything, it is important to remain consistent. Decide the rules and consequences of your classroom and explain them to the students the first or second day of class (after your introduction). And ALWAYS enforce them. As a teacher, there has been no better feeling than seeing a previously unmotivated student raise their hand and participate willingly…a sign that they are learning. That is, after all, our objective. I’ve been surprised to find that my “problem students” have become my favorite over and over again.

School Songs

It’s that time in Spring for the little kiddies to graduate, which means hour long ceremonies laden with heavy symbolism about the student’s entering into the Springtime of their life, and of course, the ubiquitous  school song (to which, no doubt most of us awkwardly mouth the lyrics to).

For those of you who teach at different schools, you’ll notice that each school has a different melody and different lyrics  specific to the school.

So where do all these school songs come from?

Well, I took the liberty to ask my coworker, and this was his answer (loosely translated):

Every school has a different song, and they are penned by a lot of different people. Sometimes its written by a famous singer who is from the prefecture, and other times it was written by a Music teacher decades ago. Oftentimes, the lyrics are written by the first school principal. However, although every school has a different song, a lot of them sound very similiar to one another.

If you want to know who wrote your school song, just ask around! Someone will know, and it is a good way to establish a connection with your school and your coworkers.