using Web 2.0 for Japanese learners

14 useful online applications for educators. Several of these would be excellent for Japan (society/culture) and Japanese (language) uses:
adding audio comments or "post-it notes" to webpages, narrating a set of images, mapping of events & historical persons, and so on.
 
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2007/12/21/the-best-web-20-applications-for-education-2007/

online vocab builder

http://iteslj.org/v/jre/common_b.html
1554 Commonly-used Japanese Words
  Lower-level students can choose the 4-choice option, to also get Romaji.
[thanks to Charles Kelly in Nagoya]

bestsellers in Japan written on cell phones

via EDTECH e-list, 11 Dec 2007
[in the Sydney Morning Herald] http://tinyurl.com/26yvtg
blogged here, too, http://openacademic.org/news/yeah-ban-cell-phones-really

http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~edweb

Kanji and Kana (roots & mnemonics)

pp 18-19, Kanji & Kana. A Handbook of the Japanese Writing System, Hadmintzky and Spahn, Tuttle, 1981. See also, wikipedia, kanji-hiragana connection

Remembering 'kana, courtesy of Steven Heron (10/2008):
"Learn the Kana," http://learnthekana.com/

News of the Day

News of the Day, http://jplenews.blogspot.com

funny viewing

These are hilarious [M.W. Isoyama, JFLALC]

1. Perfect gift to bribe someone: http://www.yamabukiiro.com

2. Sweets for apology: http://www.shinshodoh.co.jp
(Article: http://www.asahi.com/komimi/TKY200711210219.html)

washoku - food of Japan (blog)

neat descriptions and good photos of various kinds of Japanese food
http://www.noodlesandrice.com/

student movie, "culture shock" 2008

"Culture Shock: Japan Discovery Challenge," a 10-episode Internet-tv series about Japanese and American high school students teaming-up and competing to produce short films about Japan:
from over 20 locations, including Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Toshodaiji, Chiba Lotte Marine stadium, will be released with each weekly episode.

series trailer at www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpXE8tVqQYU;
[ search: cultureshock2007 ]
-- or -- www.e-bukatsu.com/index_e.html to view "Intro Videos" and meet the 16
Jp and US high school students...

Episode Two of "Culture Shock," plus 4 team short films:
"Tokyo Earthquake Safety,"
"Akihabara, Digital Hollywood University,"
"Tokyo Fashion Adventure," and
"Yoyogi Park" http://www.kyoeiexchange.com/jdc2007/ep02_e.shtml


=> December 16: Global broadcast of "Culture Shock: Episode 1"
at www.youtube.com, search: cultureshock2007
(view episodes and "Tokyo Food Day" at www.e-bukatsu.com)

=> December 23 to February 17: Culture Shock, Episodes 2 to 10
at www.youtube.com, search: cultureshock2007
(view series and teams' 24 culture films at www.e-bukatsu.com)

=> February 17 to March 1: view, vote, and determine the winner

use iPod as an Audiobook

http://podtext.marinebat.com

iPod has a built-in function, which lets you use an iPod like an
audio-book. [S. Shinagawa] step-by-step online workshop showing how to make PodText. ...you can access 24/7.

manga & market forces

2007 article on the manga market in Japan, exploring the fan
conventions, *dojinshi*, and the *anmoku no ryokai* agreement between the
manga publishers and the fan writers.

...sidebar tells how manga came to be the phenomenon they are today in
the American market, [told] in graphic novel format
...mature high-school students and college students would enjoy these...

main article:
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-11/ff_manga?currentPage=5

graphic novel supplement (in pdf):
http://www.wired.com/special_multimedia/2007/1511_ff_manga

honorifics

Unit 56 (and Unit 19), http://www.gwu.edu/~eall/vjg/vjghomepage/vjghome.htm
[by: "Shoko Hamano" hamano@gwu.ed ]

Nintendo DS game, Utsukushii_Nihongo_no_Kakikata_Hanashikata
[by: "Wes Branchflower" wbranchf@bigpond.net. au]

mnemonics - hiragana

Posted by: "Fumiko Tachibana" natto_hime@yahoo

http://www.genkienglish.net/genkijapan/hiraganasong.htm
http://www.genkienglish.net/genkijapan/whenwherewhowhat.htm
... also, The Japan Times has updated their official site,
http://faculty.palomar.edu/ftachibana/japanese_learning_tools.htm

resources from British Columbia teacher group

skoki12@gmail Dotcom

Nihongo BC: The British Columbia Teachers of Japanese association invites everyone to take advantage of our website http://nihongobc.com/ Registration is free.
At this site BC teachers have uploaded a number of their resources for all members to share.

jfl reading texts online - A.L.C. online

thomas_lin@jflalc Dotorg replied

http://www.alc.co.jp/nj/ ...some interesting content [furigana] and they also include the
english translation as well so if your students find the link, it could potentially cause some problems, but this also makes grading much easier.

Japanese song-making webpage

You type the lyrics while the selected song plays.
Genres include: rock, gospel, Enka.
Songs have subtitle and backgrounds like karaoke.
http://www.jt-roots.com/utae/index.html
Most instruction is Japanese (icons, too).

The example that I made with "Family words"
http://www.jt-roots.com/utae/listen.html?id=MDAwMDA2MTMzNA
This is a part of a promotion for a coffee in a can called "Roots".
-- crossposting from [Nihongo-Victoria] Hatsu Watanabe

aizuchi online

(video and text of script)
www.sal.tohoku.ac.jp/nik/aizuchi/

Links for Japanese Learning -- Web Resources

--- In senseionline@yahoogroups.com, Jouji MIWA <miwa@...> wrote:
http://www.sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/icampus/u/linksj.jsp

sites of Newspapers in Japanese,
http://www.sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/icampus/u/linksj.jsp?
category=Newspaper&language=Japanese

high school kisoku

[Google Japan] www.google.co.jp advanced search on SEITO TECHOO
in both web and image searches

youth fashions in Tokyo - new book

Philomena Keet... is researching Tokyo street fashion

'The Tokyo Look Book' (2007, Kodansha Int'l)

... for a general audience and features photos on every page

...the text gives background and cultural insights to the fashions and the people who wear them

 

www.tokyolookbook.com has sample pictures and a Tokyo fashions blog

Copyright-free Audio-Visual Resource Center (since 1998)

...digitized videos and (680) still pictures ...for class use and developing your own teaching materials

E.Asian Languages & Literatures of Washington and Lee Univ.

http://home.wlu.edu/~ujiek/slide.html or contact Ken Ujie, ujiek@wluDOT edu

Videos currently online:

A: For teaching grammar: Home-made movies

1. Basic Verbs (15')

2. X (place) ni Y (thing/person) ga arimasu/imasu (15')

3. Time ni X (action) o shimasu (15')

4. Permissive Causative (10')

5. Expression of Time (Tokoro)(10')

B: For teaching grammar:Video Clips from Tokyo Shoseki's

"Video-Cued Structural Drills:" No.8-No.12) (30')

C: For practicing Katakana reading (1 hour)

D: For teaching Japanese culture:Video Clips from Tokyo Shoseki's "Safe and Sound in Japan" (Lessons 1 & 9) both in Japanese and English (30')

E: Verbs for "Nakama" (20 minutes)

Buddhist temples today; in the past, ALSO about "7-5-3"

All about "shichi go san" (November holiday),  www.nihongomemo.com/nenchugyoji/753.htm
 
 
Fumiko Tachibana natto_hime@yahoo dotcom[Dec 16, 2006]
...many of them working very actively for the people. For instance, at Hasedera Temple Nara which we visited in June (http://www.hasedera.or.jp/),  the priests were actually having a meeting in the omido not minding visitors and tourists. I thought it was very healthy and great.
...Japanese Buddhist temple called Chofukuji in Nagano... seems a good example of living temple.
  www.chofukuji.or.jp/bbs/monzen.htm,  www.chofukuji.or.jp/bbs/dendou_down.htm
great for the introduction of Japanese culture [Buddhist quotes]
 
 
www.umich.edu/~wittevee/draft/mandala is a set of freeze frames taken (with permission for educational use) from the recently released DVD-rom, "Preaching from Pictures." The 48 images are given as a Web Album with captions. The same images & captions are also linked as a Quicktime slideshow (movie) so you can present it to students.

audio postcards (1-minute, in English) ALSO restaurant names

9000 Japanese restaurants in the U.S. in 2005.
"Tokyo" is the most common Japanese restaurant name, and the list continues in the following order (top 28 names):
Shogun; Sakura; Ichiban; Kyoto; Fuji; Edo; Osaka; Benihana; Sakkio Japan; Kobe; Little Tokyo; Hana; Hibachi; Fujiyama; Kanpai; Samurai; Sarku Japan; Ginza; Sapporo; Yoshi; Yokohama; Kabuki; Miyako; Mikado; Arigato; Asahi; and Midori.
--"Masato Yabe" masyabe@hotmail [Nov 25, 2006]
 
one-minute audio postcards from (East) Asia, produced at U.Kansas' Center for East Asia Studies
www.ceas.ku.edu/audio.shtml
JAPAN TOPICS [as of  12/2006]
1    The Ginza
4    Hip-Hop Music
6    The Japanese Culture of Rain
7    The Ramen Noodle Museum
12    The GPS Backpack
17    Smell-o-Vision in Japanese Cinemas
22    Whaling
32    Tojo's Granddaughter
33    Company Songs Make a Comeback
39    National Language on TV
40    Gateball
42    High-Tech Hammocks
44    Potty Training and WWII
52    Isshinji Temple
54    Pregnant Women Commuters
50    J-Pop vs. K-Pop

teaching Japanese to youngest learners

when I teach kids grade 3 -6
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/say.html  (Nihongo)
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/culture.html (bunka)

Nipponia [magazine], http://web-japan.org/nipponia/archives/en/
Japan Video Topics, http://web-japan.org/jvt/
Japan Links, http://web-japan.org/links/

Nickelodeon Japan, http://www.nickjapan.com
for vocabulary and reading-comprehension skills

Japanese language and life in film & TV News online

...buying E. Asia films (English subtitles): www.yesasia.com
... another is www.ebay.com
a DVD from Japan may have Region 2 coding, while those from Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan may have Region 3
cf. Region 1 (N. America), no region coding (Region 0)
VLC works around region codes, www.videolan.org/vlc/

films with lots of interpersonal engagements and dialogue:
<> Hesokuri shacho (1956-), www.imdb.com/title/tt0298363/
comedy series about a company president.
<> Tsuri baka nisshi (1988-), www.imdb.com/title/tt0203174/
comedy series about a salaryman who loves to go fishing.
<> "The Milkwoman" was also pretty good. Sort of a love story set in a suburban city between a woman who delivers milk and works at a supermarket, and a man who works in the city hall.

"Ushida Eiko" eikoushida@hotmail [Sep 19, 2007]
...watching Japanese news ...News-TBS is best because they can watch the news while reading the article at the same time: http://news.tbs.co.jp/
see also: Fuji Network News: fnn news briefs at www.fnn-news.com

teaching intonation and (pitch) accent

Summary http://japanlore.googlepages.com/accent

society & culture, including school uniforms

wiki-books for language/society of Japan

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Japanese_History

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Living_in_Japan

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Japanese

Drag and drop the prefectures in Japan, www.mapmsg.com/games/statetris/japan/

School uniforms [sent by Rie Tsuboi]

...these sites are fun and useful when you talk about school uniforms in Japan.

Recent history, http://ozaki.jp/archives/wear.html?r=l

and http://www.tombow.gr.jp/school/05_knowledge/01_style.html

Articles, http://www.excite.co.jp/News/bit/00091138470971.html

and http://www.sankei.co.jp/seikatsu/seikatsu/070207/skt070207000.htm

as well as http://event.kids.yahoo.co.jp/fashion2007/game/index.html

Students can learn colors, body parts, clothes items, etc.

[sent by Fumiko Tachibana]

video clip for "kemari" at http://takraw.hp.infoseek.co.jp/kemari/kemari.MPG

[from Shunko Muroya]

selected news items

[12/2006 selected news items, Maki Watanabe Isoyama, The Japan Foundation L. A.]

 

Statistics (1) - Life of elementary & middle school teachers in Japan

Article: http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/topics/news/20061124-OHT1T00181.htm  (Sports Hochi)

 

Statistics (2) - Life of business men in Japan

Article: http://www.nikkansports.com/general/f-gn-tp0-20061126-122153.html (Nikkan Sports)

           http://www.zakzak.co.jp/top/2006_11/t2006112735.html (Zak Zak)

 

Statistics (3) - We are all tired...

Article: http://www.zakzak.co.jp/top/2006_11/t2006112428.html (ZakZak)

 

Top 10 products of the year

Article:  http://www.nikkansports.com/general/f-gn-tp0-20061128-123034.html (Nikkan Sports)

Website: http://www.dentsu.co.jp/news/release/2006/pdf/2006088-1128.pdf (Dentsu)

 

Adult privilege

Article:  http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/komachi/life/pop/20061124ok04.htm?from=yoltop
(Yomiuri) I once bought a huge Christmas cake just for myself a couple of years ago.

 

Another place to visit in Japan

Article:  http://www.zakzak.co.jp/gei/2006_11/g2006112413.html (Zak Zak)

Website: http://www.kyotomm.com/

cultural awareness (homestay, Sumo); also, Webpage contest

Virtual Sumo - Cultural Awareness, www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/tlf2/showLO.asp?loID=1244

 

Homestay in Japan (tutorial includes inner vs. outer group), http://athome.nealrc.org/

 

2007 Japanese Web Page Contest Galleries, www.japanesewebpagecontest.com

animated grammar and writing; also all about Counters

Counters (group naming), English examples: www.dnr.state.mn.us/young_naturalists/namegame

Chinese is even more 'complicated' ('specific') with about 15-20 "whatchamacallits"
in Japanese vs about 100 frequently used counters common in Chinese.
Total: 500 possible and about 200 in frequent/common use.

see also for Japanese, www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/ancient_japanesej.html

as well, http://www.trussel.com/jcount.htm

 

Animations that show stroke order: http://members.aol.com/writejapan/hiragana/writutor.htm

others: www.sabotenweb.com/bookmarks/language.html#kanji

 

Japanese grammar, shown in 66 flash animations at www.gwu.edu/~eall/vjg/vjghomepage/vjghome.htm

about kanji in the digital age

article about a survey conducted by Bunka-cho (Cultural Affairs Agency) about how Japanese people are coping with
kanji in the age of digital information.

Sankei, http://www.sankei.co.jp/kyouiku/kyouiku/070908/kik070908000.htm
Asahi, http://www.asahi.com/culture/update/0907/TKY200709070315.html

Japanese computing tips

via: "Shunko Muroya" shunko.muroya@gov.ab DOT ca

 

for the Japanese IME in Windows VISTA you don’t have to download anything.
It’s already there within your Vista: http://www.declan-software.com/japanese_ime/

 

see also “using Japanese on English computer” info and resources on the
“PC Tips” pages of “Nihongo Memo” website: http://www.nihongomemo.com/pctips.htm

Japanese language IME for Office 2007

Instructions: Office 2007 Japanese Language Pack
--assuming that you have Office 2007 installed already, go ahead and install the Japanese Language
Pack which is useful for its dictionary and grammar checking tool...

IME 2007 =Control Panel -> Regional and Language -> Languages tab -> Details -> Add button ->
Input Language: Japanese -> Keyboard layout/IME: Microsoft Office IME 2007

Install East Asian fonts if you haven't already from the Languages tab.
Hold Alt + Shift to swap between English and Japanese input mode.

100 common words in Japanese; Japan course materials (undergrads)

---most common words in Japanese?
http://mcgrawhill.ca/highereducation/php/bookinfo.php?isbn=0844223964&pNumber=399073&course=Japanese#JaneWightwick
Your First 100 Words in Japanese
Author: Jane Wightwick; McGraw-Hill Professional ISBN : 0844223964
1999 | 1st Edition | 80 pages , Softcover

Columbia University's Expanding East Asian Studies (ExEAS) website has
materials for teaching about East Asia at the undergraduate level.
http://www.exeas.org, Materials include suggested readings, classroom
activities, and resources for incorporating East Asia into courses in all
subjects in the humanities and social sciences, including world history,
world literature, politics, contemporary society, and philosophy.
There are also Teaching units, Sample syllabi, and Links to other
resources for teaching about East Asia.

state of Michigan's Department of Education, documents for Foreign Language Learning

From www.miwla.org for  your reference --- GPWitteveen (release date 1 September 2007)

The Michigan Department of Education has released two documents of interest to Michigan world language instructors: World Languages Standards and Benchmarks  , World Languages Credit/Experience Guidelines

 

4 character compounds, yoji jukugo

charles__kelly@hotmail. [com] May 18, 2007 Kanji Haitani has
given me permission to use his material in this quiz.

 

http://www.manythings.org/japanese/vocabulary/kh-yojijukugo1.html

Quiz on Four-Character Idiomatic Compounds #1 (四字熟語)

 

Multiple-choice, Matching and Flashcards.
This includes the 400 that he has marked as "most commonly used."

video episodes, HS challenge

review JDC2007 Media NOW at www.e-bukatsu.com. Four JDC teams - 16 Japanese & American (1 Canadian) HS students - competed to produce 24 videos, summaries, and vocabulary while visiting some of Japan's most interesting locations (qv. below).
Apply for access at www.kyoex.com. Or write to wyatt@kyoexDOT com with questions.
...December 2007 we begin web-casting a 13-episode "JDC2007 Reality Series." 
The show is all about the 16 Japanese & American HS students overcoming language, cultural, and personality barriers to become good friends during JDC2007.

JDC2007 Activity Locations
----Kanto
- Rakugo Kyokai 
- Digital Hollywood University
- Waste Management Council of Tokyo 23 Cities, Tokyo-to Department
   the Environment
- Toei Animation Studios
- Kasukabe City Big Kite Association
- Shogakukan Publishing
- Tokyo Fashion Adventure
- Honjo Life Safety Learning Center
- Chiba Lotte Marines
- Katakana English
- Tezuka Productions
- Yoyogi Park Exploration

----Kansai
- National High School Baseball Tourney
- Heian Jingu Shrine
- Toshodaiji Temple
- Kyoto Clear Water: Kibune Shrine and Fujino Toufu
- Entrepreneurial Museum: Momofuku Ando & Nissin Cup Noodles
- Toei Uzumasa Eigamura
- Shigureden Hyakuninisshu Museum
- Bunraku Kyokai

*Special Activities (All four teams participate)
- Sushizanmai Kiyomura Challenge
- Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

putting Japanese on Windows-based computers

site for simple step-by-step instructions to install Japanese facilities on all versions of Windows.
http://www.nihongo-ok.com/OldArticles.aspx

"Creative Japan": A New Web Pamphlet on Contemporary Culture

 ... created by the Embassy of Japan in the U.K... (courtesy of  MOFA)...contemporary culture such as fashion, anime and manga, architecture, design and technology.

http://www.creativejapan.net/ or http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/creativejapan/creativejapan_PDF.pdf

 

"All over the world, people are focusing their attention on contemporary Japanese culture. From the 1990s onwards, in manga, anime, gaming, art, architecture, design, literature, food and fashion there was a burst of cultural energy among the population at large. This has now blossomed into contemporary Japanese popular culture whose influence is reverberating around the globe and continuing to fascinate many people, mostly the young generation."

online Japanese links

well-done site uncluttered by advertising, http://japanese-phrases.sakura.ne.jp/
includes (pro/actress) audio, romaji and Japanese in GIF images.

you can sign up for "you've got mail" audio files by the same voice actor
http://voice-drop.chu.jp/sozai_old.html  (e.g. 4 versions of "Ame ga furisou yo, ....)

flash animations for grammar

66 flash animations of Japanese grammar,

http://www.gwu.edu/~eall/vjg/vjghomepage/vjghome.htm

blogged "news of the day" Japan

maki_watanabe@jflalc DOTorg

http://jflanews.blogspot.com/
Maki Watanabe Isoyama, The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles

using furigana in Excel

Satoru Shinagawa sends reference, http://katori.adam.ne.jp/studyetc/excel/onepoint/firigana1.htm

summer reading (online text & narration)

http://www.voiceblog.jp/nippon/  is something I chanced upon this morning.
The screenful of text is accompanied by a native-speaker's reading.
One can listen online while reading along, or download the mp3 to a portable device.
__________________________________
Guven Peter Witteveen, wittevee@umich DOT edu

beginner Japanese online (audio)

helpful since it comes with an audio file, http://www.languageguide.org/nihongo/
http://www.languageguide.org/ (for other languages)

mouse-over Japanese pop-ups

[Charles Kelly] ...Using Firefox, install 2 add-ons, Rikaichan and Backword, to get automatic "mouse over" definitions from English to Japanese, then back to Japanese again.

2007 Japanese Web Page Contest Galleries

http://www.japanesewebpagecontest.com/

audio - A-bomb survivor stories

[senseionline #2358] Research on atomic bomb dropping in Japan
Posted by: "Moorman, Yukiyo"

Google "Hiroshima Heiwa Kinenkan" ...they have audio tapes
They also have a list of 20 survivors who have been giving
lecture/presentation at the site for the groups of visitors...

online encyclopedia of Shinto launched

cross-posting from H-Japan (full description of the project in the

www.h-net.msu.edu archives for H-Japan dated 30 May 2007)

online Encyclopedia of Shinto: http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/
Questions should be directed to Inoue Nobutaka, Kokugakuin University
Telephone: +81 (0)3-5466-0205 n-inoue@kt.rim.or .jp

--Guven Witteveen

worker categories, four words

[from May 28, 2007 pp.40-41 Business Week] -- clipping sent by Guven Witteveen

With the national economy looking better, companies are seeking fresh college graduates and by-passing the 1993-2003 generation, known as the "lost" or "suffering" generation. So the gov't is offering special incentives to employers who hire 25-34 year olds away from the poor work, below.

_____________________________

sidebar, "Parsing the New Underclass"

 

HAKENSHA-IN

employment agency "temporary workers"

Since 2002 their number has tripled to 1.3m

 

KEIYAKUSHA-IN

contractors have grown by 20% over the past five years

(like temps, they get fewer benefits than full-timers)

 

FREETers

estimated at 1.9m with the national govt trying to draw the 25-34 year olds into full-time, permanent jobs

 

NEETs

Not in Employment, Education or Training (a term coined in Britain)

600,000 aged under 35

Flash animations of Japanese grammar; curriculum guide; homestay guide

http://www.gwu.edu/~eall/vjg/vjghomepage/vjghome.htm
links to about 25 Flash animations of various grammatical structures and
12 downloadable PowerPoint appendices.
Before the end of summer, there will be 66 animations and 12
appendices covering major grammatical concepts in beginning Japanese.
...send feedback using the "Comments and suggestions" in the page. If you
["Shoko Hamano" hamano@gwu.ed]

"At Home in Japan" homestay guide is online at  http://athome.nealrc.org/

 

New Zeeland national curriculum guidelines for Japanese are at
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/language/curriculum/japanese/index_e.php

 

poetic names for plants & animals

How about "oiran bana (Cleome, Spider flower),
not a hanging spider plant, though.
Another is tsukimi-soo... It's bloom is yellow and it opens
around the time the moon rises (the pedals are closed in morning).
This is not as same as the white moon flower commonly found here.

 

The word for tadpoles (but also ladles and musical notes, I think.)

 

Tsukimi-so's common name is also called Yoimachigusa and there
was an old song for it.  The title of the song is Tsukimisou no Uta...
In English they call it Evening Primrose.  In the Kantou area of Japan
they recognize as yellow but obviously there is white as well. 

 

According to Koujien, the tsukimoso bloom at after sunset and time for moon to rise.
Or waiting the evening to come ("Yoimachigusa". 
It is a very romantic flower waiting her lover (the moon) to visit her.
 
Another flower is ????(???????)=???, a flower bloom in heaven
according to Sunsklist and bloom around Higan or early fall. 
This flower has many other names such as

 

Kamisorinaba, sutego-bana or tengai-bana.
 
Kappa or "Namazu ga okotta" for earthquake. 

Japanese Podcasts [c/o Charles Kelly]

A list of directories with podcasts in Japanese - Perhaps good to find conversational listening practice.

• www.voiceblog.jp
• blog.seesaa.jp/contents/genre/0271/0001.html
• pod.ladio.livedoor.com
• dedio.jp

Japanese Language Study Links : Podcasts
Blog 表現よみ作品集 - Stories (Audio Book Style)

podcast.yomiuri.co.jp - Daily News

JSL Podcasts - For Intermediate to Advanced Students

• voiceblog.jp/amane あまね☆ごえ
  Female Voice: Not aimed at JSL students, but she has a beautiful voice and these are high quality short recordings. Good for repeated listenings.
• Nippon VoiceBlog
  Apparently aimed at non-Japanese. Tanscriptions of the show are on the web site. (Not recently updated.)
• voiceblog.jp/reiki 櫻　怜祈（サクラ　レイキ）
  Female Voice: Not aimed at JSL students, but high quality recordings without background music, so good for language study. Sort of an audio diary. (Last updated on December 14, 2006)
• voiceblog.jp/taa 題名未定キャスト
  Male Voice: Not aimed at JSL students, but includes a transcription. (Last updated: July 16, 2006, 7:00 pm)
• Japanese Classical Literature at Bedtime
  RSS = http://feeds.feedburner.com/JapaneseClassicalLiteratureAtBedtime
• Kimama ni Nihongo 気ままに、日本語。
  Female Voice: Words (and sometimes sentences) are read for pronunciation practice. Good quality recordings.
  Some podcasts include French, which can be ignored if you don't understand French.  RSS = http://feeds.feedburner.com/nihongo

 

JSL Podcasts - For Intermediate to Beginning Students

• www. JapanesePod101.com - Daily
  High quality recording. Dialog, then very slowly for practice, then English (Warning/Comment: One non-native Japanese speaker, wth near native pronunciaton also speaks Japanese.　This probably is not a problem, since all the "listen and repeat" sections have you repeating after the native speakers.)
  RSS = http://www.japanesepod101.com/feed/rss/
  
  

• Japanese.libsyn.com
  For beginners. He uses native Japanese speakers for the sample dialogues, etc.

• Nakama Vocabulary Video Podcast (Satoru Shinagawa)
  See the English, then hear the Japanese.
  Even for those without a "pod" capable of playing video .mp4 files, these are useful if viewed online

• Talk Sushi - Learn Japanese　(Nick Kemp)
  He has a native Japanese speaker on each show. Somewhat commercial, promoting services he sells.
  RSS = http://talksushi.libsyn.com/rss

   

Not really a podcast, but downloadable MP3 files, The Bible in Living Sound

Japan schools to teach patriotism

Japan's lower house of parliament approves a new law requiring schools to
teach children to be patriotic.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6669061.stm

four-character compounds

[ssonline 18 May 2007 - Charles Kelly] Kanji Haitani has given
permission to use his material in this quiz.

http://www.manythings.org/japanese/vocabulary/kh-yojijukugo1.html
Quiz on Four-Character Idiomatic Compounds #1
This includes the 400 that he has marked as "most commonly used."

assessing Japan's shifting population pyramid

from www.japanfocus.org [using searchbox or topics list]
Vaclav Smil, The Unprecedented Shift in Japan's Population: Numbers, Age,
and Prospects

The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research latest
long-range forecast of the country's population showed, once again, a
faster decline than previously anticipated: the medium variant projects
the total population of only about 90 million (89.93) people by 2055, the
igure that both Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun found "shocking". This
was followed by a population projection to 2050 by the United Nations
Population Division and Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications latest nationwide estimate of Japan's population. Japan's
population (including foreign residents) peaked in December 2004 at
127,838,000 people and only a tunning, not just surprising, turn of
demographic fortunes can prevent the combination of relatively rapid
population decline and of unprecedented aging of the country's population.
This article assesses the projections.

language fusion - Japanese & English

http://www.asahi.com/culture/news_culture/TKY200705020114.html

see also the movie, Kanji Now http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/stream/index/tvnavi/navi2.htm

archive of 80 Japan photos 1945-1952 (occupation)

cross-posting from H-Japan (www.h-net.msu.edu)
The Center for Japanese Studies, the University of Hawaii at Mnoa, is
pleased to announce the Walter Pennino Photo Collection is available on
the Internet. The collection presents eighty photos during the occupation
of Japan. Many of them show every-day life of people in Japan at that time.

http://www.hawaii.edu/cjs/pennino_entrance.html

example, "World Languages Day" for teens, hosting on campus

[not gleaned from senseionline]

Public Advocacy and (Japan) Outreach Examples as seen at

World Languages Day 2007
Saturday, April 21 at Michigan State University http://clear.msu.edu/wld/sessions.php

======= 10:30 am - 11:20 am
Let's learn Nihongo!
Japanese is one of the most popular languages offered at MSU. Learning a non-western language like Japanese can be challenging, but it is also a stimulating and eye-opening experience. Come to learn how to greet people and introduce yourself in Japanese! We will also play fun games and learn a song in Japanese.

======= 01:30 pm - 02:20 pm
Yookoso! Welcome to Japan (SESSION FULL) What do you know about Japan? Ninja? Anime? Play Station? This session will give you an opportunity to learn about Japanese language and culture through games. You will also enjoy writing your name in Japanese and doing origami, the traditional Japanese art of paper folding.

======= 02:30 pm - 03:20 pm
Unveiling Japanese culture (SESSION FULL) What do you want to know about Japan? Come and join the MSU Japan Club as they unveil Japanese culture. You will be learning simple conversations in Japanese, feel the culture, and even taste some of the traditional food!

online movie, Intro to Japanese Religion

credited to Rushton Hurley-sensei, cited on senseionline@yahoogroups for 27 April 2007

http://www.nextvista.org/2007/02/06/intro-to-japanese-religion/

Boys Day 5/5, also a music page

Boys Day (5/5), www.nihongomemo.com/nenchugyoji/tangonosekku.htm

BEAUTIFUL melodies (incl. Japanese melodies), http://mocascafe.la.coocan.jp/musicpage.htm

some Podcast recordings in Japan

searching www.yahoo.co.jp for 'podcast' returned the following:

 

Podcast ニッポン放送 Podcasting STATION, http://podcast.1242.com
ニッポン放送によるポッドキャスティング。番組案内。 ... ニッポン放送podcastをiTunesへの登録はこのバナーを. ドラッグしても可能です! ... 好きなPodcast番組だけ登録する。 iTunesを立ち上げて、左側 ...

Yahoo!ポッドキャスト, http://podcast.yahoo.co.jp
音楽、芸能、ニュース、政治等の番組を配信。 ... English as a Second Language Podcast. A podcast for those wanting to learn or ...

Podcast,ポッドキャスト,ラジオ, www.podcast.jp

日経Podcast(日経ポッドキャスト) , www.nikkei.co.jp/podcast
日本経済新聞社による「日経ネット・ポッドキャスト」「聴く日経」。ニュース、ビジネストレンド等の番組案内。 ... 日本経済新聞朝刊の主要記事を音声で紹介する「聴く日経」をお送りします。

Podcastを楽しもう!castella(キャステラ) みんなのキャステラ , www.castella.jp

アップル - iTunes - iTunes Store - Podcast, www.apple.com/jp/itunes/store/podcasts.html

mixPod [guide], www.mixpod.jp
ポッドキャスト、ビデオキャストのジャンル別番組リンク集。 ... mixPodは、有料・無料のPODCAST情報満載サイト。 ... 映像ポッドキャスティング、ラジオポッドキャスト、ニュースPodcast、中国語Podcasting、ビデオキャスティングなど。 ...

manga on cell-phones

story about reading manga on mobile phones
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nc20070425a1.html

origami slideshow (23 slides)

f rom www.slideshare.net, Amazing Origami Art - A Cool Japanese Paper Art and you can view it online 

 

also, hear: BEAUTIFUL melodies (incl. Japanese melodies), http://mocascafe.la.coocan.jp/musicpage.htm 

2007 url list

==Japanese fashion http://fashion.3yen.com/
==giri and on, http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/csacpub/Mono19/Html/wrapped_gifts-2_-4.html

==The National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Japan announced that they have incorporated their database into Google Scholar, and enable to search their database (3 million papers) on the Google site. Google Scholar, http://scholar.google.com/
NII Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator, http://ci.nii.ac.jp/cinii/servlet/CiNiiTop

=="Buddha Board" has a surface that allows you to paint on it with water. The special surface turns dark wherever the water touches it. When dry the image fades, http://www.buddhaboard.com

== traditional song, Akatombo, on YouTube
<> Japanese female singer, MORIYAMA Aiko sings 'AKATOMBO'[Red dragonfly] in front of Cyndi Lauper.
Cyndi Lauper was surprised at Aiko's skill as a singer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA0pgTuNF68

<> We sang at the Sentosai, a festival at a local shrine in Beppu, some traditional Japanese songs. The audience sang the songs with us and was really enthusiastic! Which, off course, made us even more enthusiastic. The song Akatombo is about your hometown and childhood and it remembers the dragonflies at sunset: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy3flkPV1Nc

<> folksong concert in Langenbogen, May 2006: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLblM3mW7vk

==practical information and resources to language teachers, www.languageteachers.net

== kiji 2007
1. Valentine's day in 2007 style
(1) Senbei Article: http://www.asahi.com/life/update/0210/008.html (Asahi)
Wikipedia on Senbei: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%85%8E%E9%A4%85

(2) Japanesque Article: http://www.asahi.com/life/update/0210/007.html (Asahi)

(3) Tofu Article: http://www.asahi.com/life/update/0210/004.html (Asahi)

(4) Donation Article: http://www.zakzak.co.jp/top/2007_02/t2007021327.html (ZakZak)

2. Business News in Japan
(1) Mary, one of the key companies that promoted the Chocolate-giving tradition (ZakZak)
Article: http://www.zakzak.co.jp/top/2007_02/t2007021324.html
Website: http://www.mary.co.jp/
Wikipedia on Valentine's day: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%90%E3%83%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%87%E3%83%BC

(2) Promotion by seniority revisited (Gendai Net)
Article: http://news.www.infoseek.co.jp/gendainet/society/story/10gendainet05017507/

yakitori in San Jose, audio slideshow

http://www.mercurynewsphoto.com/2007/04/sumiya/soundslider.swf

taiko at San Jose

http://www.mercurynewsphoto.com/2007/04/sjtaiko/soundslider.swf
[one minute audio slideshow, with captions available]

narrated slideshow, Fulbright Memorial Foundation

This downloadable online movie uses Skype for the voice interview and a
slideshow to illustrate the middle school Q & A between New Jersey (USA) and
Tokyo with a teacher traveling on the exchange program in November 2006.
http://www.wyckoffschools.org/eisenhower/etv/index.html#

A page of pictures and day by day accounts are online, too:
http://www.wyckoffschools.org/eisenhower/teachers/chen/japan2006.htm

The topics are the usual impressions one first has when visiting Japan and the
schools, but for beginning students of Japanese, or for colleagues who teach
social studies, the movie has value.

_________________________________________
Guven Peter Witteveen, wittevee@umich.
Outreach Educator, Center for Japanese Studies
The University of Michigan, www.ii.umich.edu/cjs

Re: textbook-based internet materials

"M & J Quirante" turtlecrossingranch@verizon .ne
Adventures in Japanese does have a good website with mucho useful info you can print out.
http://www.punahou.edu/page.cfm?p=134

phone N. America from Japan

first reply to "best phone card for exchange students in Japan..."
Brastel
How to get the service: http://www.brastel.com/Pages/eng/SPC/apply.html
How to use: http://www.brastel.com/Pages/eng/fromjapan/

summer Puppets/bunraku for undergrads

from H-Japan (www.h-net.msu.edu)

SUMMER PROGRAM in Traditional Puppetry Training in JAPAN http://asianinterstage.com/summer2007japan/

online conversions of names to Katakana

2007.03.15 ssol:

site called "kanji name" that I use to get ideas how to write my students'
names in Kanji, but this site also gives Katakana. I hope this will help.
=-=-=
http://deall.osu.edu/projects/JSL_JWL/JWL/katakana/
go directly to "Flashcards" on the upper-right corner, and proceed to "JWL
Flashcards on the web".

annual teacher scholarship in Japan - early March deadline

____________________________________________________________
In Japan, Teacher Training Scholarship from Monbukagakusho,
the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of Japan

To date, about 65,000 students have come from some 160
countries or regions around the world to study in Japan under
the Japanese Government (Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology) Scholarship Program
established in 1954. As of May 1, 2005, there were 9,891
foreign students studying in Japan as Japanese government
scholarship students. The teacher training scholarship is
available to U.S. primary or secondary school teachers (or
academic staff at teacher training institutions) who wish to
study at Japanese universities for 1.5 years for professional
improvement.

<> 1.5 year long program
<> Monthly allowance of 172,000 yen (about $1550)
<> Transportation to Japan
<> University fees

REQUIREMENTS
<> Be a citizen of the United States
<> Be born on or after April 2, 1972
<> Be a graduate of a university or teacher training college and work as
teachers in a
primary or secondary school, or as an academic staff at a teacher training
institution and have at least 5-years of experience
<> Be willing to learn the Japanese language and receive instruction in that
language.
<> Be in good mental and physical health
<> No knowledge of Japanese required

March 9, 2007: Application due at Consulate
<> Mid-March 2007: Interview and exam at the Consulate
<> Mid-July 2007: Results announced
<> October 1-7, 2007: Leave for Japan

=================================================
Contact - Consulate General of Japan - Detroit
400 Renaissance Center #1600
Detroit, MI 48243

Phone 313-567-0120 or Email jetdesk@cgjdetroit [dot.org]

intro to society/culture online

useful and interesting to introduce Japanese society and culture:
Seifu Internet Terebi: http://nettv.gov-online.go.jp/

[J. Fujimoto]

About WW II

There is a website in Japan that I found while searching under "pikadon"
(the gitaigo/giongo for the Hiroshima A-bombing) with images from a book
by the same name. I don't have the reference at my fingertips, though.

And I have permission from the publisher to share a couple of pages of
extracts from Ulrich Straus' _The Anglish of Surrender_ giving the oral
history perspective of POW Japanese soldiers/sailors toward The Enemy.
Write me for a copy of the pages I scanned: wittevee@umich.edu

John K. Nelson's 1997 video, Rituals of Rememberance, (30 minutes) looks
at the commemorations around Japan in 1995 of the 50 year anniversary.
His 2005 (2006?) reexamination of Yasukuni Shrine, Spirits of the State, I
think it is titled, is good as well. It was reviewed in the AEMS (Asian
Educational Media Service, www.aems.uiuc.edu) newsletter about 12 months
ago and is archived there.

--Guven Witteveen, wittevee@umich.edu
Outreach Educator, University of Michigan
Center for Japanese Studies

=-=-= "Journey Nagasaki - The photographs of Yosuke Yamahata, August 10,
1945" ISBN: 0-87654-360-3 [suitable for 9th graders and older]

I strongly recommend this picture book to understand what happened in
Japan at the end of the WW II. People talked about Hiroshima a lot,
but Nagasaki was the one that totally made Japan surrender.

The descriptive texts were written in English and Japanese.
Those pictures are tough to look straight, but at the same time those
are so calm and quiet...
- m. morikawa

amazing photo + audio collage online, Tokyo visual impressions

http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/special/tokyolovehello.aspx

This freshly released interactive essay has images and audio with the photographer's comments as well.
This captures a mix of emotions and eye-catchers upon first spending time there --focused on the exterior impressions rather than the local meanings and significances to the people going about their daily lives there.

school visitors from japan

[suggested preparation & activities]
Re: Students from Japan visiting the class room.
Posted by: "Matsuzaki, William" wmatsuzaki@stpaulsschool. [org]

Some things that have worked very well for me is to have my students come
up with a set of questionsin Japanese the night before and have them ask those questions when the
students come. I give them a participation point for each question asked
(middle school). Usually they ask about music and T.V.
and they learn about each other.

In terms of games, games like fly swatter, translation board game, etc or
anything that has some challenge for both students (some English to
Japanese or Japanese to English) have been good since
both sets of students have something they can learn from.

video on Japan online

Web Japan videos is http://web-japan.org/jvt/index.html

text to speech software (online)

http://www.oddcast.com/home/demos/tts/frameset.php?frame1=sptalk

Choose "Japanese" on the pull-down menu, then enter some Japanese.

For example, go to http://www.asahi.com/ and copy a sentence, then paste
it in.

Japanese Prefectures [geography game] using drag-and-drop interactivity (online)

Todoufuken Puzzle, http://earth.endless.ne.jp/users/yoshi216/tizu-top.htm

and from Andrea Shea,

http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/sheaa/projects/flash/prefectures.html

with a similar one for major cities:
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/sheaa/projects/flash/cities.html

romanization references

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepburn_romanization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunrei-shiki [usages section, especially]

keigo guidelines released

[senseionline] Digest 2121

3a. guideline report regarding "Keigo"
"Shunko Muroya" smuroya@hotmail.com shunkomuroya Date: Thu Feb 1, 2007 8:54 pm ((PST))

Ｔｈｅ　Ｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌ　Ａｄｖｉｓｏｒｙ　Ｃｏｕｎｃｉｌ
(文化審議会) submitted a guideline report (答申) regarding "Keigo" to the Minister of Education,
reported all the major papers. Asahi article seems to be the most detailed one.
Here's the url: http://www.asahi.com/life/update/0202/006.html

February - seeking MN summer language camp teachers

Mori no Ike Job Opportunity

Since 1961, Concordia Language Villages has offered summer language and culture immersion programs for youth, ages 7-18, in northern Minnesota. The program hosts 11,000 participants annually at 14 different Language Villages. The Japanese Language Village, Mori no Ike, has been a leader in Japanese language and culture education since its inception in 1988. Days are filled with Japanese song, dance, theater, and food in a culturally authentic Village environment. Over 500 young people attend Mori no Ike for 1-, 2-, or 4- weeks every summer. The staff are proficient Japanese speakers who enjoy being outdoors and making language learning fun. About 30% are native speakers, the rest are Japanese speakers from around the world. We are accepting applications for an array of six-week summer positions for teachers or students of Japanese, ages 16 or older, through March 15. For more information on positions and contract dates, visit www.ConcordiaLanguageVillages.org. We hope you'll
join us for the fun in 2007!
_______________________________________
Kerstin M. Beyer (Sakura), Dean of Mori no Ike, Japanese Language Village

Concordia Language Villages Moorhead, Minnesota

beyer@cord.edu www.ConcordiaLanguageVillages.org

"Preparing young people for responsible citizenship in our global community"

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