2016 MSU Workshop for Teachers of Japanese

I am honored to be the invited presenter at this year’s Japanese Language Teacher Workshop of the Japanese Teachers Association of Michigan on Saturday, May 14, 2016 at Michigan State University.

The workshop is titled The Power of Input, Fun, and Games. You can download the slides.

Tools, Materials, and Resources Presented

多読 resources

• NPO多言語多読 – resources and graded readers for purchase
  Mp3 audio files to accompany the books can be downloaded for free
• よむよむ文庫 – graded readers for purchase
• White Rabbit Press – iPad graded readers available for purchase
• Digital EHON – simple Flash-based stories to view free online
• Chokochoko – The Great Library – graded readers for free download (Files no longer online)
• KCよむよむ – graded readers for free download
• Let’s Read Japanese @RIS – graded readers for free download
• 多読学習者が作った読み物 – graded readers for free download, written by NPO多読 workshop participants and Japanese learners
• Sendai School of Japanese – graded readers for download and purchase
• 読み物いっぱい – graded readers for download and printing
• Dino Books – bilingual books for children including audio, accessible when you purchase a subscription
• Let’s Read Japanese – graded readers for purchase from Oxford Brookes University
• Digital books – digital manga and other books for purchase
• Satori reader – provides vocabulary and kanji support during reading
• iPhone/iPad apps:
  • みにくいアヒルのこ
  • 桃太郎
  • かさじぞう
  • サルカニ合戦
• Reading logs – for students to keep track of how much they have read
• List of Japanese books suitable for extensive reading (from Tadoku.org) – regular books, not graded readers, sorted by approximate levels
• List of Japanese books suitable for extensive reading (from the UCLA Library) – regular books, graded readers, sorted by approximate levels
• Videos of extensive reading classes and downloadable reading records (website accompanying the book 日本語教師のための多読授業入門)
• Student project examples (University of Notre Dame)
• Another student project example (University of Notre Dame)
• Facebook group providing useful 多読 information

Games

Adaptable online games (add your own vocab, etc.)

• Kahoot – create your own games for students to compete against each other
• Socrative – create your own games for students to compete against each other in teams
• Quizlet – create games based on flashcards, both for individual players and teams
• Purpose games – create your own games based on an image. (Multiple-choice, matching, and fill-in “games” are also possible.)
  • Example: Japanese numbers (clock)
  • Example: Japanese classroom (shapes)
  • Example: Japanese classroom (dots)

Non-adaptable online games

• もじぴかー動物 – hiragana matching game
• もじぴかー食べ物 – hiragana matching game
• もじぴかー海のもの – hiragana matching game
• ひらがな計算 – perform addition/subtraction using hiragana
• 会計貴族 – provide correct change to customers. Not much language involved, but may help familiarize students with Japanese currency.
• オームズのドキハラ虫くいワード – choose the correct hiragana or katakana character to fill in words
• 20Q – 20 questions game
• Akinator – 20 questions game (guesses a famous person or character)

Mobile games (play on iPhone/iPad or Android device)

• Hiragana Word Fireworks – game for iOS and Android that teaches hiragana
• 美文字 – compete against yourself to write Japanese characters beautifully on iOS and Android
• Miitomo – social game for iOS & Android that can be played in Japanese, with both text and text-to-speech

Analog games

• ヒットマンガ – card game available for purchase on Amazon.co.jp
• わかった！ – materials and explanation for a card game for practicing vocabulary

Standards & assessment

• Michigan World Languages Standards and Benchmarks
• JF日本語教育スタンダード – Japan Foundation standards for Japanese language education. Also available in English.
• JFみんなのCan-doサイト – Japan Foundation can-do statements
• JF日本語教育スタンダード準拠　ロールプレイテスト – Materials for roleplay test based on Japan Foundation standards and can-do statements
• ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
• ACTFL World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages – (for purchase) includes ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Japanese
• 21st Century Skills Map for World Languages
• Common European Framework of Reference
• Audio Dropbox, Video Dropbox, and Mashups – web-based applications that can be used for low-stakes oral testing or practice tests
  • Example Mashup with Audio Dropbox

おまけ

• 72 Seasons – get interesting cultural information about all 72 seasons of the Japanese calendar on iOS and Android
• Install the Chinese handwriting keyboard on your iPhone/iPad. You’ll be able to search for characters by writing them, but without a need for correct stroke order (or even getting close)!!!