Hiatus Post      2020.04.30     Thursday  休けい時間　きゅうけい　じかん　

令和2年4月30日  　木曜日

            Try to listen to spoken Japanese whenever you can: movies, TV programs, anime online, etc.  The person I’ve written about below is very entertaining, his Japanese is excellent, and he’s fairly easy to understand.

Recently, when getting up in the mornings, I have been watching and listening to performances by a Canadian-born traditional 落語 rakukgo storyteller named Katsura Sunshine   桂三輝. He broadcasts from Tokyo on 木曜日のあさ mornings 日本語で and on　木曜日のよる Thursday evenings  英語で.  He has a presence on Facebook and on YouTube, where you can find “Katsura Sunshine (rakugo storyteller) a documentary film” and some of his individual routines.

He came to Chicago last summer for the big downtown Japan Festival that took place in Millennium Park and at the Chicago Cultural Center.  That’s where I saw/heard him for the first time.  He performed in both Japanese (his Japanese is fabulous) and English, wearing a hilariously gaudy kimono and sporting hair dyed a showy blond. He is very entertaining in both languages!

After Chicago, he went to New York and appeared in an off-Broadway theater for several months.  And now he has been nominated to receive an award from the Off Broadway Theater Alliance for his production, “Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo,” in the category of “best unique theatrical experience.” 

I am thinking about this because I want YOU to speak.  Go to Flipgrid (information below) and record the two assignments there that I have left for you.

Japanese 3-4

You will be doing the class assignments created by Yoko Sensei from now on.  Send them /post them to me, however, as I will be grading them in Skyward.

Japanese 5-6

Chapter 11 の漢字 and 話すことspeaking, 今日those are the things we are working on.

****Please look at Flipgrid***:  Here is the link to the new assignment on Flipgrid. https://flipgrid.com/c68218ac Your code for Flipgrid is nihongo5634. 

Access Japanese 5-6 flipgrid with your school email address ending: @student.oprfhs.org

           

宿題　　　しゅくだい　　　Homework (due MONDAY)  

              

A. Write each of each Chapter 11 that we have learned so far, 3 times each

父　母　兄　姉　強い　　忘れる　　思う　言う　子供

B.****Please look at Flipgrid***:  Here is the link to the new assignment on Flipgrid. https://flipgrid.com/c68218ac Your code for Flipgrid is nihongo5634. Access Japanese 5-6 flipgrid with your school email address ending: @student.oprfhs.org

There are actually 2 assignments now on Flipgrid. 

The first is to tell about your (possibly fictional) weekend, using specified verbs in the past tense.

 

The second is to tell about experiences you have had using the pattern

Dictionary-form-verb こと　が　あります、ある、ありません、ない

                       

      Here's the link to the Nakama textbook, online:

https://kupdf.net/download/nakama-1-textbook-japanese_5afab2dde2b6f5b7601d5650_pdf

Hiatus Post      2020.04.29     Wednesday  休けい時間　きゅうけい　じかん

　

令和2年4月29日  　水曜日

How are you all doing on this rainy Wednesday?  I think of you and imagine your 好きな　faces.

So here is what today is, in Japan; it is the first day of Golden Week. Below is an explanation, with some historical information.

Shōwa Day (昭和の日, Shōwa no Hi)   [April 29^th]　　（edited from Wikipedia）

Shō (昭) means “shining” or “bright”, and wa (和) means “peace”, signifying the "enlightened peace" that citizens [hoped to] receive.

According to the now defunct Democratic Party of Japan, the purpose of the holiday is to encourage public reflection on the turbulent 63 years of Hirohito's reign.

Hirohito  (裕仁, 29 April 1901 – 7 January 1989) was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. He reigned as the emperor of the Empire of Japan (大日本帝國) from 25 December 1926 until 2 May 1947,  and [as emperor] of the state of Japan (日本国) from 3 May 1947 until his death on 7 January 1989. He was succeeded by his fifth child and eldest son, Akihito.  In Japan, reigning emperors [usually] are known simply as "the Emperor" and he is now referred to primarily by his [reign] name, Shōwa (昭和), which is the name of the era coinciding with his reign; for this reason, he is also known as the Shōwa Emperor or Emperor Shōwa.

At the start of his reign [in 1926], Japan was already one of the great powers—the ninth-largest economy in the world, the third-largest naval power, and one of the four permanent members of the council of the League of Nations. He was the head of state under the [then] Constitution of the Empire of Japan during Japan's imperial expansion, militarization, and involvement in World War II.

After Japan's surrender, he was not prosecuted for war crimes as many other leading government figures were, and his degree of involvement in wartime decisions remains [extremely] controversial.

 During the post-war era he became the symbol of the state of Japan under the [new] post-war constitution and Japan's recovery [with no political power of his own], and by the end of his reign [in 1989], Japan had emerged as the world's second largest economy.

Japanese 3-4

You will be doing the class assignments created by Yoko Sensei from now on.  Send them /post them to me, however, as I will be grading them in Skyward.

Japanese 5-6

As you know, Lesson 11 of Nakama focuses on memory, 思い出（おもいで）: thinking about things, telling about events and experiences in the past, in various times of one’s life.

As you probably recall, we have already worked on the following kanji.

（こども）child, children                       忘れる（わすれる）to forget

思う（おもう）to think, when expressing an opinion.

言う（いう）to say

Now, here are new Chapter 11 kanji to work on:

父　　ちち　　　　お父さん　　おとうさん

(my) father                     (everybody else’s) father

母　　はは　　　　お母さん　　おかあさん

(my) mother                    (everybody else’s) mother

兄　　あに　　　　お兄さん　　おにいさん

(my) older  brother      (everyone else’s) older brother

姉　　あね　　　　お姉さん　　おねえさん

(my) older sister            (everyone else’s) older sister

強い　つよい　｛we studied this already in勉強　べんきょう｝

strong

****Please look at Flipgrid***:  Here is the link to the new assignment on Flipgrid. https://flipgrid.com/c68218ac Your code for Flipgrid is nihongo5634. Access Japanese 5-6 flipgrid with your school email address ending: @student.oprfhs.org

           

宿題　　　しゅくだい　　　Homework (due FRIDAY)      

          

A. Write each of the new kanji above 10 times each.

B.  　Now write each of the following verbs in plain past affirmative and negative.

               Example:  　すう　　すわない　　すわなかった　(inhale)

                    なくto cry

　　　　のぼる to climb

　　　　のる to get on/ride

　　　　わらうto laugh

　　　　けっこん　する to marry

　　　　つとめる to become employed

                       

C.       Here's the link to the Nakama textbook, online:

https://kupdf.net/download/nakama-1-textbook-japanese_5afab2dde2b6f5b7601d5650_pdf

Hiatus Post      2020.04.28     Tuesday  休けい時間　きゅうけい　じかん　

令和2年4月28日  　火曜日

Japan has a big holiday season coming up, and it’s a “season” because it combines a lot of separate holidays, some of which are official holidays.

Golden Week (Japan)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク, Gōruden Wīiku, Gōruden Uīiku) (or GW) is a week from the 29th of April to early May containing a number of Japanese holidays

Holidays celebrated

·         29 April

o    The Showa Emperor's Birthday (天長節, Tenchō Setsu), reign 1927–1989

o    Shōwa Day (昭和の日, Shōwa no Hi), 2007–present

·         3 May

o    Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日, Kenpō Kinenbi)

·         4 May

o    Citizen's Holiday (国民の休日, Kokumin no Kyūjitsu), 1985–2006

o    Greenery Day (みどりの日, Midori no Hi), 2007–present

·         5 May

o    Children's Day (子供の日, Kodomo no Hi), also known as Boys' Day or the Feast of Banners, traditionally celebrated as Tango no Sekku (端午の節句).

Note that "kokumin no kyūjitsu" or "citizen's holiday" is a generic term for any official holiday. The 4^th of May was, until 2007, an unnamed but official holiday because of a rule that converts any day between two holidays into a new holiday. …

History

The National Holiday Laws, promulgated in July 1948, declared nine official holidays. Since many were concentrated in a week spanning the end of April to early May, many leisure-based industries experienced spikes in their revenues. The film industry was no exception. In 1951, the film Jiyū Gakkō recorded higher ticket sales during this holiday-filled week than any other time in the year (including New Year's and Obon). This prompted the managing director of Daiei Film Co., Ltd. to dub the week "Golden Week" based on the Japanese radio lingo “golden time,” which denotes the period with the highest listener ratings.  At the time, 29 April was a national holiday celebrating the birth of the Shōwa Emperor. Upon his death in 1989, the day was renamed "Greenery Day."   In 2007, Greenery Day was moved to 4 May, and 29 April was renamed Shōwa Day to commemorate the late Emperor.^[3]

Current practice

Many Japanese nationals take paid time off during this holiday, and some companies are closed down completely and give their employees time off. Golden Week is the longest vacation period of the year for many Japanese workers. Two other Japanese holidays are observed for most or all of a week: Japanese New Year in January and Obon Festival in August.

Golden Week is a popular time for holiday travel. Despite significantly higher rates, flights, trains, and hotels are often fully booked. Popular destinations include Asia, Guam, Saipan, and Hawaii, major cities on the West Coast of North America such as Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, and Vancouver, and a number of cities in Europe and Australia.

The Super GT Fuji 500 km auto race is held on Golden Week.

2019 schedule[

Golden Week in 2019 was particularly long due to the 2019 Japanese imperial transition, with the succession of the new emperor on 1 May designated as an additional national holiday. As 29 April and 3 May are already holidays, this caused 30 April and 2 May to be public holidays as well, making 2019's Golden Week ten consecutive days, from Saturday 27 April through Monday 6 May.

2020 impact of pandemic

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has discouraged holiday travel during "Golden Week" (GW) to prevent spread of infections. Tokyo residents have been advised to stay home for Stay Home Week (ステイホーム週間, Sutei hoomu  shūkan) . The rebranded "Stay Home Week to Save Lives" will run from April 25 through to May 6^th.. Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura has announced that schools will be closed on May 7 and 8 and businesses in the Kansai [Osaka大阪] region have been encouraged to extend the holiday period through the weekend until May 11^th.

Japanese 3-4

You will be doing the class assignments created by Yoko Sensei from now on.  Send them /post them to me, however, as I will be grading and posting them in Skyward.

Japanese 5-6

If you look at page 354 of Lesson 11 of Nakama you will see a round diagram of the cycle of the year, with seasons and months.  This is another to help us focus on memory, 思い出（おもいで）.  Coming up is Golden Week, described in the (somewhat edited) explanation from Wikipedia, above. Since it is a relatively extended time, many Japanese take the opportunity to travel.  Some Japanese businessmen I met (when I worked for a small Japanese company) actually came to the Chicago suburbs to play golf because, even with the air fare, it was at that time cheaper to play golf here than in Japan.

People like to talk about their experiences duringゴールデンウィーク   Golden Week in past years.

Oh, and by the way --

Please look at Flipgrid:  Here is the link to the new assignment on Flipgrid. https://flipgrid.com/c68218ac Your code for Flipgrid is nihongo5634. Access Japanese 5-6 flipgrid with your school email address ending: @student.oprfhs.org キメル先生より

           

宿題　　　しゅくだい　　　Homework (due FRIDAY)     

           

Read the sentences below: one person’s experiences during ゴールデンウィーク

A.  　下の日本語を英語で書いて下さい。Think of this as the childhood memory of one Japanese exchange student.

一．    子供の時　の　ゴールデンウィーク　に、私　は　お母さん　の　りょうしん　の　まち　に　帰りました。

二．    町（まち）のちかく　に　うみ　が　ありました　が、さむかった　から、およいだ　こと　は　ありませんでした。

三．    でも、じてんしゃ　に　のった　こた　ありました。

四．    そした　山　も　のぼりました。

五．    そぼ　と　そふ　（おばあさん　と　おじいさん）は　元気で明るい（あかるい）人　でした。

     六．みな　は　楽しくて、よく　わらいました。

B.   We will learn how to make the plain past negative forms gof verbs during this lesson.  There are some examples below.  Can you figure out the rule?  What is it?

              すいません　　すわない　　　すわなかった

　　　勉強しません　しない　　　　しなかった         

　　　なきません　　なかない　　　なかなかった

　　　とりません　　とらない　　　とらなかった

　　　来ます　　　　こない　　　　こなかった

　　　        

C.       Here's the link to the Nakama textbook, online:

https://kupdf.net/download/nakama-1-textbook-japanese_5afab2dde2b6f5b7601d5650_pdf

Hiatus Post      2020.04.27     Monday  休けい時間　きゅうけい　じかん　

令和2年4月27日  　月曜日

週末（しゅうまつ）は　どう　でしたか。

楽しかった？

つまらなかった？

 Brad Pitt appeared on Saturday Night Live 四月二十五日に, so of course I thought of Yoko Schmadeke Sensei.  

Brad Pitt was playing Dr. Anthony Fauci, the physician　医者　 who has been giving national medical announcements during White House news briefings.  At the end of the episode, Brad Pitt paid tribute to Dr. Fauci’s expertise and devotion.

I also wrote about it and sent the link to a Japanese friend of mine who works in the medical field in Indianapolis.  Here is what she wrote:

「上医は国を医す。Dr. Fauci is 上医。」

The kanji 医 means “doctor, medicine.”  So 医する　is a somewhat old-fashioned verb that means “to heal, to cure.”  As you know, 上　can mean something like top, or summit.   Therefore 上 医 can mean something like the doctor at the top of his profession, the most senior doctor (“Senior doctor” is how my friend translated it).  And 国 くに　means country or nation.

So what she was saying was something like, “The top/best/senior doctor is one who heals/cures the (whole) nation.  Doctor Fauci is a top doctor.”

We can be grateful that he has been looking out for our country as a whole.

Japanese 3-4

You will be doing the class assignments created by Yoko Sensei from now on.  Send them /post them to me, however, as I will be grading and posting them in Skyward.

Japanese 5-6

Lesson 11 of Nakama focuses on memory, 思い出（おもいで）: thinking about things, telling about events in the past, in various times of everyone’s lives.

As you probably recall, we worked on the following kanji on Thursday.

子供　（こども）child, children                       

忘れる（わすれる）to forget

思う（おもう）to think (about), particularly when expressing an opinion.

言う（いう）to say, especially when reporting what someone has said.

Please look at Flipgrid.

 Here is the link to the new assignment on Flipgrid. https://flipgrid.com/c68218ac Your code for Flipgrid is nihongo5634. Access Japanese 5-6 flipgrid with your school email address ending: @student.oprfhs.org キメル先生より



           

宿題　　　しゅくだい　　　Homework (due WEDNESDAY)      

          

A. Write the sentence below, which uses all the above kanji, 3 times.  Then wrute its English meaning.１Ｘ書いて下さい。

友達の子供は宿題を忘れた、と　思います

B.  　Now write 1 original sentence using each of the following kanji words (4 sentences, total).

     子供　　　忘れる　　　思う　　　　　言う

1

2

3

4

                       

C.       Here's the link to the Nakama textbook, online:

https://kupdf.net/download/nakama-1-textbook-japanese_5afab2dde2b6f5b7601d5650_pdf