I want to take you on a journey of discovery – a discovery of your strengths and interests, not only in the Japanese language, but in other areas of your life where Japanese may come into play.
If this is your first visit to my site, please start at Unit 1 Nihongo Dreams and don’t forget the Unit 1 Nihongo Dreams Worksheets.
If you are returning for Unit 2, there will be 4 posts, total.
Unit 2 Introduction (don’t skip this)
Unit 2 Language Worksheets
If you’ve completed these, you’re ready to use the Japanese language to make some new discoveries. Click this link for a copy of these worksheets.
UNIT 2 DISCOVERING STRENGTHS & INTERESTS – CREATE WORKSHEETS
My goal is to help all students of Less Commonly Taught Languages develop the stamina and motivation they need to push through to proficiency. For most of these LCTL the number of years a student much devote to master these languages is longer than most college programs. Plus, not all students have the means or time to travel to the country of their language choice for several months or years in order to develop those advanced skills. How can we keep them motivated to keep going?
One way to keep that dedication to the language beyond a few years is to have them explore who they want to be in the future and visualize how they will be using the language ten years from now. This is why I prefer to call my students Japanese Language USERS rather than learners. I want the to plant that seed from the beginning that they can master this language.
Possible Selves?
In the Possible Selves program for developing motivation, the second step is DISCOVERING who you are now, recalling what you have accomplished and what you are interested in doing in the future. You can find a simple overview here: https://www.slideserve.com/denton/possible-selves
Many of the possible selves activities have students thinking of themselves in 3 arenas: student / worker / good human*. (please interpret “good human” as you see fit. I see it as someone who tries not to harm those around them) In my curriculum at the art college my students focus on themselves in these arenas: language user / professional artist / good human. If you are a teacher or a self-study learner of Japanese, please choose the second area at suits you best. Ideally it should be how you intend to earn a living. I recommend using these arenas:
language user / title of job for how you will earn a living / good human.
How to use the CREATE worksheets
Observations
I like to approach Japanese as an ethnographer. How is the language being used? What are people doing with the language? What can I discover about the language and culture I’m studying by observing?
This set of worksheets begins with 2 videos. The first is a rather long video of a festival in Nagasaki. The camera is handheld so it gives us a first person perspective. This is a long video, so I recommend only the first 5 minutes be watched purposefully. They entire video is rather interesting though. Here is the website for the festival featured: https://nagasaki-kunchi.com/. Interested students should take a look at it.
The second video is a children’s theater production. It too is a bit long, however I recommend watching until all the Shichifukujin are introduced. You’ll notice that each one is carrying something that students may have identified on the previous worksheet.
Discovering oneself
This next section begins the Possible Selves work.
Students brainstorm a list of their past successes. These should include language use/learning but not exclusively. They also will identify positive experiences they have had with languages/ language learning. Next they think about what future successes they want to have in their lives. Nothing is too wild or impossible to achieve. They should be encouraged to go beyond what they think they can do today. Image what they will be doing when they are speaking Japanese.
Research with Authentic Materials
Next students will research KUMADE using authentic resources. On the worksheet I have provided images and a link to my pinterest board about Shichifukujin. There students can find many websites in Japanese and other languages about this Japanese New Year’s decoration that features the Shichifukujin. As many students may not yet have the confidence to explore a resource written only in Japanese, images are a universal way to start exploring a language and culture. https://www.pinterest.com/sensei0006/shichifukujin/
After discovering what KUMADE are, students collect images that represent their strengths and interests. They will use these to create a collage in the style of the KUMADE. A simple collage is ok, too.
Some students may feel this is like a vision board. In some ways it is. When our students have a clear and defined vision of what they want to accomplish, they are more likely to achieve it. Let this be where they start to see themselves as Japanese language users.
Tomorrow I will post the final part of Unit 2 Discovering Your Strengths and Interests.
Please like and subscribe to my blog – there are still 5 more amazing multi-literacy units that will help motivate you and your students towards proficiency in Japanese.
If you would like to discuss how this multi-literacy method could be adapted to your classroom or to your self-study or homeschool program, please contact me below.
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