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robitusson
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 74
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 Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:06 am Post subject: Help re: Japanese school kids's interests, culture, etc. |
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Any help on this please?  I need help gathering identifiable cultural reference points to use with Japanese school children aged 8-14 or thereabouts.
What are any general interests of Japanese school age children?
What TV shows, music, books, cartoons, celebrities, products, etc. do they like?
What cultural reference points are important to them? Fashion? Trends? etc. What makes them tick?
Any insight, links, info would be greatly appreciated. |
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move
Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 132
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| Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:53 am Post subject: |
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| Anime, manga and j-pop. Why don't you just ask them what they like? |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 10:30 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I need help gathering identifiable cultural reference points to use with Japanese school children aged 8-14 |
To use in what way specifically?
And, what is a "cultural reference point"?
Doraemon
Kitty Chan
juku
after-school sports or music events
cell phones and texting, texting, texting
computer games
Arashi |
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Bread
Joined: 24 May 2009
Posts: 318
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| Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 10:30 am Post subject: |
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That dumb comedy duo that says "toos"
Boys at the upper end of that age range seem to like AKB48 a lot, too, at least around here.
You realize that 8-14 is like the second half of elementary school and all of middle school, right? There are huge changes during that time, and almost nothing is going to appeal to that whole age range (although that dumb comedy duo that says "toos" does). |
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robitusson
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 74
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| Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 4:30 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, it's a very broad range alright. Just looking for starting points.
| move wrote: |
| Anime, manga and j-pop. Why don't you just ask them what they like? |
I will of course. Just thought I'd ask here as well. I wanted a bit more depth than they might be able to express too.
Thanks for the input so far all. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 6:51 am Post subject: |
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| Starting points for what? You haven't answered either of my questions. |
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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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| You should just ask the students, as it was already mentioned. For here, seems some like Lady Gaga, Justin Beiber, and AKB48. Also noticed that they like stuff like Kamen Rider, some have mentioned Pokemon and Doraemon, and One Piece. |
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fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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(In an attempt to answer Glenski's question about "Use for what exactly?" - "Um, making the English language and its practice more appealing if not easier for Japanese schoolkids?",) I haven't found student/first-language cultural icons that useful, except in vague chitty-chatty 'Do you know X?', 'Did you see X on TV last night?', and 'What has X been up to recently?' contexts, or in making comparisions, say (X is better/stronger/prettier etc than Y).* Often the problem is that the foreign teacher doesn't know enough about them (him or herself) - although that can of course be used as a genuine information gap - but the main issue to me is that it can all amount to little more than name-dropping ultimately (especially if one isn't really much into X or Y or whoever, which is usually the case; lessons aren't just about the students, the teacher has to be involved too!). So it can be better IMHO to stick with things that are at least as popular in the West also - the likes of Harry Potter etc. Or you simply try to develop things are intrinsically fun and interesting in themselves (silly pics, stories etc), "divorced" as they are from the "real" world of generally inarticulate and/or sulky pop and movie stars etc.
"Who is scarier?":
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/3286/whoisscarier.jpg
Which was part of a 'Comparisons worksheet':
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/9801/comparisonsworksheet.jpg
(Kudos to the first person who can identify items D and F, and especially items C and H - then I'll know my drawings aren't too bad! Bonus points for formulating comparisons between each member of an apparent pair LOL).
*That's not to say however that one couldn't design almost any and every sort of grammar actvity around Japanese idols. For example: "Mixed conditionals practice" - 'If Kazunari Ninomiya(/whatever other member of Arashi but who wasn't in that Letters from Iwo Jima that I saw the other night) hadn't become an actor and singer, he would probably be ______ now instead'. (One possible answer: How about flipping burgers?   ). |
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robitusson
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 74
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| Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 4:39 am Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
To use in what way specifically?
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To refer to in classes. To use as examples of things. To pique interest. To take an interest in students' interests. etc. etc.
| Glenski wrote: |
And, what is a "cultural reference point"?
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Cultural reference points.
In the UK a snack might be a Mars bar. In America it might be a Twinky. In Japan it's a ?
In the the west Christmas is an important festival. In Thailand it's Song Kran. In Japan it's ?
Points of culture that you can refer to.
Thanks for the list. |
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Bread
Joined: 24 May 2009
Posts: 318
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| Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 6:19 am Post subject: |
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| robitusson wrote: |
Cultural reference points.
In the UK a snack might be a Mars bar. In America it might be a Twinky. In Japan it's a ?
In the the west Christmas is an important festival. In Thailand it's Song Kran. In Japan it's ?
Points of culture that you can refer to.
Thanks for the list. |
Pocky, senbei
Shougatsu, Obon |
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natsume
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 409
Location: Chongqing, China
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| Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 3:57 am Post subject: |
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| robitusson wrote: |
In the UK a snack might be a Mars bar. In America it might be a Twinky. In Japan it's a ?
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Hostess bar. |
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move
Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 132
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| Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:18 am Post subject: |
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| robitusson wrote: |
| Glenski wrote: |
To use in what way specifically?
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To refer to in classes. To use as examples of things. To pique interest. To take an interest in students' interests. etc. etc.
| Glenski wrote: |
And, what is a "cultural reference point"?
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Cultural reference points.
In the UK a snack might be a Mars bar. In America it might be a Twinky. In Japan it's a ?
In the the west Christmas is an important festival. In Thailand it's Song Kran. In Japan it's ?
Points of culture that you can refer to.
Thanks for the list. |
I use some celebrities and characters on handouts that I give to students often. It's just...something more interesting. For example, instead of a dialogue between Peter and Sarah, why not make it between Mario and Princess?
I don't do it too much however, I don't want to pander to them, and I also want them to take my class seriously. I think characters are definitely good for elementary school kids, and later in middle school students get more into celebrities. But everybody can appreciate an Italian plumber. 
It's just another way to connect with the kids, to show them that English isn't like learning Martian (even though it's usually taught like that). One thing though, I say make sure you know the character/celebrity well enough before you use it. It would be pretty lame if you put Arashi on a handout, and a student asks you what your favorite Arashi song is and you go "uhmm...." |
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Bread
Joined: 24 May 2009
Posts: 318
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| Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 12:44 pm Post subject: |
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| natsume wrote: |
| robitusson wrote: |
In the UK a snack might be a Mars bar. In America it might be a Twinky. In Japan it's a ?
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Hostess bar. |
This guy gets it.
| move wrote: |
I use some celebrities and characters on handouts that I give to students often. It's just...something more interesting. For example, instead of a dialogue between Peter and Sarah, why not make it between Mario and Princess? |
If you use a textbook with recurring characters, one of my favorite things to do is to make the dialogue between one of the book characters and, for example, Barack Obama, Godzilla, a ghost, Noguchi Hideyo (photocopied from the 千円札), or anyone else that's more interesting to have a dialogue with besides Daisuke v. Yuki volume 52.
Cow: Moo!
Yuki: Why does this cow say "Moo?" In Japan, cows say "モー".
Cow: I am an English-speaking cow. |
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