Achievement & Equality Team

Information on Japan and the Japanese Language

May thy peaceful reign last long!

May it last for thousands of years

Until this tiny stone will grow into a massive rock

And the mass will cover it all deep and thick

National Anthem of Japan

JAPAN AT A GLANCE

Location– East Asian archipelago of more than 3000 islands in Pacific Ocean

Neighbours– China, North Korea, South Korea, Russia

Size – 145,917 square miles

Population–127,716,000 (10th)

Density – 875.3 people per square mile

Average Life Expectancy – Males 79 years, Females 86 years

CapitalCity – Tokyo (population 8,653,000)

Currency - Yen

Time Zone – Japan standard time (+9 hours)

Potted History

Feudal times saw battles between rival clans and the arrival of Zen Buddhism from China. Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, its borders were closed in 1639 for two and a half centuries until the arrival of the “Black Ships” from the US in 1854. Japan came under western influence in the late 19th Century but then retreated into militarism, culminating in defeat in 1945. A new democratic constitution was drafted in 1947

Political Pressure Points

The post-war domination of the Liberal Democratic Party could end with elections in 2009. The economy is the biggest single issue while debates rage over the role of the modern military. Foreign policy is dominated by North Korea’s nuclear programme and its abduction of Japanese citizens during the cold war.

Population Mix

Japanese 98.7%, other 1.3%

Religious makeup

Shinto and Buddhist 84% 9these beliefs are often combined), Christian 2%

Main languages

Japanese

Living national icons

Miyavi (musician), Ryuici Sakamoto (composer), Haruki Murakami (author), Kenzaburo Oe (Nobel prize-winning writer), Takashi Murakami (artist) Miki Ando (figure skater), Ai Sugiyami (tennis player)

Website

kantei.go.jp

The Nottinghamshire Context

Many families come to Nottinghamshire because parents are studying at one of the universities. These families will often stay between 1-3 years and most parents will be fluent in English. Within Nottinghamshire most of these families will be based in the Broxtowe and Rushcliffe areas due to the proximity of the universities.

Other families come for work related reasons. Some of our parents / carers are recruited by the Toyota factory in Derby.

Education in Japan
  • Since the end of World War II education has been compulsory for all children in Japan for nine years, which includes six years of primary school (also called elementary school) and three years of lower secondary school (also called middle school or junior high school).
  • Children start their schooling at the age of six, after graduating from primary school six years later, they move to lower secondary school. After three years they have completed their compulsory educational period by the age of 15.
  • At that point, most students move along to upper secondary school (high school) for three additional years, followed by four years of university education for an even more select group.
  • Japan has both private and public schools and universities. None of them are free, but public schools are considerably cheaper than private ones. Most elementary and junior high schools in Japan are public, while most kindergartens, colleges and universities are private.
  • Because of changes in the population patterns of Japan, the number of students in primary school has declined steadily since 1980, though the number of students enrolling in universities is increasing every year.

Information about the Japanese Language

Japanese, is a language spoken by over 130 million people, in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities around the world. It is an agglutinative language and is distinguished by a complex system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary to indicate the relative status of speaker, listener and the person mentioned in conversation. The sound inventory of Japanese is relatively small, and has a lexically distinct pitch-accent system. Early Japanese is known largely on the basis of its state in the 8th century, when the three major works of Old Japanese were compiled; but smaller amounts of material, primarily inscriptional, are older. The earliest attestation of Japanese is in a Chinese document from 252 A.D.

The Japanese language is written with a combination of three different types of scripts: modified Chinese characters called kanji , and two syllabic scripts, hiragana and katakana . The Latin alphabet, rōmaji, is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when inputting Japanese into a computer. Western style Arabic numerals are generally used for numbers, but traditional Sino-Japanese numerals are also commonplace.

Japanese vocabulary has been heavily influenced by loans from other languages. A vast number of words were borrowed from Chinese, or created from Chinese models, over a period of at least 1,500 years. Since the late 19th century, Japanese has borrowed a considerable number of words from Indo-European languages, primarily English. Because of the special trade relationship between Japan and Holland in the 17th century, Dutch has also been influential, with words like bīru (from bier; "beer") and kōhī (from koffie; "coffee").

Japanese is generally written vertically beginning on the right, but many texts today are written horizontally to permit the inclusion of English words, Arabic numerals, and mathematical and chemical formulas. Though various movements over the years have advocated the adoption of the Roman script, native tradition and the great Japanese literary heritage militate against such a change.

English words of Japanese origin include kimono, geisha, sukiyaki, hibachi, jiujitsu, karate, samurai, hara-jiri, and kamikaze.

Here is an example of Japanese script.

Sample text in Japanese

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Words and Phrases
English / Japanese easy pronunciation
hello / kon-ni-chi-wa
welcome / irra-sshai-mase
yes / hai
no / iie
good morning / ohayo-go-zai-masu
good afternoon / kon-nichi-wa
good evening / kon-ban-wa
good-bye / sayo-nara
good night / o-yasumi-nasai
how are you? / o-genki-desu-ka?
how do you do? / hajime-mashite
pleased to meet you / dozo yoroshiku or yoroshiku o-ne-gai-shimasu
i am fine / hai, genki desu
and you? / anata wa?
thank you (very much) / domo arigato gozaimasu
you're welcome / do itashi mashite
say! listen! / anone
excuse me (to get attention) / sumi masen
excuse me (pardon me) / gomen nasai or shi-tsu-rei shimasu
i am sorry / gomen nasai
please write it / kaite kudasai
do you speak english? / anata wa eigo o hana-shimasu-ka?
yes, i speak a little / hai, sukoshi hana-shimasu
do you understand? / wakarimasu ka?
yes, i understand / hai, waka-rimasu
oh, i see / a-so-desu-ka?
no, i don't understand / iie, wakarimasen
please say it again / mo ichido itte kudasai
please speak slowly / yukkuri hanashi te kudasai
please wait a moment / chotto matte kudasai
do you have any worries? / shin pai goto ga arimasu ka?
i have a problem / mondai ga drimasu
what is your name? / anata-no namae wa?
my name is ______/ watashi no namae wa______desu
how old are you? / nan sai desu ka?
i am …. years old! / watashi wa …..sai desu!
where is it? / doko desu ka?
what time is it? / nan-ji desu ka?
i will take it / soreo kudasai
no, thank you / iie kekko desu
do you like it? / suki desuka?
i like it / suki desu
i don't like it / kirai desu
school / gakkou
teacher / semsei
class / gakku
books / hon
pencil / enpitsu
pen / pen
monday / getsu-yobi
tuesday / ka-yobi
wednesday / sui-yobi
thursday / maku-yobi
friday / kin-yobi
saturday / do-yobi
sunday / nchi-yobi
colours / iro
blue / ao
red / aka
brown / cha-iro
orange / daidai-iro
grey / hai-iro
yellow / ki-iro
light green / kimidori
black / kuro
green / midori
light blue / mizu-iro
pink / momo-iro
purple / murasaki
white / shiro
one / ichi
two / ne
three / san
four / shi (or yon)
five / go
six / roku
seven / shichi (or nana)
eight / hachi
nine / kyuu (or ku)
ten / juu

Useful guidance is available from:

New Arrivals Excellence Programme Guidance

(2007) Ref 00650 – 2007BKT- EN

This resource is for primary and secondary schools and contains guidance on admission and developing classroom practice.

A language in common: assessing English as an additional language

QCA (2000) (QCA/00/584).

This document sets out steps used in assessment of EAL, linked to English National Curriculum levels. It provides guidance and exemplifications.

Aiming High: guidance on supporting the education of asylum seeking and refugee children (DfES 0287 – 2004)

This guidance helps explain the value of an inclusive ethos and curriculum to all pupils.

Aiming High: meeting the needs of newly arrived learners of EAL

(DfES 1381 -2005)

Information on working with newly arrived isolated EAL pupils in settings that have little or no access to EAL support.

Excellence and enjoyment: learning and teaching for bilingual children in the primary years (DfES 0013 – 2006PCK- EN)

Key Stage 3 National Strategy: Access and engagement in English:teaching pupils for whom English is an additional language (DfES 0609 – 2002)

Publications/Catalogues are available from:

MUNDI Tel: 0115 8546418

Mundi

Global Education Centre

Foxhall Lodge

Foxhall Road

Nottingham

NG7 6LH

(under construction/Aug 2010)

Mundi loan resources to schools in Nottinghamshire free for up to half a term

e-mail:

GRANT AND CUTLERTel: 0207 734 2012

55-57 Great Marlborough Street,
London'
England
W1F 7AY

Web:

A one-stop shop for foreign language resources including language-learning material, reference books, technical dictionaries, literature, history, politics etc.

MILET PUBLISHING Tel: 0207603 5477
6 North End Parade
London W14 0SJ
England

Web:

Milet publishers a wide range of bilingual picture dictionaries, including board books for use in early years settings.

TRENTHAM BOOKS LTD Tel: 01782 745567

Westview House,734 London Road,
Stoke on Trent,
UKST4 5NPWeb:

Trentham publishes 'a wide range of titles plus seven professional journals, mainly in the field of education and social policy.

MANTRA LINGUA Tel: 0208 44 55 123

Global House

303 Ballards Lane

London
N12 8NP
UK

Web:

Mantra Lingua creative learning resources Audio CDs, Big Books, e-books, fun tales, folk tales, friezes, games, language learning, packs posters, story props, toys videos and so on.

JAPAN CENTRE BOOKSHOPTel: 020 74398035
212 PiccadillyPiccadillyLondonW1J 9HG

Web:

It provides variety of Books CDs and Videos.

Classroom Resources are available from:

Interactive video clips showing children teaching their home languages.

The following website translates words, phrases and short paragraphs from English to Japanese available at;

DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety images that can be used for creating pupils own subject-specific dictionaries.

Activities for ESL Students can be adapted for EAL pupils in primary and secondary schools. Has bilingual quizzes in large number of languages, available at;

Omniglot writing systems and languages of the world, book store; available at,

EMA Online resource base for teachers has been developed by Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester LAs with funding from the DfES, available at;

Racist bullying, Advice designed for schools to dip in and out as appropriate for them and offers discussion topics and activities to stimulate debate and spark activity involving everyone in the school community, available at;

Teachernet states that a successful home–school relationship can be a key element in making a school stronger and more effective. In particular, it can make a real difference to groups of underachieving pupils and their families, available at;

Nottinghamshire Achievement & Equality Team