This site broadcasts news about Japan in English. Students can read, listen to, or watch the news. This site could be used in a variety of ways to help students familiarize themselves with issues in Japan. Japanese news (in Japanese) would be too difficult for most students to understand, so...
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Resource: Hiroshima Panorama Project
This website offers three photos of Hiroshima after it had been bombed with a nuclear weapon. The website shows sections of panoramic photos of the city, and you can also order print versions for $25. These would be very valuable resources to use in a class about Hiroshima and the...
Continue reading...Resource: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
This site could be used in a class that talks about the history of the war from the Japanese perspective (as a part of the “moving between cultures” outcomes). Link: http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/index_e2.html
Continue reading...Resources: Bonjinsha
Bonjinsha is one of the best places to shop for Japanese teaching materials, including textbooks, flashcards, and test materials. There is a store in Kojimachi that every Japanese language teacher should make a trek to at least once in his/her life! It is one thing to read about Japanese materials...
Continue reading...Resource: Billboard Japan Hot 100
Learning about pop music in another language can motivate students to want to learn more about that language. The Billboard site lists the latest top 100 songs in Japan, which could serve as a starting point for a research project on J-pop or a teacher could use it to keep...
Continue reading...Resource: JapanesePod101.com
JapanesePod101.com offers a wide range of podcasts and videos that can help students review what they have learned in class or learn new material independently. The site offers some content for free, but some can only be accessed by paying a membership fee. Teachers could also make use of the...
Continue reading...Resource: Erin’s Challenge
Erin’s Challenge is a comprehensive resource designed by the Japan Foundation. There are a collection of videos that cover a wide range of situations in Japan and there are many resources to go with the videos. Four different kinds of subtitles can be shown for each video (normal Japanese, hiragana,...
Continue reading...Resource: Hiragana Times
Hiragana Times is a magazine that is designed for students of Japanese. The articles are written in Japanese, but the text has been modified to be slightly easier for students to read. The kanji characters are all given furigana so students can look up the meaning of the words easily....
Continue reading...Resource: Japanese Language Proficiency Test
The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is the most well-known test of Japanese proficiency for non-native speakers. There are five test levels (N5, the lowest, to N1, the highest). Once students have a basic understanding of Japanese, it can be very rewarding for them to take a test like this to...
Continue reading...Resource: Kanji Proficiency Test
Kanji are inherently interesting and the Kanji Proficiency Test is a good way to motivate students to learn the characters. This test is designed for native speakers of Japanese, but the workbooks can be used to teach non-native speakers. Link: Books on Amazon.co.jp
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