The 7 Steps August
1. CONTEXT
Mindmap
anything you
know about thetopic, including
vocabulary. Do
some research
online to help.

Mountain Day
Listening Questions 1
1. How many public holidays does Japan have?

2. QUESTIONS.
2. When did Marine Day become a holiday?
.

Read the listening
questions tocheck yourunderstanding.
Look up any new
vocabulary.

3. In what year was Mt. Fuji listed as a World Heritage cultural site?
.
4. How tall is Mt. Takao and how can you get some of the way up themountain?
.
5. After Mountain Day, what is Japan’s next public holiday?
.
Listening Questions 2

3. LISTEN

1. Name 3 outdoor products that are currently sold on the market.
.

Listen and answer
the questions
using fullsentences. Circle
the number oftimes and % you
understood.

2. Where was Montbell founded and how old did it turn in 2017?
.
3. In 2017, how many stores did Montbell have in Japan?
.
4. What happened in 2002?
.
5. Which is taller, Mt. Hood or Mt. Rainier?

1

Listening 1
2 3 4

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Discussion Questions

1

Listening 2
2 3 4

5

1. What do mountains signify to you? How important are they?
2. If you could create a public holiday for Japan, what would it signify
and where on the calendar would it appear?

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4. CHECK ANSWERS

TRANSCRIPT 1
This August 11th, 2017 we will be celebrating Mountain Day in Japan for just the second time.
Of Japan’s 16 national holidays, Mountain Day is the newest and the only one in August. A
similarly themed national holiday in Japan is Marine Day, which became a holiday in 1996.

Read through thetranscript andunderline theanswers. Checkthem against yourown answers.

Mountains are an important part of Japan’s landscape, and the most famous and tallest inJapan is Mount Fuji at 3,776 meters. Fuji-san is a popular destination for both Japanese andforeign tourists alike, with the climbing season running from early July to early September.
Each year hundreds of thousands of people make the hike up the iconic mountain. In 2013, Mt.
Fuji became a World Heritage cultural site.

5. CHECK VOCABULARY

Closer to Tokyo and only a short ride from Shinjuku is another well-known mountain, Mt.
Takao. Mt. Takao is 599 meters high and visitors can reach the summit via a number ofdifferent trails. There’s also a cable car and chairlift that run part of the way up the mountain.
Japan’s next public holiday after Mountain Day is Respect for the Aged Day on September 18th.

Read thetranscript andcircle any new
vocabulary you
find. Look themup and add themto your list.

MATCH THE ANTONYMS BY DRAWING LINES BELOW:

6. READ ALOUD

Read thetranscript aloudat least 5 times,
focusing on
intonation andpronunciation.

Well-known

Ordinary

Approximately

Uninspiring

IconicExactly

PopularDomestic

Foreign

Unknown

TRANSCRIPT 21122334455

Some well-known companies associated with the outdoors include Montbell, Columbia, Patagonia,
The North Face, and Coleman.

7. SHADOWINGWhen it comes to domestic companies, Montbell is one of the best-known outdoor brands in Japan.
The company was founded in Osaka in 1975, and according to their website, that same year they
were producing sleeping bags and rain gear. Montbell has over 100 stores around Japan, as well as
stores in Switzerland and the United States.

Say the transcript
aloud at the sametime as the audio
without reading
it. Circle how
many times
below.

11

2
2

3
3

44

Hiking is a popular pastime in many countries and there’s a lot of different gear on the market. Some
examples include clothing such as boots, jackets and socks, and accessories such as trekking poles,
headlamps, foldable chairs, watches, gaiters and a wide variety of backpacks.

55In 2002 Montbell opened their first store in the United States in Boulder, Colorado. The city ofBoulder has a population of about 100,000 people and is located in the Rocky Mountains. The
company’s other US location is in Portland, Oregon. The most famous mountain in the area is Mt.
Hood (approximately 3,426 meters), while further north in Washington State is Mt. Rainier (4,392meters).