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JLEU36

NOVEMBER, 2016: BREEZE ISSUE #109
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF
JAPANESE

JAPANESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION UPDATE 36(3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY):
WHY I LEARNED JAPANESE
by Amanda Rollins, Japanese Language Program Coordinator
Recently, in a meeting with a number of Japanese language
teachers, one of them looked me in the eye and said, “I hateanime. I never watch it and I never use it in class.” She went
on to say that her students are very “elite” and that they
probably didn’t want to learn about anime anyway.
All I could think was, “…Those poor students.” But when I
looked back on my own Japanese language classes, none of
my professors ever used anime to instruct. I remember one
paragraph about Doraemon that we read in class, but that isthe exception that proves the rule.
I would like to take this opportunity to urge Japanese
language teachers to incorporate anime and manga into
your lessons. Even if you hate it.
I decided to learn Japanese and go to Japan because of anime and manga. In fact, watching
Sailor Moon was my first personal encounter with another culture. I did not even care aboutother countries until I learned that “Serena” was from “Tokyo.”
When I watched anime as a kid, I sang along with the opening theme songs and I repeatedphrases that the characters were saying. In other words, I trained my ear for correct Japanese
pronunciation at a young age. That helped me enormously when I later took proper classes inschool.
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My love of anime and manga meant that I “studied” outside of class for my own personalenjoyment. I watched “authentic materials.” I had fun searching for familiar hiragana, katakana,and kanji in manga volumes. While studying abroad in Osaka for one year, I spent the entire
winter break trying to read through a long manga series that has not been translated intoEnglish yet. As a form of self-study, I translated a manga-based light novel into English. Talk
about “Project Based Learning!”
When I went back to Japan to teach English, I decided to try to pass the JLPT Level 2 (Nowcalled “N2”). I failed the first time, so I bought an expensive set of flashcards to try toremember kanji. Guess what? That didn’t work. So I stopped carrying around the flashcards andstarted regularly reading manga on the train. Next time I took the JLPT 2, I passed with an extra
20 points in my reading comprehension score.
But learning a language isn’t about tests, and it certainly isn’t about being “elite.” It’s about
understanding yourself and other people. It’s about exploring the world outside the classroom.
Anime and manga inspired me to reach outside my comfort zone, find friends, and experiencelife. I wish my teachers had tried to tap into that. If you’re worried about teaching your students
about something you don’t understand, why not let them teach you ?

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, give yourstudents extra credit to come see the One Piece
Kabuki free screening on November 27 (Sunday).
Expose your students to a combination of
traditional kabuki theatre and the most popular
anime of all time!

Breeze #110

Breeze #109

Japanese Langauge Education Update 362016 J-LEAP Report: Akiko Inagaki

2016 J-LEAP Report: Sakurako Hiroike2016 Short-Term Teacher Training Program: Kristin Wingate

2016 Short-Term Teacher Training Program: Madeleine Graham
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2016 Japanese Language Program for Specialists: Lin Li2016 Japanese Language Program for Specialists: Samuel Timinsky

Breeze #108

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