The endless rows of apartment buildings in Korea
Hong Kong is known to be packed with apartments. However, Hong Kong is just a city. Considering the size of the country, Korea is perhaps the only one country that is covered with sprawling apartment complexes throughout the country, whether it is in a metropolitan or a rural area. It is due to high volume of population in the limited of land as well as preference of living style. Within limited space, people wanted to live in a warm cosy home without taking care of the place much. In Korea, houses traditionally used to be a common type of place to live. However, as Korea became more industrialised, the Koreans found more opportunity to get a job in the bigger city, and they prefer urban life style than agricultural life, which lead to the cities becoming concentrated. Even in the rural area, there are less people living than usual, they also enjoy living in apartments due to the convenience of home care and high security.
Given the fact that the Koreans cannot stand falling behind others, living in apartments means that everyone has the same size, design and layout shared by their neighbours. If anything is different, it immediately catches the eyes of neighbours. For example, rumours of someone having a new television would fly all over the apartment complex. Fierce competition would ensue. When there was something new, it would become extremely popular within the apartment complex, as everyone would know what their neighbours have and aim to have it too. For example, refrigerators made for Kimchi were introduced 90s and within only a few years, they became in great demand for people everywhere. The Koreans have taken their ‘equal profit sharing’ mentality to a whole new level.
Hi everyone, 皆さん、こんにちは。
My Japanese classes/lessons included practices to develop skills of speaking, reading, listening, writing (including essays), interacting, and constructing/performing students’ own dialogues by pairs/groups or by oneself and learning Japanese used in travelling in Japan. Speaking practice sometimes used the pictures, concepts or topics from the brochures of the Japan National Tourism Organizations, Nichigo Press, Daily Telegraph etc. Also, understanding and analyzing Japanese culture are important part of the course.
My Intermediate 3 is studying with Japanese for Busy People Book 2 (currently Unit 3). Also, I give handouts to increase vocab and simple sentences with use of the vocab for practical language learning for travelling or staying in Japan with use of other relevant books. With use of Japanese magazines, e.g. Nichigo Press, we read and understood some ads or articles. That included a Japanese movie magazine, “Shinema-junpoo” (Aug. ’15), its 2 page ad of a film, “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation”. The phrases shown there were very interesting.
The students of the above class are now able to write and express some story or event for essay writing. For homework, they did very well for such tasks. One student wrote a beautiful story (fiction) about adapting a puppy at a home and hectic thing having occurred at night. Other student wrote/word-processed and also used an article about Sydney/Australia in relation to tourism and historical heritage of Sydney. Each of such essay or dialogue writings were read out in class and be understood by everyone in class. That practice was very useful and fun. I like to continue that activity whenever possible in future too. One of the very desirable teaching methods.
As for my students for weekly tutorials, one of them, who is a company executive, is studying with Unit 3, Japanese for Everyone now. He is happy with the textbook. As mentioned in my Blog before, he is taking a 2 weeks’ Japanese course in Tokyo in a month’s time, so he is excited about that plan too.
Another tutorial student (who is knowledgeable about goo/great Japanese restaurants in Sydney) is currently studying with Unit 6, Genki Book 1, very vigorously.
In the coming week, I plan to teach Japanese, traditional “bon-dance” with its cd (many well-known and beautiful songs for bon-dance are in it). In Japan, it’s bon-dance and its festivals season. Bon festivals in the summer are a big and positive part of Japanese community, public enjoyment of sharing, cultural and communal identity, peace etc throughout the land. (Recently I used the cd and taught the dance forms that I know to a few children somewhere else. They “loved” that. It was so positive-ness, relaxing, peacefulness and enjoyment creating to one another.)
As for the culture/society and news reported from Japan in the recent month/weeks, some of the things I spoke about (NHK TV News, 13.7.15, on SBS TV) are:
Seven-Eleven, Japan began using fast cash register system for customers, who are from overseas, to buy products without paying the tax, “menzei”. The new speedy system at its register for transaction, the shop assistant just presses the key of “menzei” and face the bar code of the product to the little screen of the register. Then, “menzei” management is fixed for the customer’s purchase. It is so speedy and many foreign tourists are impressed with the convenience and efficiency.
By next February, the company intends to have that system at its 3000 stores in Japan. Likewise, other internationally operated Lawson, Inc. has the services for customers that if the customer, who does not speak Japanese, faces an i-phone to the screen given in the store, immediately the screen will have the translation from Japanese to other, required language and up to 11 languages will be covered for such translation. – Fantastic!
Japanese Teacher, Toshiko Jackson
5.8.15
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