My Japanese lessons generally include practices to develop skills of speaking, reading, listening, writing, interacting and constructing and performing students’ own dialogues by pairs/groups or by oneself. The learning include the language and cultural skills to be used in travelling or living/working in Japan and general understanding upon Japanese culture. For speaking practice, I sometimes uses pictures, information, concepts/ideas or topics from the brochures of Japanese newspapers, the ads, Nichigo Press and other Japanese monthly magazines.

For Hiragana teaching, I use flash cards of Hiragana words and the pictures that the words signify. Magazines and fairy tale stories of children are also used for Hiragana reading, grammar (including differences of use of particles, -wa and -ga) and value/culture teaching. Most of the weekly homework given (exercise sheets) is for script learning and writing that are with Japanese words, name or simple sentences plus pictures.

 

Regarding my class teaching, my Intensive Japanese Beginners 1 (Sat. mornings, 6 weeks’ course) finished last Sat. We finished the main textbook “Training Material” and used many other resources for general language, travelers orientated language, script communication skills and culture. For Hiragana reading and writing, the course used a few sets of flash cards (letter based or words based + pictures), weekly Hiragana based exercise sheets and flash cards set, “Hiragana 48 Minutes”.

 

Also, for culture and sentences making (including use of pronouns such as “kore”, “sore”, modifiers such as “kono”, “sono”), I used a set of many beautiful pictures of a variety of Japanese cuisines and foods/drinks, “Jitsubutsudai Sonomanma Ryoori-kaado” (publisher: Gunyoosha, Tokyo). For traveler Japanese, I used “15 Minute Japanese” with its cd (by M. Maeda-Nye et al). The kit was very good, having good list of vocab, sentences examples and short dialogues. The cd was very easy and approachable to use too.

 

 

Regarding news on Japan and its international relations, NHK TV news (shown on SBS) reported that Japan and esp. its motor manufactures are very concerned with the US President’s announcement of 25% import tax to Japanese car makers. All the Japanese car makers are concerned about that. As one of the interviews, the CEO of Mazda said that their business plans and structures have been made based on the international perspective and anticipation; it is very difficult when such a (sharp and sudden) tax rise is given. In the case of Toyota too, its earnings from the US market is bigger than any other lands, such a hard landing change in the tax must be a big issue.

 

I remember that some years ago, some survey was done extensively in the US about how the US suppliers of car parts evaluate their business relations with Japanese car makers (esp. Toyota, Honda and Nissan). About 70% satisfactions were reported toward the relations with the Japanese car makers. And the suppliers were happy with the Japanese car makers, since the latter generally do not change what they initially said as their plans with the US suppliers. The Japanese car makers respect the position and business of the US suppliers.

 

On the contrary, according to the survey report, car parts suppliers who had business partnerships with the US major car makers expressed only about 40% satisfaction level for their business partnerships. Part of the major reason why the satisfaction level was poor was that the US car makers tended to change their initial promises with some reasons in irresponsible ways and the suppliers have to suffer the aftermaths of the sudden changes inflicted to their business.   –  That is understandable.

 

If Japanese car makers (same with other overseas major car makers too who are operating business in the US) will have to close down offices and factories in the US (and try to find new sites in other countries because of the US President’s abrupt, new and high import tax, there will be many workers in the US who will lose the jobs as the result (both in white collar and blue collar workers and other types of jobs and industries that could have business directly or indirectly because of having foreign car makers’ investments in production, business and services in the US). Such a sharp, big trouble causing tax won’t be good for the US economy and its people’s lives.

 

Plus, the recent international media (including Japanese NHK news) reported in relation to the recent G7 Summit, the recent Summit was like “G6 + 1 (i.e. the US)”. The US could/would lose its fundamental trusting relationships with other major nations on this planet out of such one-way, narrow and short-sighed evaluation and communication style, judgement, focus and deliverance of such a particular value. And that might possibly lose much or depth of other factors of significant resources, human skills and non-human resource technological property in the US, base of peace and trusting and respect abiding relationships with the rest of the world who want to have productive, thoughtful and creative/innovative relationships for all and with the US. What a shame. I hope major nations’ governments, car makers, media and academics will speak up against this, very troublesome situation.

 

 

 

Toshiko Jackson (Japanese teacher)

 

5 June, 18