Number Presentation – background notes
The number presentation is broken into two parts.
Part One - numbers
This section teaches the numbers one to ten. First of all a picture appears on
the screen. Ask the children to tell you what they can see. The pictures are
aimed to act as a prompt. Once children have identified the correct word, click
the mouse and the corresponding number appears. Have children pronounce
the word and teach them an appropriate action to help them remember the
number (see below for suggested actions etc).
Word to identify from the picture: itchy
Japanese pronunciation:
ichi
Action:
scratch yourself
all over!
Word to identify from the picture: knee
Japanese pronunciation:
ni
Action:
point to your
knee
Word to identify from the picture: sun
Japanese pronunciation:
san
Action:
use your fingers
to make sun rays
Note: actual pronunciation is ‘san’ as in ‘sandal’.
Word to identify from the picture: yawn
Japanese pronunciation:
yon
Action:
yawn!
Note: actual pronunciation is more clipped than the
word for ‘yawn’.
Word to identify from the picture: go
Japanese pronunciation:
go
Action:
point your finger
Note: actual pronunciation is clipped so should
sound like the ‘go’ in ‘golf’.
Word to identify from the picture: lock
Japanese pronunciation:
loku
Action:
pretend to unlock
a door
Note: don’t forget to emphasise the ‘ku’ sound at the
end of the word.
Word to identify from the picture: nana
Japanese pronunciation:
nana
Action:
shaky movements
Word to identify from the picture: hatch
Japanese pronunciation:
hachi
Action:
put your arms
above your head
and have them
‘hatch’ open!
Note: don’t forget to emphasise the ‘chi’ sound at
the end of the word.
Word to identify from the picture: queue
Japanese pronunciation:
kyu
Action:
stand bolt upright
Word to identify from the picture: judo
Japanese pronunciation:
ju
Action:
use your arm to do
a ‘chop’ motion
Note: don’t forget to emphasise the word for 10 is
just the ‘ju’ part of ‘judo’.
Exercises after the numbers 1-10 are aimed at reviewing the numbers learned
so far. Are children able to say the number in Japanese without seeing the
picture prompt and are children able to recall numbers that appear in random
order?
The next few screens are dedicated to numbers 11-20. Based on what they’ve
already learnt, can children make educated guesses as to what the numbers
will be? You can use actions to help the children.
Part Two – how much?
Part two concentrates on Japanese money and how to buy things. Show
children the pictures of Japanese currency and have them pick out interesting
points, such as the shapes of the coins and the pictures on the notes. Explain
that although Japanese currency is the ‘en’, when written in English, it
becomes ‘yen’ (although it sometimes sounds like ‘yen’ in spoken Japanese
depending on the preceding number). You may like to show the children some
of the following slides with prices of various items of food on. Are they able to
say the cost in Japanese?
Ask the children the following:
いくらですか
ikura desu ka
how much is it?
…円です
it’s … yen
…en desu
All the images depicted in the presentation are also explained in the
presentation.