Japanese Level 2, Activity #8: “Informal Japanese” / “くだけた日本語” (Online)
In this activity, students will practice talking casually. Students will practice shifting from formal language to informal.
Semantic Topics:
Casual, conversation, social, short form、カジュアル、会話、ソーシャル、〜た
Products: Short form conjugations
Practices: Japanese small talk
Perspectives: How different speech is used to indicate different levels of formality
NCSSFL-ACTFL World-Readiness Standards:
- Standard 1.1 Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
- Standard 1.2 Students understand and interpret spoken and written Japanese on a variety of topics.
- Standard 4.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the nature of language through comparisons between Japanese and English.
Idaho Content Standards for World Languages:
- COMM 1.1: Interact and negotiate meaning (spoken, signed, written conversation) to share information, reactions, feelings, and opinions
- COMM 2.1: Understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard, read, or viewed on a variety of topics.
- COMP 1.1: Observe formal and informal forms of language.
- COMP 1.2: Identify patterns and explain discrepancies between the sounds and the writing system in the target language.
- COMP 1.3: Compare and analyze idiomatic expressions in the target language.
NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:
- I can talk casually with my peers.
- I can talk formally with my superiors.
- I can navigate short social exchanges using simple sentences most of the time.
Materials Needed:
Warm-Up:
Have the students practice converting the provided polite phrases into casual form.
Word Of The Day!
- 世間話（せけんばなし）Small talk!
- 丁寧語（ていねいご）Polite Form
- カジュアル: Casual Form
Review: Casual Form
Main Activity:
Students will respond to a variety of situations using the appropriate casual forms.
学生は適切なカジュアルフォームを使用してさまざまな状況に対応します。
The facilitator will scaffold the activity by providing an example dialogue (either with oneself or with a student if there are any that are confident in their abilities).
ファシリテーターは、例の対話を提供することによって活動の足場を作ります（自分自身または自分の能力に自信がある場合は学生と）。
The activity has overall topics and some potential questions to build conversation on the slides. Students may rely on those prompts as much as they need.
アクティビティには、スライド上で会話を構築するための全体的なトピックといくつかの潜在的な質問があります。学生は、必要なだけこれらのプロンプトに頼ることができます。
Use the prompts to describe to the students the situation they are conversing on, and then provide an example of the dialogue before walking through it with each student.
プロンプトを使用して、会話している状況を生徒に説明し、各生徒と話し合う前に、会話の例を示します。
自己紹介：クラスメイトと話す
- Name 名前
- Major 専攻
- Year in school 学年
- Hobbies 趣味
喫茶店：友達と会う: The facilitator will be a friend of the students at a cafe hang out. You will be annoying and pester the students asking them for favors or asking them what they’re doing
ファシリテーターは、カフェのたまり場で生徒の友達になります。あなたは迷惑になり、生徒たちに恩恵を求めたり、彼らが何をしているのかを尋ねたりするのをせがむでしょう。
Ask questions about preferences in drinks.何をのむのが好き？
Ask about classes クラスはどう？
Ask about free time ひまだったらなにがする？
電話：クラスメイト
Role Play: The facilitator will be a concerned classmate that’s calling the student to ask if they’re okay and why they missed class.
Ask about student’s absence どうしてクラスに来なかった？
- 病気だったからとか
- ねぼうしたからとか
- 紅茶を飲みに来る?
Role Play: the facilitator will invite each student to a cup of tea. Discuss with them what kind of tea (or drink) they like, and ask them when they can come over or why they can’t.
ロールプレイ：ファシリテーターが各生徒をお茶に招待します。どんなお茶（または飲み物）が好きかを話し合い、いつ来られるのか、なぜ来られないのかを尋ねます。
Wrap-Up:
デート：discuss the ideal date night with the students
- どこに行く？
- なにをする？
End of activity:
- Read Can-Do statements once more and have students evaluate
their confidence.
(Use thumbs up/thumbs down or download our student cards.) - Encourage students to be honest in their self-evaluation.
- Pay attention, and try to use feedback for future activities!
NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:
- I can talk casually with my peers.
- I can talk formally with my superiors.
- I can navigate short social exchanges using simple sentences most of the time.
