Japanese Level 4, Activity #8: “Formal and Informal Conversation” / “公式および非公式の会話” (Online)
Description:
In this activity, students will practice talking about grammar and honorifics. Students will also practice discussing formal and informal ways of speaking.
Semantic Topics:
grammar, informal, formal, honorifics, casual, 文法, 非公式, フォーマル, 敬称, カジュアル
- Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversation, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
- Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken Japanese on a variety of topics.
- Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the Japanese language and their own.
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 the sounds and the writing system in the target language.
NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:
- I can talk appropriately to my friends, acquaintances, and other people whom I respect.
- I can offer polite advice and services when asked.
Materials Needed:
Warm-Up
Briefly review the 敬語 structures for both 尊敬語（そんけいご) and 謙譲語（けんじょうご)。Have students say the correct conjugation for each verb on the following slides.
- 「今日は尊敬語と謙譲語を復習する。この言葉は尊敬語で何になる？この言葉は尊敬語で何になる？この言葉は謙譲語で何になる？」
Main Activity
Using the 9th slide, briefly explain some situations in which students would use each honorific form to talk to specific people.
Practice using 謙譲語 by doing a self-introduction. Give students your self-introduction using 謙譲語 as an example.
- 「自己紹介をしましょう。謙譲語を使ってください。」
- 例：「初めまして、わたくしは「名前」と申します。専攻は「専攻」でございます。四年生でございます。どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。」
For this activity, there will be scenarios on the slides in which a formal or informal conversation can occur. Have students pair up and have a conversation based on the scenario. For scenarios that encourage a formal conversation, one student will use honorific language while the student that is acting as someone with a higher status can respond informally. Have the students switch roles so that each person can practice formal language. This will encourage students to switch between their speaking styles more rapidly than they may be currently used to. 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.
- シナリオを見てペアで話して下さい。誰と話しているかによって、尊敬語、謙譲語か世間話を正しく使って下さい。一人はシナリオに尊敬語を使えば、後でスイッチしてください。
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 appropriately to my friends, acquaintances, and other people whom I respect.
- I can offer polite advice and services when asked.
