Japanese Level 4, Activity #13: “Honorifics” / “敬語” (Online)

Description:

Students will practice their formal conversation skills by practicing how they would speak to their bosses and other respectable individuals.

Semantic Topics:

Formal, jobs, conversation, practice, respect, フォーマル, 仕事, 会話, 練習, 尊敬

NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:

  • I can talk appropriately to my boss.
  • I can discuss a variety of topics using simple compound sentences most of the time.
  • I can explain my thoughts, preferences, and reasoning using simple phrases.

Materials Needed:

Review:

Give a very quick review of Honorific and Humble forms.

  • 尊敬語
    • 語彙的
      • いらしゃる
      • 召し上がる
      • 下さる
      • なさる
      • お休みになる
      • ご覧になる
      • おっしゃる
      • ご存じです
    • 文法的
      • お＋（Verb Stem)＋になる
      • For requests: お＋（Verb Stem)＋ください
  • 謙譲語
    • 語彙的
      • おる
      • 参る
      • 申す
      • いたす
      • いただく
      • ござる
      • 伺う
      • 存じる
    • 文法的
      • お＋(Stem form)＋します

Warm-Up:

Have the students, one at a time, convert the provided dialogue from casual form to honorific form. The facilitator will take the role of the boss and the student will take the role of the other person.

Main Activity:

Students will respond to a variety of situations using the appropriate formality (or lake thereof). Divide the students into pairs and put them into breakout rooms. If there are 3 or less students, keep them in the main room together. Give each pair the activity, which has overall topics and some potential questions to build conversation on the slides. Students may rely on those prompts as much as they need.

  • 喫茶店：先生と友達と会う
    • 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？
  • 天気：先生と友達
    • Talk about the weather
      • Sunny
      • Rainy/Cloudy
      • Windy
      • Snowy
  • 電話：先生とクラスメイト
    • Ask about what they’re up to 今何をしてる？
    • 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

End of Lab

  • 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 labs!

NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:

  • I can talk appropriately to my boss.
  • I can discuss a variety of topics using simple compound sentences most of the time.
  • I can explain my thoughts, preferences, and reasoning using simple phrases.

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Let's Chat! Japanese Copyright © 2022 by Ashley Hutchinson; Cation Jones; Cora Lytle; Deana Nassans; Ethan Hoggan; Grace Mcgrorty; Halle Robertson; Hideaki Furukawa; Kaden Davis; Kaho Otsuki; Kaoru Mitsukude; Mai Kawamato; Mary Alania; Theadora Callahan; and Thomas Monaghan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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