Orange High School

Honour the Past; Create the Future

Telephone02 6362 3444

Emailorange-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Language

Japanese at OHS

The mandatory requirement for languages is 100 hours in one language in one year. At Orange High School this language is Japanese and it is taught to some students in Year 7 and then the rest of the students when they are in Year 8. Students receive 3 lessons per week of Japanese.

Hiragana is the basic Japanese script and students learn this at the beginning of the school year. They then take notes in hiragana during the rest of the year. Some of the topics that we cover include giving a self-introduction, how to talk about our families and our pets and what food and drink we like and dislike.

To successfully study Japanese small regular amounts of homework are set for completion after each lesson. This might include finishing classwork, to practice writing and work at the Quizlet website. As students have not experienced any sense of inadequacy or failure in this subject I encourage them to put in some work and try to achieve the best that they can, whilst trying to enjoy this foreign language.

As students like the opportunities that apps and the internet provides, this type of study is incorporated into the learning of Japanese. There is no need to buy apps as there are many that are very good and free. Students are told of the names of these apps in class. Students are also requested to make an account in Quizlet, a free flashcard website. I put up vocabulary lists for them to learn from our lessons. As we progress through the year more vocabulary lists are added for student use.

Students are encouraged to bring to school a pair of earphones and a mouse for use with OHS's computers. These tools will make using the computers much more efficient and comfortable for everyone.

Japanese is also available for study in Year 11 and 12, it is called Japanese Beginners. This course counts for a student's ATAR. The course begins at the beginning. This means that anyone can study this course and be successful.

Aya Hurford
Language

 Toshihiro Okano
Language

Deanne Prusiak
Language