Japanese at WGPS
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the need to understand meaning across cultures and languages is becoming a necessity. At West Greenwood PS, all students in Years 1-6 participate in one lesson of Japanese per week.
Lessons are undertaken in our Japanese room which features Japanese style furniture and displays. The room is also set up with many authentic resources such as traditional toys, books, and clothing to give students some experience of Japan and its unique culture.
The Japanese program at WGPS incorporates learning through songs, stories, practical tasks, role plays, presentations and technology. The students learn a range of language skills from simple greetings and introductions to more complex interactions and grammatical structures in the upper years, learning to read and write hiragana and some high frequency kanji characters in the process. Students also participate in a variety of cultural activities such as celebrating Children’s Day, learning how to eat with chopsticks and doing calligraphy classes. Some other highlights of our Japanese program include cooking classes and an online exchange program with a Japanese elementary school.