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 Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:33 am
I have a 9 year old daughter who has been just crazy for anything Japanese since she was 5, and she is dying to learn to speak Japanese. I can't really help her. I had one Japanese class about 16 years ago, so it is safe to say that I know only slightly more than absolutely nothing about Japanese at this point. She's been carrying around my old textbook (an older edition of Japanese for Busy People with no CDs) and some hiragana practice sheets that she printed from the Internet. She's a gifted kid, but she's not really making any progress with what she's got to work with.
Could anyone point me toward some age appropriate resources, on the Net, in print, or audio? It doesn't have to be anything too easy or too kiddish, as she's very smart for her age, but something geared more toward general conversation and younger interests would be great. Also, something cheaper than Rosetta Stone would be nice.
I just want to encourage her (and her siblings) any way I can. My older kids seem glad that I can interact with them in Spanish, now that they are taking Spanish in high school, but they weren't interested when they were young. I exposed them to a lot of different languages and cultures anyway, which they appreciate NOW. Of my youngest three, one has no interest in languages or cultures so far, the one I have mentioned above is only interested in Japanese, and the littlest one is only three but seems to have both interest and aptitude for languages in general, judging from how much she's actually retaining from watching Dora, Diego, and Kai-Lan. (That littlest one makes my heart super happy. heart )
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Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 1:06 am
Haha, your kid reminds me of me when I was young. Except my mom didn't do anything until I reached middle school when she hired a private Japanese tutor for me. I wouldn't recomend internet resource. Most text books are directed to middle school and high school kids, but I believe there are some kids books etc. I remember when I was young I had a tape of Japanese phrases and I used to watch a lot of the Japanese kid shows like Anpanman.
The only thing I would recomend is maybe hire a private tutor. A native Japanese speaker that is. You don't want her to pick up the fowl accents. When they are young they have the ability to mimic the accents of a Language pretty well, so starting young is good.
Good luck.
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Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 1:31 pm
A tutor sounds like a good idea. I wish I had thought of that!
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 8:35 am
Some good supplementary books that you can use to help her at home when she needs the tutor's help but they aren't around are ones published by Kodansha. They have quite a few geared towards younger students. Also, look up Genki discs if you can't find a tutor. They are extremely good for pronunciation, but you might have to get the textbooks which are college level. That can at least help you teach her though. 3nodding
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 10:49 am
Well, if anything, you'll want to at least make sure she know the sounds, that should keep her from getting a bad accent, at least according to my councilor. She says that if you get almost any exposure from a language before the age of like, 12, you should have an okay accent.
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Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:50 pm
Perhaps you can try to search for the basics such as colors, greetings, etc. Have you tried Rosetta Stone? I remember trying it when I was younger. It has pictures..and children love pictures!
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Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:21 pm
Maybe some of these links would help until you find a good self-teaching program or a tutor? I wonder if The Learnables has Japanese. That self-teaching program is very appropriate for kids.
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:19 am
I don't know if they have Kumon in your area... It's a tuitoring service. Most of them only have math and reading, but I know of at least one that also offers Japanese lessons.
If you think she's ready for it, you might see if any of the community colleges where you live offer Japanese. You'll have to go through several waivers and forms, but they do let some K-12 students in for classes not available through regular schools.
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:18 am
Wow, thanks guys! Lots of good suggestions.
I remember seeing The Learnables when I was homeschooling a couple of my kids, and I recall that it got great reviews. I think I may check that out.
Rosetta Stone would be great too, but it is so expensive. (And I was rather hoping to get their new Irish program for myself at some point. I wonder if they have a volume discount. xd )
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