The Language Teacher
02 - 2003
Explain Your Culture
Paul Tanner
part-time lecturer at Nanzan Junior College
QUICK GUIDE
Key Words:Famous Japanese people
Learner English Level: Intermediate to advanced
Learner Maturity Level: Cultural literacy level of a high school graduate
Preparation Time: Minimal
Activity Time: Approximately 90 minutes
Materials: 100 note cards with one name written on each
Part of learning a foreign language naturally involves learning about the culture of the countries where the language is spoken. This activity is a reversal in that students use English to describe important people in Japanese history and culture. Discussing Japanese culture in a game setting helps reduce student reluctance to speak and respond.
Pre-activity
Write key vocabulary items on the board and explain. Examples include: Prime Minister, politician, age/era/period, Emperor, founder, poet, writer, diplomat, priest, criminal, etc. Also, stress the necessity of using only English. In their desire to communicate, it is easy for students to break into Japanese.
Procedure
Step 1: Pull out one note card and say, I've got the name of an important person in Japanese history or culture. You have to guess who it is from my clues. Give clues and elicit responses. (He was a writer. He wrote about a cat. His picture is on the 1,000 yen note, etc.) Students may also ask questions.
Step 2: Divide students into groups of four or five. Give ten cards to each group and send them to different corners of the classroom to discuss their clues. Each team has five minutes to prepare their clues.
Step 3: The clue-giving team is given five minutes to give their clues and elicit answers. The team receives one point for each correct answer elicited. Also, the first team to correctly identify the person in question receives one point. The team with the most points at the end of the designated time is the winner.
Step 4: After all the teams have given clues, a winning team can be declared. If more time remains, the teacher (or teams) can give select other famous people and the game can continue.
Follow-up: Students can make their own lists of important people using Japanese or other nationalities, movie stars, world leaders, etc. The activity could be repeated using student-generated name lists. In the past, I have assigned students to give one-minute presentations about people who had been difficult to guess in the previous activity.
Sources: I originally started this activity with names from two books: Who's Who of Japan 100 Historical Personages (no author, published by JTB), and 100 Japanese You Should Know by Itasaka Gen and published by Bilingual Books. Since then, I have modified the list to include more recent names including entertainers and sports figures.
A sampler of possible names
- Natsume Soseki (1867-1916) writer
- Takahashi Naoko (1972-) marathon runner and Olympic Gold Medallist 2000
- Kawabata Yasunari (1899-1972) writer and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
- Doi Takako (1928-) politician, leader of the Socialist Democratic Party
- Kitano Takeshi (1948-) director, producer, actor, and comedian
- Sei Shonagon (966-1025) writer in the Heian period (The Pillow Book)
- Morita Akio (1921-1999) founder of Sony
- Ozu Yasujiro (1903-1963) film director of such works as Tokyo Story
- Mori Hanae (1926-) fashion designer
- Yukawa Hideki (1907-1981) nuclear physicist and first Japanese to win the Nobel Prize (in 1949)
- Sen-no-Rikyu (1522-1591) tea ceremony master
- Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1618) military leader who unified the country in the Sengoku period
- Suzuki Ichiro (1973-) baseball player, American League Most Valuable Player in 2001
- Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858) woodblock artist (The Fifty-Three Stages of the Tokaido)
- Utada Hikaru (1983-) pop singer of such songs as First Love
- Kukai (Kobo Daishi) (774-835) founder of Shingon-shu sect of Buddhism, also the inventor of the kana syllabary
- Yoshimoto Banana (Maiko) (1964-) novelist (Kitchen)
- Miyazaki Hayao (1941-) producer of animated films such as Princess Mononuke
- Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) haiku poet of Edo period
- Tezuka Osamu (1928-1989) comic strip/comic book writer and creator of the character Atom Boy
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