Teaching materials on the ‘Minnna no Kyozai’ website

You can create various teaching materials by using the resources on ‘Minnna no Kyozai’ website. Please feel free to use resources on the site to create teaching materials for different needs and situations.

How to find materials efficiently? ⇒ Search hints are found here

• Classroom Activities

  This section provides useful classroom activity ideas for elementary as well as intermediate and advanced levels, which include ‘reading’, ‘listening’ ,‘conversation’,‘writing’, ‘cultural understanding’, etc. Classroom activity procedures and ready-to-use task sheets are available. Classroom Activities come in five types: ‘Kyokasho o Tsukuro Classroom Activities’, ‘Kisetsu no Katsudo’, ‘JFS B2 Teaching Materials’, ‘Learn Japanese from the News dialogue materials’, ‘JFKL Lesson IDEAS’, ’Going Out With Chie-chan’.

• Reading Comprehension

  There are six types of reading comprehension materials: ‘JFS Reading Activities’, ‘KC Yom Yom’ ‘Nihongo Kyoiku Tsushin Essays’, ‘Elementary Reading Comprehension’, ‘Intermediate Reading Comprehension’, ‘Now in Japan’. There are also materials featuring vocabulary lists, grammar lists, practice questions, audio recordings, and illustrations.

• Pictures

  This section provides pictures for Japanese-language education, made mainly for the elementary level. There are seven types of pictures: ‘Elementary Vocabulary Pictures’, ‘School Life Pictures’, ‘Seasonal Pictures with Erin’, ‘UME Pictures’, ‘Pictures by Sakura & Musashi’, ‘Kyokasho o Tsukuro Pictures’, ‘CASTEL/J Pictures’

• Photos

  This section provides photos of Japanese society, lifestyle and cultural events. There are four types of photos: ’Let’s See’ (in ’Erin's Challenge! I Can Speak Japanese.’), ‘Photos by Sakura & Musashi’, ‘The Photo Panel Collection’, ‘Hirogaru, get more of Japan and Japanese’

• Realias

  This section provides images of store signs, restaurant menus, job application guides, and other realia that are useful for teaching Japanese. There are 198 materials used in the "JFS Reading Activities".

• Videos

  This section offers videos for Japanese language study, and videos related to Japanese society and culture, and Japanese people’s lifestyle. There are four video series: ‘Erin’s Challenge! I Can Speak Japanese.’, ‘MARUGOTO + (MARUGOTO Plus)’, ‘Hirogaru, get more of Japan and Japanese’, ‘JFS B2 Teaching Materials’.

• Videos and Texts on Japanese Teaching Methodology

  These are teaching materials for learning the basics of teaching methods by theme. The contents of " The Japan Foundation Nihongo Kyojuho (Japanese-language teaching methods) Series, " the concept of the JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education , and findings in language education are used as references.

• Teaching Methodology and Lesson Ideas/Lesson Plans

  Basic knowledge of how to teach Japanese and specific class ideas and hints are provided.
  These are " JFS Lesson Plans " for specific examples of task-oriented classes, Nihongo Kyoiku Tsushin " Ideas for Japanese-Language Classrooms, " and Nihongo Kyoiku Tsushin " The First Step for Teaching Japanese. "

  ※The 'Minna no Kyozai' website provides teaching materials based on the JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education and materials with can-do objectives. Please make use of these materials in your classes to accomplish communicative tasks in the real world.
  ※For more information, please visit JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education and Can-do.

• Grammar Explanations for Teachers

  This section provides two types of grammar explanations: ‘Kyokasho o Tsukuro Grammar Explanations’ and ‘Nihongo Kyoiku Tsushin ‘Enjoy Japanese Grammar’’ ,‘Kyokasho o Tsukuro Grammar Explanations’ provides brief explanations and example sentences for grammar items and expressions from beginner to advanced levels. ‘Nihongo Kyoiku Tsushin ‘Enjoy Japanese Grammar’’ provides more detailed explanations.

Forum

In this section, which is dedicated to sharing, users from all over the world contribute teaching materials as well as ideas used in actual lessons. Through an exchange of comments, questions and answers, and impressions from using the materials, we aim to establish a user network. In addition, rankings show the number of times teaching materials have been accessed, as well as materials and ideas contributed by users, and votes as to their usefulness and the number of users who have registered them in Folder.

Comments and Impressions from Using the Material, ’Useful!’ and SNS

Each of the materials has the following feature that promote the porticipation and interaction of users.

• Posts about ‘Comments and Impression from Using the Materials’

  You can send comments and impressions about actually using the materials, if you specifically write the following type of contents about your impressions from using the materials, other users will be able to refer to them:

  • ・What kind of activity with what kind of learners did you use the material for (country and region, type of educational organisation, Japanese language level, etc.)?
  • ・How many people were in the group or class?
  • ・How did you use the materials and with what kind of activities?
  • ・How were the materials? Were they easy to use? Was there anything that made them difficult to use?
  • ・How did learners respond to the materials?
  • ・Do you have any advice for the next person that uses the materials?

  When new ‘Comments and Impressions from Using the Materials’ are added, they appear on the top page of the ‘Minna no Kyozai’ website.

• ‘Useful!’ Button

  When you like materials, press the ‘Useful!’ button. The number of ‘Useful!’ will be displayed on the Forum ranking page.

• Share through SNS

  You can share information about materials through SNS (Facebook and X(formerly Twitter)).
  ※The materials cannot be seen on SNS. They can be seen on the ‘Minna no Kyozai’ website via a link.

My Page

Using My Page you can easily access materials and Can-dos, and use folders that match your goals and purposes. You can use My Page for collaborative work with other users as well.

It is also possible to use My Page to connect materials on the ‘Minna no Kyozai’ website to Can-dos on the ‘Minna no Can-do’ website.

Teacher's Navigator

Methods for creating teaching materials on a PC, and useful websites for preparation are introduced.

Operators

The Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa, an affiliated organization of The Japan Foundation, focuses on human resource development and teaching resource enhancement as two fundamental functions in its operations to support and promote Japanese-language education overseas. The ‘Minna no Kyozai’ website is operated as part of the teaching material enhancement project.

Facilitators, Sakura and Musashi

On the ‘Minna no Kyozai’ website, two Japanese-language teachers, Sakura and Musashi, facilitate exchanges among users. Let’s introduce them.

• Hello, everyone.
  My name is　
  さくら (Sakura).
  

  I've been to several countries to teach the Japanese language. I had the opportunity to work with many teachers from around the world, and it was very stimulating. In the past, I have participated in making a series of Japanese-language textbooks. Currently, I'm working at The Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa in Saitama Prefecture.

  

  My name originates from Saitama's prefectural flower, ‘さくら草’ (Sakura-soh) or primrose. Primrose blossoms in the spring with a beautiful pink flower. Cute, isn't it? ※The primrose photo was kindly allowed to be taken from the website of Professor Shigenobu Aoki of Gunma University.

• Hello!
  My name is
  むさし (Musashi)!
  

  Hello! My name is むさし (Musashi)! I started teaching Japanese language just a year ago, and every day I’m struggling with difficult questions my students ask, but I’m glad that the students are more positive about speaking Japanese in class than before. Also, I enjoy coming into contact with various cultures through Japanese-language education.

  

  The place I live, Saitama, was called Musashi no kuni during the Edo period. My name ‘Musashi’ seems to have come from that origin. And the famous Miyamoto Musashi happens to be one of my favorite characters too. As a professional myself, I'd like to work on developing my teaching skills. I'm looking forward to seeing your class activities, lesson plans and comments posted on the ‘Minna no Kyozai’ website.

Advisors

In the first year of the site's development (fiscal 2001-2002), we had a great deal of help