‘Erin’s Challenge! I Can Speak Japanese.’

‘Erin’s Challenge! I Can Speak Japanese.’ is a web site for Japanese language study with a story featuring overseas student, Erin, who takes on various challenges using Japanese in, for example, a Japanese high school, host family home, and Japanese town.
The following videos are featured:

＜Basic skit＞

These are videos of stories showing Erin taking on various challenges using Japanese at school and in everyday life. Practice questions are included that can be used to check understanding of the contents of the skits. The skits can also be viewed as manga. In addition, there is a study section where the ‘Key phrases’ that appeared in the basic skits are explained through videos, and a section where the onomatopoeia that appeared in the manga are explained with images.

＜Advanced skits＞

These are conversations featuring Erin’s (Japanese) classmates. The words used and the speed of the conversations is about the same as that of a normal conversation between Japanese people. Practice questions are included that can be used to check understanding of the contents of the skits.

＜Key phrases＞

You study the key phrases in the Basic skit. In addition, you can also watch several video clips where different Japanese people use the phrases in various situations.

＜What’s this?＞

Japanese things that are a little unusual when viewed from overseas - related to the contents of each topic - are introduced in a quiz format.

＜Let’s try＞

Videos can be viewed that show foreigners trying out Japanese culture and customs.

＜Let’s see＞

Japanese society, culture, events, and the everyday life of high school students related to the contents of each lesson are introduced. There are photos taken from the videos and detailed explanations of each situation. In addition, there is a quiz section on Japanese culture related to each of the contents (you can download the photos from the photo section of the ‘Minna no Kyozai’ website).

＜Learn onomatopoeia with manga＞

There are videos that display the onomatopoeia found in the manga of basic skits, as well as explanations and example sentences of that onomatopoeia.

‘Erin’s Challenge! I Can Speak Japanese.’ Contents Library 
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MARUGOTO + (MARUGOTO Plus)

‘MARUGOTO +’ is a web site where Japanese language and culture can be studied following the contents of the JF’s official Japanese language course book ‘MARUGOTO : Japanese Language and Culture’ , which is based on the JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education. Japanese language learning can be done that has the objective of accomplishing Can-dos. In addition, it is possible to practice conversations while deepening understanding of concrete situations through a number of videos.
The two video series can be searched on the ‘Minna no Kyozai’ website: the ‘Life and Culture’ (Starter A1) and ‘Life and Culture Lab Focus! This Person’ (Elementary1 A2) video series.

Life and Culture (Starter A1)

A reporter visits a number of different places depending on the theme, and interviews various people. A small section of Japanese society and everyday life and culture can be viewed through short videos. In the ‘More information!’ section, interesting information that was not introduced in the video - related to the theme - can be read.
Occasionally the expressions in the audio and the expressions in the video subtitles are different. This is because natural speech as it is was recorded in the videos, and grammatically correct expressions are used in the subtitles.

Life and Culture Lab Focus! This Person (Elementary1 A2)

In this series successful or unique people in specific fields are interviewed and introduced through video. The videos include explanatory texts.
※Please use these materials in accordance with the site policy for ‘MARUGOTO +’.

MARUGOTO + (MARUGOTO Plus) 
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MARUGOTO (Japanese Language and Culture)
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Hirogaru, get more of Japan and Japanese

‘Hirogaru, get more of Japan and Japanese’ is a web site where people who are studying Japanese as a hobby and people who are interested in Japan and the Japanese language can enjoy learning various things about Japan and the Japanese language. There are photos, videos and articles about Japan related to twelve topics: ‘Stars and the Night Sky’, ‘the Outdoors’, ‘Martial Arts’, ‘Cafes and Tea’, ‘Sweets’, ‘Supermarkets and Markets’, ‘Calligraphy’, ‘Anime and Manga’, ‘Books and Libraries’, ‘Temples and Shrines’, ‘Music’, and ‘Aquariums’.
The main videos for each topic can be searched on the ‘Minna no Kyozai’ website. Places and people connected to the topic are recorded using natural speech. Videos can also be chosen with subtitles.
Other than the main videos, there are also ‘Topic and Watashi’ videos, which feature a variety of Japanese people talking about how that topic relates to themselves. Through these videos it is possible to get to know a variety of ways in which Japanese people think and talk.
※Please use these materials in accordance with the site policy for ‘Hirogaru, get more of Japan and Japanese’.

‘Hirogaru, get more of Japan and Japanese’ 
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JFS B2 Teaching Materials

These videos are a part of ‘JFS B2 Teaching Materials’ (advanced level) developed based on the approach of the JF Standard for Japanese Language Education(JFS). The following videos are included in the B2 teaching materials.

JFS B2 Teaching Materials ① ‘Let’s Have Fun in Japanese!‘

This is an extract from the TV programme ‘Oh! Magical Islands; Kiki Kirin travels Art Setouchi’ （see note 1）.　The modern art festival held on the islands can be seen, including art works, and interviews with residents of the islands and people visiting the art festival.
　 section introducing an overview of the art festival
　 section introducing art works exhibited at the art festival

JFS B2 Teaching Materials ②‘Meeting in Japanese’

Videos of a Japanese language speech contest by learners of Japanese (3 videos: see note 2) and the judges meeting (see note 3).
　 Speech A ‘My words are the seeds of my mind’ (Phillipines)
　 Speech B ‘How to never forget’ (US)
　 Speech C ‘My motivation for working’ (South Korea)
　 Judges meeting featuring the four judges

（Note 1）KBS Setonaikai Broadcasting Co, Ltd., 2013
（Note 2）‘The 56th and 57th Japanese speech contest for foreigners’
　organised by the Japan Foundation International Education Center Winning speeches from 2014 and 2015
（Note 3）JF own materials

JFS B2 Teaching Materials are here.