Introduction to Japanese (Powerpoint Presentation with activities!)

This would make a great taster lesson in Japanese, maybe as a first lesson for GCSE students, as it gives an overview of the Japanese language and introduces some fun cultural topics. There are some flashcard style slides in the middle to teach greetings. It includes lots of pretty pictures and the presentation is very easy on the eye!

I made it for my school’s Languages Club (where all members are complete beginners) and it went down a treat :)

There are two versions:

-Version One has a slide about cherry blossom viewing so it’s better if you give the presentation in Spring. It comes with an activity worksheet and you will need to provide a katakana chart for your students.

-Version Two has slides about Shichi-Go-San and Pocky Day, so it’s better if you give the presentation in Autumn. There is a self introduction activity near the end.

Feel free to mix and match slides from the presentations to make it work for you!

Here are some links you might find useful for the self introduction activity, especially as some lessons and clubs are being held online due to the current situation!

To type in katakana:
https://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/katakana.htm (simply click on the characters and they will appear in the text box above!)

To type in Japanese (kanji)
https://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/japanese.php
Type latin characters in the text box at the top and they will be converted to kana. For kanji, you will need to type the pronunciation of each character at a time and select the correct one from the options. Use capitals for katakana and lower case for hiragana.

Hope this helps!