Couldn’t find any recent posts on this, excuse me if I missed something.
Has anyone worked with kids who wanted to learn Japanese? More stuff they could use to teach themselves then a case of me sitting down and teaching.
My brother’s interest in Japan and anime is really the reason I started learning Japanese. But he’s in special ed classes in school and just doesn’t have the attention span at the moment for me to sign him up for full on classes or anything like that. But he’s definitely interested. I found a paper where he had looked up how to write his name in katakana himself and on top of picking up words from anime he watches a lot of youtube videos and things.
Any suggestions for some things that would be good to contribute to his learning? I feel like he’s far off from really being able to formally work on grammar or anything like that, that he might actually be better off getting exposure to common vocabulary and then some of grammar might come more naturally through media and/or he’ll develop enough interest to want to start working on grammar some point down the line.
Was thinking maybe some phrase books or something might be a good idea, but I’m looking for something that isn’t too baby-ish (no ABC picture books or anything) but also isn’t just a super text heavy tome that would turn him off. Or any good videos or games that teach at a kids level (he hates Duolingo though so…not that)
Or I could be off base in everything I’m thinking of, if you’ve helped kids learn and have a better idea let me know.
Hello! I previously taught at a language school for several years and we would often find really good resources for all age levels and learning levels over on TeachersPayTeachers. Here is a great storefront where a Japanese teacher has created pages and pages of entire Japanese lessons and worksheets for purchase: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Japanese-Jankenpon The lessons range from kindergarten to high school Japanese learners, so there is a high chance you will find some perfect resources in there.
If you’d prefer free resources first, I suggest putting together some Tadoku graded readers (here) with a few easy-to-follow youtube videos (like these) and definitely try @drdru’s stories - they are SO fun and helpful.
So the only reason I didn’t mention his age is that due to his learning disability his needs don’t exactly correspond to his age. He just turned 21. He definitely wouldn’t be into things for five year olds but he would still be interested in things that people might think were too young if I mentioned his age. He’s got another year or two in his high schools extended program. He’s got friends who are definitely less ‘mature’ then him but his also still into lots of younger things.
I’m afraid the videos I shared are targeted to 5 year olds.
The kind of content you’re after is actually what everyone would benefit from but for some reason is very rare. It’s this gap I wanted to fill when I started my site.
