Links

 

Japanese Language

Supplementary Resources for Textbooks

Genki Online
Designed to accompany the Genki series of textbooks, the self study page allows students to work at their own pace. Printable interactive pages make the resource ideal for homework or self assessment. Teachers and students will also be able to find a wealth of useful materials in the Instructional Resources section, including flash cards and animated guides to writing kanji.

Japanese for Busy People Resource Website
Online supplementary materials for Japanese For Busy People. Numbers, money (shopping), verbs and adjectives (including conjugations), complete with audio. Suitable for beginners.

Mirai
Mirai 3 & 4 are supported by this free companion website.

Obentoo Deluxe
The new revised edition of Obentoo 1 complete with new photos and illustrations. Check out the student support site.

Punahou School - Adventures in Japanese
The AIJ web site is designed to benefit teachers of the Adventures in Japanese, Volumes 1 - 4, a Secondary School series. 340 kanji are introduced over the 4 volumes. PDF files include activities such as games, flashcards, and word lists. The website also provides links to access more cultural notes, useful drills and other materials.

Tsumiki1
Tsumiki2
Tsumiki 1 & 2 are supported by a free companion website. The textbooks manga cartoons can be found on the site with audio.

BBC Learning Zone
You can use this site to search for language programmes including Japanese. Programmes are broadcast overnight on BBC1. Language and travel based programmes are usually broadcast between 01:00 and 06:00 on Tuesdays.

Back to top

Dictionaries

Online English-Japanese-French dictionary
Online Japanese English dictionary developed by Free Light Software. By using this tool, you can easily find Japanese words from English and vice versa.

RIKAI
Rikai enables the user to read any Japanese text. Simply enter the web address you are looking at in the box provided, and then by placing your mouse over any difficult text instantaneous popups will appear, complete with furigana and English translation.

Back to top

Script and Vocabulary

Japanese on-Click
Kanji and dictation exercises, grammar explanations for nouns, verbs and adjectives.

Java Sensei
A useful site for testing your knowledge of Hiragana and Katakana.

JP Net
Email discussion group, articles about Japanese language and culture, info on getting your computer to display Japanese characters. Other resources include StarFestival, a multimedia program about Japan for PSHE, Geography and Language, and Kanji Project which offers complete Kanji Study Lists for Yookoso 1 and 2. Kanji Project also allows you to build your own Web documents by using the Kanji project materials and downloading the templates provided.

The Japanese Language Page.Com
Kanji Dictionary and a brand new Kanji Database for levels 4 to 2 of the JLPT. New database features a Kanji Randomizer and Flashcards, that allows users to set which set of kanji they want to see and how fast the delay should be. There are currently 90 kanji available for level 1. Try the on-line kanji quizzes and download a very easy to use flashcard program for learning Hiragana and Katakana.

Kana Sensei
A useful site for testing your knowledge of Katakana.

Kanji Alive
Search for 1235 kanji using a number of different criteria all presented in a single, unified interface: textbook lesson number, onyomi, kunyomi, English kanji meaning(s), radical name, radical stroke number, radical English meaning(s) and kanji stroke number. Other features of the site include PDF documents that describe the history of kanji, the radicals, and the basic rules of writing as well as a customisation facility that allows instructors to organize the kanji database according to lesson order.

The Kanji Site
A detailed guide to hundreds of Japanese kanji. Works even with an English environment PC. Features include JLPT syllabus lists, a search function and random testing. This site also offers hiragana and katakana introductions. Useful site for self-study.

Kanji Step
Practise new kanji, check if you are ready to take the JLPT, create and send Japanese postcards by email, choose stamps, postmarks, images and colours to create your own postcard.

Kantango
This is a free site devoted to teaching Japanese vocabulary. Create and modify your own wordlists for personal or public use. View as flashcards or use to create quizzes.

Hiragana Slide Story
View a slide show of hiragana. Audio will be played after 5 seconds.

Back to top

Grammar explanations and activities using the fours skills

Introduction to Japanese language for Nihongo Learning with Speech-Iwate University
Iwate University’s free services provide an introduction to Japanese developed for busy people who want to learn Japanese speech online. Features include an e-Learning system for the Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU), dictation quizzes for Japanese speech and PASTE, a pronunciation analysis service. Simply send in a Wave speech file and you will be provided with access to a downloadable analysed image file.

Japanese on-Click
Kanji and dictation exercises, grammar explanations for nouns, verbs and adjectives.

Language plus
This topic-based site provides writing, reading and listening activities as well as grammar exercises. By registering their students teachers can track a students' progress on the site.

Preparation for the JLPT

Kanji-a-day
It contains lists of vocabulary and kanji for all levels. You can also download them as an Excel file.

The Kanji site
A detailed guide to hundreds of Japanese Kanji. It includes JLPT syllabus lists for level 2,3 and 4, a search function and random testing.

Meguro Language Center
List of vocabulary, kanji and grammar produced by the Meguro Language Centre in Tokyo.

Sushi Test
This site offers a small test at the level of JLPT level 4. It aims to measure the examinee’s basic Japanese ability. It scores you and even gives you a certificate.

Nihongo Kyouzai Toshokan
This site is in Japanese and contains practice grammar tests.

Online Centre for Japanese Studies
This site is run by the Yamasa Institute, Okazaki, Japan. It offers a list of the required Kanji for all levels of the JLPT, and shows the correct stroke order.

Podcasts, TV and Music

Japanesepod101.com
Learn Japanese with Japanese language Podcasts and Videocasts! Situational Japanese is heavily stressed. Lessons on the site are available as downloadable mp3 files and come with PDF Lesson Notes. Other features include a Survival Phrase series, Japanese Culture Classes, News and a blog.

Japanese Songs
Sing along to a selection of 56 Japanese children's and folk songs. Available in karaoke melody and MP3 song format these songs are classified by level of difficulty in terms of both the vocabulary and the grammar that appear in the lyrics. This site is also equipped with vocabulary lists.

Quizzes, Games, and tests

BBC
A fan in Japan- a football tour of Japan to learn basic Japanese.

How to Draw Manga
Includes tutorials which reveal how to go about drawing your own manga character

Quizzes on Japan
http://www.japan-zone.com/quiz/
http://gojapan.about.com/library/weekly/aa111200.htm
http://www.quia.com/jq/10242.html

Restaurant quiz

Sushi Test
This free online test is for those students not yet ready to take JLPT Level 4. Ideal for use within schools.

Ultimate Kana challenge
Hiragana and Katakana on-line games (Macromedia Flash Player plug-in required). This is very useful for students to improve their kana recognition.

Webjapanese.com
Animated games such as Hiragana and Katakana memory games. “Which word when?” tests phrase, grammar and particle knowledge. Other features include a Japanese idiom section, Web Japanese Photo Dictionary and Kanji Worksheet (500 kanji), which can be used in conjunction with Basic Kanji Book Volume 1 and 2.

Sites for Kids

Kids Web Japan
Topics include daily life, the environment, industry and leisure activities, recipes and the education system in Japan.

Kids goo
http://sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/sp/lesson/j/doc/furigana.html
Designed for Japanese children but a second related site offers a facility to apply furigana glossing to any web site that contains Japanese script.

Resources created by British schools teaching Japanese

Queen Mary's High School Website
Great on-line resources that support the UK curriculum. Use the Language Menu on the left of the screen to see Japanese links, resources and trip reports. Download the electronic flashcards available for KS3 and GCSE.

Other Useful sites

Classical-Japanese.net
A collection of poems and passages from Japanese or Chinese collections, accompanied by short explanations.

Click Japan
A website providing information for those interested in Japan and those involved in Japanese language education.

English- Japanese website for Care Professionals
Nihongo de Care-navi is designed by the Japan Foundation to help care professionals working in Japan communicate effectively with colleagues, superiors, patients and clients. Nihongo de Care-navi consists of more than 5,500 daily Japanese expressions and basic vocabularies as well as more than 2,000 example sentences.

The Japan Forum
This site contains a downloadable Photo Data Bank of 2,968 photos of the daily lives of Japanese young people from elementary school as well as junior and senior high school ages.

Japan Foundation Sydney
Click here for more resources.

Japanese Mosaic
Prduced by The Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS) at the University of Oregon, the subject areas covered are Tokaido, baseball, Manga and Anime, Food and lifestyle, and haiku. For each subject there is a set of lessons with teacher notes, and links to supporting websites and literature.

Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Server

Easy-to-use site which is very useful for looking up Kanji. The site allows you to insert Japanese text which it will then translate word for word. It does not attempt to translate Japanese text into English; it simply sets out to identify the words in the text and to display the translations of those words. The user is expected to know enough Japanese grammar to make sense of the results.

Kids@nifty
Occasion cards with Japanese scripts ready for you to print out and make. The collection includes card for birthdays, holidays and festivals.

Minna no Kyozai
Created by the Japan Foundation, this site provides teachers of Japanese with grammar explanations, sample sentences, word lists, exercises, illustrations, photos and much more!

Nihongo Kyouiku Network
This site, run by The National Institute for Japanese Language is entirely in Japanese. You can find out about resource projects.

Nihongo Summit
The Japan Return Programme is selecting panelists for the Nihongo Summit 2010. In addition to the presentation of their opinions at the Summit, panelists will participate in various programmes such as discussions with Japanese students, homestays, and experience Japanese traditional culture.

Click here for a flyer in Japanese.
Click here for information in English.

Origami club
A wide range of origami (paper folding) available in five levels ranging from easy to very difficult. Printoutable instructions written in hiragana with pictures or animated instructions are provided. This site is in Japanese only.

Photo Japan
A commercial site offering an extensive photo gallery on Japan.

Reading Tutor (Japanese Language Reading Tutorial System)
Students can input articles on chosen themes to obtain J-J and J-E definitions of words from a dictionary tool that then adds these to a personalised list. Articles provided on the site are written by Japanese pupils and are suitable for Key Stage 4 students upwards.

Yomoyomo
The Yomoyomo system automatically displays hiragana and Roman letters on top of kanji characters by the simple entry of a website URL. You can also search for unknown words by directly linking to the associated dictionary site with a quick mouse click.

Shakespear-w.com

Welcome to Schneider's Bookmarks

Back to top

Japan-Related Organisations

Travel and Japan Guides

Guide to Japan
A useful travel guide to Japan, this site contains information on the arts and crafts of Japan as well as a useful hotel search function by city.

JASSO
Japan Student Services Organisation (get help with studying Japanese in Japan)

Japan Information Network

JNTO
The Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) is a government body whose aim is to promote Japan internationally as both a leisure and business travel destination. The site is a useful resource for travel-related info on Japan.

Key aspects of japan
This site is based on the book called Traditional Japanese Culture & Modern Japanese published in Japan in 1993. Provides simple insights into Japan and its culture in English.

Back to top

Cultural Exchange

Club Taishikan (Embassy of Japan in the UK)
Club Taishikan is a popular workshop organised by the Embassy's Japan Information and Cultural Centre (JICC), aimed at introducing various aspects of Japan to young people. Activities include Calligraphy, Origami and wearing Kimono.

Japan UK Live
A totally bilingual site where young people in Japan and the UK can exchange ideas.

Back to top

Teachers' Associations

AJE
The Association of Japanese Language Teachers in Europe is a trans-national organisation based in Europe, which aims to enhance and promote teaching and learning Japanese language and culture in Europe.

ALL
The Association for Language Learning

BATJ

The British Association for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language

JLC (Japanese Language Committee)
http://www.jlcweb.org.uk (http://www.all-languages.org.uk)
The official site for the Japanese Language Committee and a must for UK teachers of Japanese. The Japan Language Committee is part of the Association for Language Learning (ALL). To view the ALL site in its entirety you have to be a member of ALL.

Back to top

Japanese PGCE courses in the UK

PGCE at Sheffield University

Back to top

Language Related Organisations and Governmental Departments

BECTA
Learn IT related Japanese with the excellent resource “Saying IT in Japanese”. Click here to access the document.

CILT
The National Centre for Languages

DCSF
Department for Children, Schools and Families

Languages Work
Aimed at a wide audience from students and adults to careers advisors and teachers, the site enables you to order a variety of products which support the true value of languages in the workplace.

NACELL
National Advisory Centre on Early Language Learning

National Assembly of Wales

Northern Ireland Department of Education

Scottish Office Education Department

TDA

For more information about getting into teaching at Primary and Secondary level

Back to top

Japanese Media Section

Daily News

Asahi Shinbun

Daily Yomiuri

Japan Times

Kyodo News

Japan Today

NHK Online
NHK WORLD, the international broadcasting service of NHK provides information on how to receive NHK broadcasts around the world, in Japanese and more than 20 other languages. The website features Radio Japan Online that offers live radio programs on the Internet. NHK's short-wave international broadcasts are available on demand in either Real Player format, Windows Media Player format or as a podcast. The photographs on this year's NHK World Calendar, featuring twelve prize-winning photographs from an annual photo contest can also be downloaded as wallpaper for your personal computer from the website. NHK World Japanese Lessons are also available in a wide range of languages as well as details on how to access NHK World TV.

Magazines

Eikoko News Digest
Weekly paper designed for Japanese-speakers living in the UK.

Japan Echo

Hiragana Times

Nipponia
NIPPONIA is a quarterly magazine which introduces modern Japan to people all over the world. Articles are written in Japanese and English (amongst other languages). Issues have covered topics such as Mount Fuji, earthquakes, recycling in Japan, anime and pop culture.

Back to top